The Day of the Jackal (1973)

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Plot

Gentlemen, I have come to help you
find Linda!
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On 22nd August 1962, the French militant paramilitary OAS attempt to assassinate French President General Charles de Gaulle, as they are not too happy with the way that France granted independence to Algeria.  This was back in the day when Europe pretty much ruled the world, so naturally, there was a little bit of turmoil during these transitional periods.  Needless to say, Charly was OK, saying as he's nails and sped off with an imaginary two-fingered salute to the would-be assassins.  This leads to de Gaulle doubling down on the OAS, arresting members left, right and centre, bring the organisation to its knees, as well as executing their leader.  That's right, don't mess with Prez Charly!  The remaining members of the OAS have left France, regrouping in Austria.  They decide to have another go at de Gaulle, but this time they would hire an assassin who is outside of their group.

Got, got, got, SWAP!
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A meeting is arranged in Vienna, Austria, where an unnamed British man (Edward Fox) is interviewed for the job.  He agrees to do it for the fee of $500,000, which was a lot back in the '60s.  The OAS agree, asking him for a codename, he picks the name Jackal, they all laugh and the game is afoot.  Cue dramatic montage of banks being robbed by the OAS, as they have to raise the money somehow.  Those naughty boys and girls, not many ladies in this film to be honest, when they are, it's sort of seedy.  More on that later.  Whilst all of this is happening, the Jackal heads to Genova to arrange for a customed rifle to be made, as well as some forged documents to be created too.  He also visits a graveyard, applies for a passport in the name of someone who died at a young age, pops to Paris to gain entry to a flat at the Place du 18 Juin 1940 for reasons, and buys some old war medals from a flea market. None of these separately might seem s big now, but they all have a purpose later on.  Preparation is obviously key when you're trying to nail Charly dG!  The Jackal returns to Genova to collect his items, the rifle creation process runs smoothly, he even gets to test it on a few watermelons.  But the forger, well he is a very naughty lad.  He tries to blackmail the Jackal, who in turn kills him.  Thus proving that the Jackal is the ultimate bad egg, big boo's all-round, boooooooooo!

We have to stop him from finding Linda,
it's our only hope!
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The French authorities have not been napping whilst Jackie the Jackal has been busy, no, no, no!  They've noticed the OAS bank robberies, so they realise that something is going on.  To find out what that something is, they kidnap the OAS's chief clerk, Viktor Wolenski.  Just pick him up out of the street, like animals!  They sit him down, strap him in tight and then torture him.  All in the name of getting any information out of him, killing him in the process.  You see, the good guys are bad too in this movie.  As they had no live people to interrogate, they listen back to their handy work, smoking intensely and trying to figure out what is being screamed.  It's a bit like listening to Death Metal or Noise music, but without the massive volume of bass noise.  They manage to distinguish one word from the screams, Jackal.  The French Interior Minister requests that President de Gaulle shields himself whilst they look into this matter, but Big Prezie dG ain't no hider!  Naturally huffed by this turn of events, the Interior Minister to bring together a secret council, to investigate this threat against their leader.  At the meeting,  they ask the Police Commissioner Berthier to provide his best detective.  He picks his deputy, Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale), an unassuming man who like to be in his garden, as well as tending to his pigeons.  Lebel is given complete control of the investigation, where he picks his staff and begins his investigation.  He arranges for each of his counterparts around the world to be contacted, asking if any of them know anything about the Jackal.

This is Dense, she is the mistress in this movie.  Not much
else to say really.  But she's definitely not Linda!
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The British, as per our birthright, start to look in earnest, to either prove that the Jackal is not British and if he is, to bring him to justice at once! The British come back to Lebel with two pieces of information.  Firstly, that there was a suspicious character named Charles Calthrop who was in the Dominican Republic around the time its dictator Trujillo was assassinated (Jackal in French is "chacal", the word formed from the first three letters of each name); a search on Calthrop's home reveals he is absent. Second and more worryingly, a review of all recent passport applications reveals that one was made for one Paul Oliver Duggan, who had died at the age of two.  Meanwhile, one of the members of the secret council is talking to his mistress about what is happening, who is secretly supplying information to the OAS.  See, loose lips do sink ships!  During one of his after-work rants, he lets his mistress know that they have a name for the would-be assassin.  This information is fed back to the Jackal, who knows that the police are now on his tail, so he'll have to work fast to get to Paris on time, as well as undetected.

Practice makes perfect!
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Whilst hiding in a small hotel, the Jackal seduces fellow hotel guest Colette de Montpellier, a married aristocrat who's rich and bored.  The next morning, he leaves the hotel quickly, picking up his documents and making it out of the building before the Police arrive.  The Police interview the staff at the hotel, where they hear from one of the maids that two people had been in the bed of Madame de Montpellier (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, so no more).  They go to the de Montpellier estate, where our unfaithful aristocrat is forced to admit sleeping with a man, but had no idea of his background.  Meanwhile, in his haste to avoid the authorities, the Jackal crashes his car, which leads him to head also head to the de Montpellier estate, missing the police.  After staying the night and sleeping with Colette again, she confesses that the police have been there, but that she would not tell them anything.  The Jackal makes sure of this, by killing her.  Before he leaves, he dons a new identity of a Danish man, who's passport he'd stolen back in London.  Using this identity, he travels to the local train station in Madame de Montpellier's car, climbs aboard a train to Paris, whilst the servants at the de Montpellier estate discover the body of their mistress.

