Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Edgar Ramirez, Alexander Scheer, Nora Von Waldstatten, Ahmad Kaabour, Christoph Bach, Rodney El-Haddad, Julia Hummer, Rami Farah, Talal El-Jurdi, Katharina Schuttler
Written by Olivier Assayas & Dan Franck
Certification UK 15
Runtime 159 minutes/Trilogy 338 minutes
Directed by Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas's latest effort is being released as a feature length movie cut down from a three part French mini-series as well as the the full-length five-and-a-half hour cut. This was the version I was fortunate enough to sit through – and by God it's a monumental achievement. Do try and make time for it – you certainly won't regret it.
It depicts roughly two decades, from the early '70s to the mid '90s, in the life of the famed terrorist and gunrunner Carlos Sanchez, though in the narrative he's never referred to as the Jackal. In the first installment, he's the young punk eager to outdo his more experienced betters in the fight for Palestinian liberation – organising bank raids and turning into a cold-blooded killer when an associate betrays him to the police. Part 2 sees him become more ambitious with a raid on an OPEC conference in Vienna, while the final section has him evading his enemies and being denied a safe haven to live as he's no longer in political fashion, thanks to the collapse of communism and the fact that his Marxist ideals no longer have any currency. The scope of the tale is breathtaking – it traverses the globe with enactments set in London, Paris, Beirut, Yemen, Rome, Sudan and Baghdad, with Lebanon the main location for all the Middle East scenes.
Edgar Ramirez gives a first rate performance as the womanising freedom fighter. Muscular and toned in the early sequences, he lets himself go as the years drag on, developing love handles and a beer belly, his pudgy face denoting an unkempt appearance. But his magnetic portrayal – bold, nuanced and slyly assured – is superb. It's perfectly understandable why attractive women would fall for him. Not least Nora Von Waldstatten as Magdalena, who becomes his wife and the mother to his child. Their relationship is delineated well - their sexual enthusiasm giving way to rancour and lack of trust. Her drinking increases and in the final stages she is at her wits end with the life they are leading. It's a bravura turn and she hits all the right notes with impeccable precision. Also excellent is Alexander Scheer as Johannes, Carlos' German accomplice, also a heavy drinker but a less confident and impressive individual when involved in their terrorist dealings.
The raid on the OPEC conference is the showstopping highlight. We see the revolutionaries travel to the Viennese destination by bus, the storming of the building and the taking hostage of the OPEC oil ministers, all from different countries, the agonising wait as the authorities capitulate to their demands – basically a plane that will take them to Baghdad. Once aboard however, they can only travel to Algiers as they don't have enough fuel to go all the way. At Algiers, some of the hostages are let go, the plane refuels and goes to Tripoli instead, but the Libyan authorities refuse to deal with them. So they then have to go back to Algiers, where Carlos negotiates a lucrative pay-off for letting the remaining hostages go free – and thereby giving the lie to his passion for overthrowing capitalist regimes. This section takes up about an hour of screen time and is quite simply one of the most rivetting pieces of cinema you will see all year. It's perfectly paced, utterly absorbing and completely gripping. And to think that it was originally made for French telly is astonishing.
Carlos is a genuinely outstanding work. If you don't fancy sitting through the full length version in a cinema – there is an interval – then buy the Blu-ray or DVD (out November 1). A marvellous example of classic moviemaking with great performances, it simply must be seen. Cancel all other arrangements.