The Day of the Jackal (1973)

The novel is great.

R1 I have never read the novel and have only seen clips of the movie.

I did enjoy The Manchurian Candidate book and film. Is it better/worse?

Went to see this on a date in high school. Don't know what I'd think of it now but at 14 I fell asleep.

*Maybe Jr. High School. It's been a while.

One of my all-time favorites and I usually avoid this kind of movie. Not a wasted scene in a 2-1/2 hour movie.

I remember that I liked it a lot when it first came out. That is all I have to say.

I could easily have picked up a killer in the seventies or eighties. You trusted gay men. You just did.

It's a really good movie. I don't get why you want to compare it to "The Manchurian Candidate," though.

The book is even better. The details of Le Chacal's journey and preparations are totally fascinating.

Excellent film.

Edward Fox…whew. You can see where Freddie gets that posh-hot thing he’s got going on. The movie is really great but if it weren’t I’d still watch just for Fox.

I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't seen it, but when you get to the Jackal's last scene, pay attention to how fake his final onscreen moment is. You'll know what I mean when you see it, and it's always funny to me.

I loved this scene.

We're in trouble on this one. Our agents inside the OAS can't pin him down, since not even the OAS knows who he is. Action Service can't destroy him; they don't know who to destroy. The gendarmes, all forty-eight thousand of them, can't pursue him; they don't know who to pursue. The police can't arrest him. How can they? They don't know who to arrest.

Agreed, R10. Edward Fox looked good in those days and he even shows his naked ass in this film, something uncommon at the time.

The first time watching it (during its original release), I thought it was pretty sluggish going - until it suddenly kicked into gear and I was riveted. Will always watch it whenever it’s on. Great film and great filmmaking by Fred Zinnemann. All the actors, but especially both Fox and Lonsdale are terrific.

Yeah, it has a great cast. Other than Edward Fox, Derek Jacobi & Timothy West, are all the other actors gone now?

I remember seeing this film when I was 10 years old on a Cape Cod vacation with my parents in 1972. I’m not sure they knew there would be a man’s naked butt and a woman’s bare breasts in the movie.

I give myself points for being a 10-year-old, who found this film to be totally captivating. I vividly remember the climax scene.

My brother came too! He was only 8!

An often overlooked gem from that great cinematic decade, TDOTJ holds up very well. Enjoy the plot, play spot the actor, a perfect rainy afternoon film.

Yes, yes it does.

Good timing for me, OP, as I await from Amazon the required wiring to hook up my VCR to my Samsung Smart TV. I have the official DVD, the official VHS, and a VHS of the movie taped decades ago when it was shown on television. I want to compare all.

"Considering you expect to get France in return,..."

[quote] My brother came too! He was only 8!

Impressive.

So I should read the book then buy the film?

Either way, I think. They're both very good.

It's a great movie, I've watched it twice in the last year since I rediscovered it on streaming. Fox is perfect, he really conveys the empty personality. The production values are top-tier, and I love seeing the interiors of French homes and hotels.

It had special meaning for me because I lived in Algeria in the late 1960s, after their revolution when they expelled the French oppressors. Even while living there (albeit as a kid), I wasn't aware of the huge scope of France having to absorb so many pieds noirs. Watching TDOTJ prompted me to do a lot of reading.

I preferred "Day Of The Locust".

It's excellent and holds up very well. Released in 1973, the film concerns events of a decade earlier and manages to catch an earlier period of the then near past and to hold its own a half-century later. I saw it not long ago for the first time in 20 or so years and it doesn't feel like an early 1970s take on an aspect of history from a decade earlier. It's of its time, of course, but very lightly so, and only on some consideration.

As another poster said, it's a lean and rather elegant film without wasted time or scenes, with some interesting turns, and very well done. The chateau scenes impressed me when I saw it at age 12, and seeing them again was a surprise and a pleasure again. It's a great story very well told and quite as enjoyable in 2024 as in 1973. And having seen it s few times, its tension holds up.

Agree it holds up very well, which is more than you can say about the crap remake with smug Bruce Willis in the title role.

I have never even considered watching the remake.

It has great cinematography throughout Europe. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing.

Another thumbs up. It's very intense and suspenseful, especially considering you probably know the ending...

A new production as TV mini-series for Sky/Peacock is afoot starring Úrsula Corberó (Tokio in 'La Casa de Papel', Netflix, Spain, 2017-2021) ('Money Heist' U S. title).

