Carlos / Carlos the Jackal (2010) 3 x DVD9 Studio Canal, 4 x DVD9 and 2 x Blu-Ray Criterion Collection
on November 29th, 2016 at 09:38
Olivier Assayas' near-epic Carlos boasts the tagline, “The man who hijacked the world”. That man was the Venezuelan Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who in an act of revolutionary bravado rechristened himself “Carlos” — a single name meant to echo and intimidate. In the early 1970s, Carlos become virtually a household name, the Cher or Madonna of international terrorism.
Carlos’ career of terror began under the auspices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. This association culminates in an attack on an OPEC meeting and subsequent kidnapping of oil ministers, but the fallout results in a parting of ways as Carlos strikes out as a freelancer. The years that follow see his hands bloodied by bombings, assassinations, and more, but they also see Carlos and the world around him changing in unexpected ways. His convictions and causes are replaced by ego and excess, the Berlin Wall comes down, and countries that once sponsored or even supported his terrorist leanings begin to distance themselves. The man who commanded the world’s attention soon finds himself homeless. Welcome to the bloody rise and bloated fall of Carlos the Jackal.
Director: Olivier Assayas
Cast: Edgar Ramirez, Alexander Scheer, Fadi Abi Samra
Country: France, Germany
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
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