Edgar Ramirez's performance is the reason to see what is for the most part an over long recreation of the life of Carlos the Jackal.
The film covers the life of Illich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos, from his beginnings with the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) through to his capture in 1994 by the French in Sudan.
Three part miniseries is getting a theatrical release in the US from IFC films and the Sundance Channel, and while I think its great to see the widescreen images on a big screen, I'm left wondering if people won't tire of the narrative before the film comes to an end.
The trouble for me was that after two parts that cover about ten years of real time in three and a half hours of screen time the final two hours jumps through the remaining 15 years of Carlos's freedom. The result is a messy series of scenes that felt like they were the second half of longer sequences. Carlos, a cool as a cucumber fellow for most of the movie suddenly goes crazy when he finds the Hungarian police watching him. It's a funny scene but very much out of character. Strife between Carlos and his wife is reduced to occasional arguments with no set up. The final third also is way too much talk and not enough action. For me this final third derails the whole film with it's flaws reflecting back on what has gone before unfavorably (for example there is a few lines about Carlos's past before the movie starts at one point and it made me realize how little of Carlos's story was missing.)
Watching the film, especially in the final section I was struck that I couldn't really find a reason why the film was taking five and a half hours to tell the story. There was nothing going on on screen that made me feel that they needed the time to tell this story. As far as I'm concerned a story should take as long as it needs to be told but here the extreme length seems to work against the film since simply allows the filmmakers to meander too much. Carlos maybe charismatic but there isn't much to him and after a certain point not much happens.
I'd wait for cable.
(Those of you looking for bloopers will want to see this film since the film is full of mismatched shots with in sequences as hands, cigarettes and objects move from shot to shot. There is also a bombing that was done with CGI as the non reaction of all of the people on the sidewalks can attest.
The film covers the life of Illich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos, from his beginnings with the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) through to his capture in 1994 by the French in Sudan.
Three part miniseries is getting a theatrical release in the US from IFC films and the Sundance Channel, and while I think its great to see the widescreen images on a big screen, I'm left wondering if people won't tire of the narrative before the film comes to an end.
The trouble for me was that after two parts that cover about ten years of real time in three and a half hours of screen time the final two hours jumps through the remaining 15 years of Carlos's freedom. The result is a messy series of scenes that felt like they were the second half of longer sequences. Carlos, a cool as a cucumber fellow for most of the movie suddenly goes crazy when he finds the Hungarian police watching him. It's a funny scene but very much out of character. Strife between Carlos and his wife is reduced to occasional arguments with no set up. The final third also is way too much talk and not enough action. For me this final third derails the whole film with it's flaws reflecting back on what has gone before unfavorably (for example there is a few lines about Carlos's past before the movie starts at one point and it made me realize how little of Carlos's story was missing.)
Watching the film, especially in the final section I was struck that I couldn't really find a reason why the film was taking five and a half hours to tell the story. There was nothing going on on screen that made me feel that they needed the time to tell this story. As far as I'm concerned a story should take as long as it needs to be told but here the extreme length seems to work against the film since simply allows the filmmakers to meander too much. Carlos maybe charismatic but there isn't much to him and after a certain point not much happens.
I'd wait for cable.
(Those of you looking for bloopers will want to see this film since the film is full of mismatched shots with in sequences as hands, cigarettes and objects move from shot to shot. There is also a bombing that was done with CGI as the non reaction of all of the people on the sidewalks can attest.