<\/a><\/p>\nAn epic project depicting the career of an international terrorist,\u00a0Carlos\u00a0is one of the most riveting films in recent memory.<\/p>\n
Director Olivier Assayas has brilliantly recreated the life and times of the Venezualan revolutionary (Eduardo Ramierez), born\u00a0Ilich Ramirez Sanchez and later nicknamed ‘Carlos the Jackal’, to\u00a0paint a fascinating portrait of a historical figure.<\/p>\n
It charts his early years as a violent revolutionary\u00a0in Europe as he proves his worth to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); missions for\u00a0states such as Iraq, Libya and East Germany; an infamous kidnapping of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna in 1975 and his gradual decline as he sought refuge in Eastern Europe, Syria and Sudan as he struggled to cope with the end of the Cold War before finally being caught by French agents in 1994, where he currently resides in jail under a life sentence.<\/p>\n
An ambitious French TV project, it is getting two kinds of theatrical release: a three part five and a half hour cut and a shortened 165 minute version.<\/p>\n
It will then get released on DVD and Blu-ray soon after along with a variety of on demand options in several countries.<\/p>\n
Despite its origins, it was shot on 35 mm film and to all intents and purposely feels like a sprawling historical epic.\u00a0Assayas doesn’t just recreate the period, he plunges us head first in to the era with an exhaustive attention to detail.<\/p>\n
The production design is especially outstanding, with costumes, locations and sets all used to present the period with remarkable authenticity.<\/p>\n
At the centre of all this is a captivating central performance from Ramierez, who not only bears an eerie resemblance to Carlos, but anchors the film as it criss-crosses through many years and locations: he captures the vanity, obsession and physique of the man rarely in a portrayal that rarely hits a wrong note.<\/p>\n
The supporting performances are also strong with\u00a0stand out\u00a0turns from Juana Acosta (as an early lover); Alexander Scheer (playing his longest serving colleague) and Nora von Waldst\u00e4tten (as his increasingly beleaguered wife).<\/p>\n
Discerning viewers should catch the full version as the editing gives sequences a fluid sense of movement and pace which belies its long running time. Although the third part sags a little compared to the first two, it moves with an incredible fluency and pace which makes many 90 minute films seem ponderous by comparison.<\/p>\n
Some memorable set pieces include his first mission, a botched airport attack, a betrayal, an extended kidnap sequence and the final entrapment of Carlos as the net gradually closes in.<\/p>\n
Based on extensive research, with the filmmakers allowing for an interpretation of some events, the attention to detail reaps rich dividends because it never feels burdened by obvious movie tropes.<\/p>\n
Many sequences are intercut with news footage from the time, which provide a counterpoint to the perspective of Carlos and his inner circle, as well as rooting us in the historical record.<\/p>\n
The handheld cameras and sound design all helps give the action an added urgency which is tingling throughout, and neatly conveys the anxieties of a life on the run.<\/p>\n