Leofwine_draca CARLOS THE JACKAL is a French TV miniseries biopic that gets into the heart and soul of the man who was Carlos the Jackal. Carlos was a Venezuelan left-wing revolutionary who embarked on an extensive terror campaign across the world in the 1970s: a campaign designed to free Palestine through bombings, assassinations, and the taking of hostages. The miniseries follows him from his humble beginnings to his final days behind hunted down by old foes.Be warned: this is a VERY lengthy miniseries and even watching it in three parts takes some dedication. It's very much in the feel of the likes of THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX and MESRINE, with the emphasis on realism throughout, with terrorist attacks carried out in a matter-of-fact way. The writers enjoy exploring the minutiae of the situation, from the various campaigns themselves to Carlos's mindset and way of life. It's an incredibly political film that works as an engaging historical document, putting into clarity the complexities of Western-Arab relations during the 1970s and beyond.Inevitably the story belongs to Edgar Ramirez (THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM), who makes the film his own as the larger-than-life titular character. But the supporting cast are equally authentic, and there are lots of fine set-pieces. Be warned, though, things do slow down in the last third, where Carlos's fate is played out in almost excruciating slow motion. It takes some sitting thorough, but the experience as a whole is a rewarding one.

treywillwest I once heard Solzhenitsyn described as a major nineteenth-century novelist writing in the late twentieth century. By that same logic, I would call this film a major French historical novel of the 1950s in the form of a film from the early twenty-first century about events in the 1970s through '90s. This five and a half hour history of the career of Carlos the Jackal is a top-tier example of old-school existentialist biography. There is no moralizing, no psychology- only choice, and the historical-social conditions that shape choice. On this basis alone do the film-makers, heroically in my opinion, offer their "judgement" of Carlos. I admit that there were times while watching this that the thought entered my head, "Why is this six hours long?" But the end brought it all together. The last scenes, depicting Carlos's last days of freedom in Sudan, are surprisingly moving. Only in this last hour (last minutes?) are we forced to acknowledge that we have spent so much time with Carlos and his friends/accomplices that we have (no matter what we "moralistically" make of them- devil, hero, or anywhere in between) come to care for them. The film is so long, we have spent such time in their company, that no matter what their life-choices they appear as human to us, and we empathize with them. The use of music in the film is brilliant. Until the Sudan section already mentioned, its all early '80's post-punk, which I found out of place in the early parts of the film, which take place in the pre-punk early 1970s. But as history moves forward it works brilliantly. Once Carlos makes his last stop in Africa the music switches to African death-dirges. Carlos is human. If we mourn for even him, we mourn for all of us.

laffnj Carlos the Jackal does way to much to be something that its not. A film more about the story then the entertainment. The long running time (2h: 45m) gives you the feeling that, like with any long running film, that it will be an absolute masterpiece or a boring film that drags on forever. This film was centered right in the middle. Its depiction of the greatest terrorist to ever lived shows glimpses of a genius masterpiece, but with such long intervals between great scenes it makes it a struggle to hold complete attention till the end. Keeping attention till the very end comes with no reward, expecting an exciting ending that makes the nearly three-hour movie worthwhile never comes. Although Edgar Ramirez was a picture perfect Carlos and gave one of the performances of his career, in which he deserved his Golden Globe nominations. If you're interested in the story rather then the entertainment, then you will enjoy this movie. Entertainment wise, it's not the greatest.

M. J Arocena Much will be said about this tour de force. A compilation of unbelievable acts of heroic madness. A caption at the beginning of he film warn us that "it should be treated as a work of fiction" Well, thank you very much. What makes this extraordinary achievement, truly extraordinary is Edgar Ramirez. A monumental performance that allows us to make sense of the man. Revolution is in his DNA but so fragile. His ego makes him corruptible and his nature swings between the extremes of an idealist and a sociopath. I was riveted and appalled. I had DVR all three episodes to watch at my leisure but once I started I couldn't stop watching. So I saw the whole thing in one sitting and it went fast very fast. That in itself is extraordinary. So, not to be missed.