The Day of the Jackal (1973)

 

The Day of the Jackal depicts an assassination attempt on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. A militant terrorist organization—I realize that might be redundant—known as OAS (Organisation armee secrete), upset over Algeria being granted its independence from France, has failed several times to kill de Gaulle; the opening sequence demonstrates how seemingly incapable they are of carrying out such a mission. Several OAS leaders, hiding out in Austria, decide to hire a professional hitman and choose the “Jackal” (played rather stoically, appropriately, by Edward Fox). Much of the film is taken up with the Jackal’s preparations, including obtaining fake passports and other papers, having a special rifle made, and changing his identity several times when he’s found out. He also kills several people along the way, including a female lover and a male lover he acquires at different points in the narrative, quite progressive for the time. He’s almost discovered several times due to the detailed work done by French deputy police commissioner Claude Lebel (played in an understated manner by Michael Lonsdale, later to be a Bond villain) and his assistant (played by a very young Derek Jacobi). Lebel works with a collection of government, police, and military officials, and the scenes involving the cabinet meetings are hilarious. Most of the members are clueless, having far too much faith in the skills of their underlings and their own cognitive powers. Lebel is always a step ahead of the cabinet even if he’s always a step or two behind the Jackal. The tension in the film gets heightened by the intercutting of the Jackal’s preparations in the face of being discovered and Lebel’s careful, thorough work to locate the potential assassin no matter which country he’s in or which disguise he’s taken on. At almost 2.5 hours in length and at a much slower pace that today’s films, it might seem like an unusual choice for a Film Editing nomination, but The Day of the Jackal maintains a strong feeling of suspense throughout the entire running time. It also seamlessly uses footage of the actual President de Gaulle at a Liberation Day ceremony at a climactic moment. It’s a testament to the skill of the filmmakers that, even though we know that de Gaulle wasn’t assassinated 10 years before the film was made, we still wonder if the Jackal will pull off his $500,000 job. The film leaves us with a sense of bewilderment over the true identity of the Jackal, forcing us to wonder how much or what we ever knew about him.

Oscar Nomination: Best Film Editing