In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 11 nominations total
Jacques François
- Pascal
- (as Jacques Francois)
Raymond Gérôme
- Flavigny
- (as Raymond Gerome)
Michael Lonsdale
- Lebel
- (as Michel Lonsdale)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe special lightweight rifle that The Jackal concealed in a crutch was a genuine working model. Two of them were made for this movie; one was handed over to the British authorities, the other resides in the Paris Cinematheque.
- GoofsThe Jackal had taken an impression of the key to the apartment, and presumably had therefore made a copy. That means he could have simply slipped past the concierge while she was in the kitchen and gone up the stairs to the apartment without her knowing. That way, if anyone had come into the building to ask if she had seen anything, she would be there to answer "No", instead of being found lying on the floor.
- Crazy creditsThe Cross of Lorraine, a symbol General Charles de Gaulle used during his lifetime, appears at the beginning of the film.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Clock (2010)
Featured review
One of the finest thrillers ever made
The opening five minutes of the film are a marvel. Almost completely devoid of dialogue the scenes portray visually more story than most modern thrillers can fit into two hours. This is about the best book-to-film conversion I've ever seen. The cuts, where they are made, are logical and some locations are combined. From Forsyth's first, and probably best book (written in less than 5 weeks) this film contains nothing that does not drive the story forward. The character of the Jackal is brilliantly finely drawn. He doesn't contain any of the cliches that you would expect to see in a film written in the last twenty years (he doesn't display mental instability, or have flashbacks to some event in his past). He never tries to justify his pernicious occupation to anyone yet, strangely, doesn't come across as an evil man. Simply as a professional doing his job. The French police inspector is wonderfully underplayed and is as far away from the he-breaks-the-rules-but-he-gets-the-job-done cliche as you can possibly imagine. He is first seen attending to his pigeons and upon being told he is being put on the case simply says "Oh God..."....
Zimmemann's direction is great and the scenes are beautifully photographed - particularly in Paris.
This is an all-time great film. Definitely in my top ten. I suppose I must put something in negative so it makes for a balanced review so errr.... I think the French minister is wearing a very bad wig. Beyond that -marvelous.
Zimmemann's direction is great and the scenes are beautifully photographed - particularly in Paris.
This is an all-time great film. Definitely in my top ten. I suppose I must put something in negative so it makes for a balanced review so errr.... I think the French minister is wearing a very bad wig. Beyond that -marvelous.
helpful•23414
- dgriffiths
- May 14, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Der Schakal
- Filming locations
- La Bastide de Tourtour, Tourtour, Var, France(hotel where the Jackal meets Colette)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,056,255
- Runtime2 hours 23 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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