Nothing to see here, just reading my
book.  Not secretly planning to shoot
President G!
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Lebel, frustrated that the Jackal has slipped through his fingers, uses the murder of de Montpellier to start a public manhunt, which gives him more power than working in secret.  After questioning the servants at the de Montpellier estate and the workers at the train station, Lebel announces the name of the Danish man who the Jackal is impersonating to the world.  He has also had all the phones of the secret council tapped, to find out who has been leaking information.  In Paris, the Jackal goes to a Turkish bath and picks up a man, so he can stay in his house, what with hotels being out of the question.  Whilst staying at the man's house, they see a public announcement about the manhunt, which results in the Jackal killing his host.  Again, we know that he's not a very nice man, so this is not a surprise.  Lebel then reveals to the council that he's been tapping their phone, he also plays them the audio of the mistress calling the OAS.  The minister walks out of the room (he later would kill himself), whilst revealing that he thinks the Jackal will attempt to assassinate "massive balls" de Gaulle on Liberation Day, which is in two days.

Come on Charly, get into range...
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As Liberation Day approaches, the Jackal dons a new disguise, of a crippled war veteran.  Lebel arranges for the tightest security that he can for the President, as de Gaulle continues his public appearances and will be presenting medals to veterans.  The Jackal slips past security that has been set, heading for the apartment he visited earlier in the movie.  Whilst there, he kills the caretaker of the building, so he can set up his rifle and get ready for the assassination.  Lebel is pacing around, looking for anything different, where he finds out about the random veteran who's turned up.  He races up the building as the Jackal takes his shot, but Charly-Boy moves out of the way!!! Whilst reloading his rifle, Lebel and a nameless shield, I mean officer enters the room.  The Jackal shoots the officer, and whilst trying to reload his gun once more, Lebel shoots the Jackal!  Back in London, the real Charles Calthrop turns up and he is definitely not the would-be assassin.  The British intelligent forces pass on this information to the French, also washing their hands clean of the nameless Jackal.  As he'd adopted so many disguises and nationalities, it was impossible for him to be identified to any nation with 100% certainty.  The film ends with Lebel watching the body of the Jackal being buried, being none the wiser to who his foe really was.

A slightly more sensible and boring clear plot, with less silliness about President Charles de Gaulle, can be found here.

Pros

Ah, it'll all end in tears!
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+ This greatest strength of The Day of the Jackal is the direction from Fred Zinnemann.  He keeps the suspense rolling all the way until the dramatic assassination attempt, there is never any noticeable lag in quality.  Thrillers can fall apart very easily, least we not forget Rise of the Titanic. 

+ Edward Fox as the Jackal was a superb piece of casting, the man is a tour de force in this movie.  You really believe him in all his disguises, you see him evading the authorities and heading towards his goal of blowing chunks out of Charly-dG's head.  You also, and this is very important, never truly root for him.  For all his charm and charisma, you're reminded throughout the film that he's a bit of a bastard.  This is important, as you need to want him stopped, no matter how charismatic he is.

Hello, 118 118?  Can you help
us find Linda?
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+ But you need the good guys to be just as convincing as the Jackal himself, hence why the star of this show is really the unassuming Michael Lonsdale.  His portrayal of the quiet, but determined Lebel is wonderfully understated.  He's the exact opposite of his target, a man of simple tastes, but with the same level of intelligence and cunning.  The end scene where he is the one to shoot the Jackal is really tense, but also very quick too. 

+ The location work on this film is brilliant, all these famous areas which would cost a fortune to film in, not other places being made to look like another part in the world.  It's rather nice to see.

+ The film is close to the book, with a few slight changes (names and other things), all of which are minor.  This makes it a really satisfying film, as it doesn't deviate too much, something that is the downfall to other projects.

Cons

Watching this go boom is fun!
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- The ending after the Jackal is killed.  This is the only con that I have for this film.  Charles Calthrop turns up to find the police still looking through his house (what else are they going to find after so many weeks), the British wipe there hands and then you are at the burial.  That is all done in a few minutes.  For a film that took so long to build the drama, the ending was a little weak.

- I know that people will use the excuse "but that's what it was like at the time", but the only two real female characters here are both portrayed in an unflattering light.  The mistress who is a spy, betraying her Country, and the Baroness who sleeps with people to alleviate the boredom.  I mean, I was not expecting depth from this, but could it have hurt them to have a female detective in the background?  But, this was the '70s, so make of that what you will.

Final Verdict

Jackal - Master of disguise.
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The Day of the Jackal is a near-perfect political thriller, with a cast and director that work in perfect harmony.  Director Fred Zinnemann attention to detail (apart from where it comes to females) is spot on, he creates a tense atmosphere that drags you in, as you watch the Jackal make his way to the assassination day.  Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale are the bedrock of this movie, driving the narrative forward and creating a film that has mostly aged very well indeed.  My two cons aside, I think this is one of the best British based movies ever made, in terms of drama, quality and sheer scope.  There is no big final verdict here, just watch the movie.  But don't bother with the remake from 1997, it's shit.

9 out of ten - An almost perfect movie, loses a point for the rushed ending.