Coberó plays Nuría, "a woman who knows the real identity of Chacal, but does not know who he really is." Other actors include Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones), Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Chukwudi Iwuji (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Lia Williams (The Crown).

Oh, man.

I can tell right now that this "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" new version will be as execrable and forgettable as the re-make of "The Little Drummer Girl" as a series with Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgard.

The Day of The Jackass

R30

Little Drummer Girl

the novel was great, the movie was ok at best, the series was absolutely great. A brilliant bringing to life of the novel.

The day of the asshole

I'm curious if only because I will watch most anything with the excellent Úrsula Corberó. But what little information that's presented suggests it's a remade, rethought, reworked, updated version rather than the elegant and spare 1972 film.

That’s not suggested…it’s directly and openly stated.

Steve-O as Charles DeGaulle

Billy Porter as Denise.

For years I thought it was James Fox. But I think James was in King Rat which I loved as much as this movie.

Brothers, r38.

Which Fox brother is in A Passage to India?

R32, I'll give the series another go. But I do really like the movie's "transistor radio batteries" foreshadowing/resolution, especially the Sherlockian "no cow noise" ("The dog did nothing in the nighttime." Holmes: "That was the curious incident.").

However, the twists, turns, and character convolutions written just to lead to such a basic denouement were ridiculous.

R42 refers to Little Drummer Girl, not DOTJ.

R40, James. Edward is the Jackal. And is in this "Midsomer Murders":

It may be superficially dated, say the costumes and cars, but it’s still a really fun time at the movies. I loved watching his intricate planning and his ability to improvise when things didn’t go right. He used that European thing so smoothly, that attitude that sees sex as an adult pastime that can be as easily enjoyed with a member of one’s own sex as with a member of the opposite sex.

I have the DVD.

[Quote] Edward Fox looked good in those days and he even shows his naked ass in this film, something uncommon at the time.

R13 You're obviously unaware of Alan Bates in King of Hearts (1966), Leonard Whiting in Romeo and Juliet, Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes, Jon Voight Midnight Cowboy, James Caan Rabbit Run, Michael Caine The Magus, Kirk Douglas The War Wagon, Barry Evans Here We Go Around the Mulberry Bush, Bruce Davison Last Summer and The Strawberry Statement, Christopher Jones Three in the Attic, Michael Parks The Bible ...Malcolm McDowell A Clockwork Orange (1971)

It IS The Day of the Jackal!

OP Fred Zinnemann was a very talented director. I like The Member of the Wedding (1952) From Here to Eternity (1953) and The Nun's Story (1959). I've never seen The Day of the Jackal and this thread makes me want to seek it out.

from John Simon's review

'The Day of the Jackal Fred Zinneman's thriller is much better than I expected.'

' The final irony in particular proves a manifest phony on closer inspection still much of the film is persuasive and all of the 142 minutes holds one's interest'

'It is a civilized and thought-provoking treatment of a highly uncivilized activity.'

R48, You MUST see it! And from the very opening second!

Every character without exception is played brilliantly, but especially those of Edward Fox (a Fox playing a Jackal, haha), Ronald Pickup (the Forger), and Michael Lonsdale (Deputy Commissioner Lebel). The plot is tight; the Fox chase is exciting with the right amount of twists and turns, some literal; and the denouement is intense and cathartic, as it should be.

Why, I just might watch it again today! (Viewing #34 or something! 😄)

I don't really care for it, but it's better than The Day Of The Locust (1975)

and The Day of the Locust is better than The Day of the Dolphin (1973)

The New Yorker Pauline Kael- It's preposterously ill-conceived.

What are WE---chopped liver?!

The day of the labia

R49, also a young Derek Jacobi -- pre-"I, Claudius" fame.

I heard of the movie as a young kid and thought there were literal jackals in the film. I was disappointed to learn that it didn’t contain scenes of doglike creatures on the African subcontinent.

[quote] also a young Derek Jacobi -- pre-"I, Claudius" fame.

[quote] a who's who of British and French character actors- Michael Lonsdale, Derek Jacobi, Eric Porter

Just finishing the Redmayne series, now I'm interested in checking this out.

Edward Fox was technically good but never an interesting actor. He’s almost the Redmayne of his generation.

It's very different R57 but worth it.

I just watched it on YouTube. Not only does the movie stand up it stands up rather well.