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| Monday, February 21, 2005 03:06 PM |
| This Weekend, Part the First |
 by Fëanor |
Greetings, programs!
First of all, I've got to say, looking for a house is a pretty stressful thing to do.
That being said, let's get on to the fun stuff. Saturday night, I think it was, I was flipping through the channels trying to calm myself down and I came across an interesting-looking film wherein some folks were trying to hire an assassin. It turned out to be The Day of the Jackal, the original film version of Frederick Forsyth's novel. I'd seen the remake before (it came out in '97 and was just your average action flick; it starred Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, and was called simply The Jackal), but never this original film. It looked pretty interesting, as I said, and it had only just begun, so I decided to go ahead and watch the rest of it. Well, it was less a conscious decision and more a development--something that came to pass as I sat in front of the TV, mesmerized. The movie just completely absorbed me. It feels practically like a documentary as it depicts in great detail an attempt on the life of French President Charles DeGaulle--from the hiring of the assassin known as the Jackal (whose true identity is never discovered), through all of his meticulous preparations, his sparring with the police departments and spy offices of multiple countries, the tense and frantic search for him by the members of said departments and offices, right up until the deed itself. Most of the film centers on the Jackal himself--a cold, calculating professional killer. Some of his actions and preparations seem strange to us, right up until the last scene when everything finally comes together and we realize just how clever he really is and how far ahead he has planned.
Half way through the film, no central "good guy" character had appeared yet as a nemesis for the Jackal, and I found myself contrasting this with the American version of the film, wherein Richard Gere's character is introduced immediately as the sort of rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold, Han Solo type guy, and Willis's Jackal is merely the evil villain to his hero. In DotJ, Edward Fox's Jackal is most definitely the main character--a totally fascinating human being, whose occasional flashes of emotion reveal little but the cold emptiness inside him.
Eventually, however, a main hero does arise from amongst the many policemen opposing the Jackal--a French detective named Lebel, played by Michael Lonsdale, whom I recognized immediately as one of my favorite Bond villains: Hugo Drax from Moonraker. He's a slightly weird little fellow, but just as determined, calculating, and intelligent as the Jackal himself. Both actors do excellent jobs with the parts.
The film is full of fascinating cat-and-mouse chases, political intrigue, clever detective work, sudden violence, and exciting near-captures. It builds and builds until the final, incredibly tense sequence in which the attempted assassination takes place. It's a thrilling scene worthy of Hitchcock, and the final, explosive, tension-breaking blast of gunfire is overdone in just the right way--like the ultimate, fantastic gout of blood at the conclusion of Sanjuro.
All-in-all, despite an occasionally clumsily acted or written scene, the film is totally excellent. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who has a number of classics on his filmography, including High Noon and Oklahoma! I'd definitely list The Day of the Jackal amongst his successes.
I've got more to say about this weekend, and it will include one or two more movie reviews, but I'll save it for later posts; this one's long enough. Until then... |
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