Carlos

When you want to make a movie of a notorious terrorist responsible for many innocent lives, it is a very difficult task: If you portray him in a romantic way you will be accused of glorifying an evil man, while if you portray him in a dark light you will be accused of blind fanaticism.

Director Olivier Assayas has managed to strike a fine balance between these two extremes, and thus he recounts the story of Carlos in an objective and cool-headed way which fascinates the viewer from the beginning to the very end. The story begins with Carlos entering the world of terrorism as a young idealist, and ends with his capture at a time when he has become a corrupt and hedonist man. Throughout this time frame, Assayas shows us the story of a man, who despite his horrendous crimes, his life is really intriguing to watch.

Edgar Ramirez is excellent in the central role, but the important thing in this film is that actually EVERYONE in the film is excellent in his/her role: The acting is superb all around, and at some point it begins to feel as if you are watching a documentary with real terrorists on the screen instead of actors. The direction is also superb, with the the pace being constantly fast and coherent.

A great film to watch. 10/10.

Fascinating 5 hour plus, 3 part film about Carlos the Jackal (although he never actually called himself that) the headline grabbing terrorist of the 70s and 80s.

With little exposition, we're dropped into a whirlwind of violence, self-aggrandizement, sexual seduction, and power games, moving at an almost dizzying speed. The film allows us to slowly figure out Carlos, instead of explain him in a simple facile way.

While never sympathetic, somehow the amazing Edgar Rameriez allows us to feel for this id and ego driven creature, powered far more by the need for attention and adulation (whether from women or the press) than by true belief. Indeed, one of the most interesting things about the film is how (intentionally) shallow and hollow Carlos's political monologues ring.

The last 1/3 is the slowest and hardest to sit through. Carlos's slow decline into ineffectiveness and unimportance is sometimes patience trying. But Rob Nelson, in his excellent Village Voice review makes a strong argument that this is a) unavoidable after the high paced rush of the first two parts and 2) part of the point of the film; without his fixes of women and power there wasn't much to Carlos, and without them both he and we want it to be over.

This is a film I'd like to see again. While I don't quite agree (yet) with the many critics who have hailed this as of the best films of last 10 years, I do think it's a challenging, brilliantly acted, wonderfully made film, that gives context both to modern terrorism and recent world history. Add to that, an exploration of the blurring fine line between power and uncontrolled narcissism that seems to dog leaders (especially male) of all political stripes from Hitler to Bill Clinton to George Bush to Carlos.

That's a lot to cover, even in 5 hours.

I remember watching the full 3 part mini-series some years ago, and being quite engaged. However I'd strongly recommend not watching any of the abridged versions. I had a DVD for the roughly 170 minute version and was left feeling confused and bored. It's hardly made clear why he has become so notourious. Near the he starts a relationship with a woman who out of nowhere has a child with her. Then that ends almost straight away and he has a new girlfriend, out of nowhere. We see him with the Syrians, then a sequence of the Berlin wall falling is shown, and then immediately after we see the Syrians cutting ties with him. If you want the proper experience, see the full 5+ hours of it.

This is an engrossing, sometimes scary retelling of history, history so recent it's almost shocking how dimly it is remembered in our time. Rich in detail of a time of world-wide revolutionary fervor before its collapse with the victory of capitalism in 1990 and its replacement by the specter of Jihad. A film that raises many important questions about politics and society that remain with us today - and yet still manages to be an exciting action/espionage yarn.

Olivier Assasyas has, over the years, continued to produce so, so many interesting, impeccably intelligent, and constantly varied pieces of work - from moving generational dramas ('Late August, Early September') to pieces of compellingly sordid sleaze ('Demon Lover' and 'Boarding Gate') to quiet soulful meditations ('Summer Hours' and the sublime 'Clean'). I can't think of anyone else with such a range (except maybe Soderberg). And I think, for my money, he has become the new preeminent French film director of our poor, poor time.

CARLOS is a five hour miniseries that has garnered some of the longest articles of praise from the newspapers across the country. Technically speaking that is understandable: the shots of the various countries discussed and the quality of acting from a very broad spectrum of actors across the world is impressive. But the story (or documentary as this is a recreation of many years of revolutionary movements that culminated in a world famous raiding encounter at the OPEC oil ministers conference in Vienna in 1975) wares thin very quickly. Yes, it is somewhat enlightening to follow the development and actions of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan revolutionary better known as 'Carlos', who founded a worldwide terrorist organization, finding his goals through hijacking of planes, capturing hostages, arranging talks with some of the major countries in the world. But there is such a sameness to the action that after about 2 hours of the series it is difficult to wait for the central climactic drama. Writers Dan Franck and Olivier Assayas (remembered for 'Paris, je t'aime' and 'Irma Vep' who also directs) may have taken some liberties with facts but they do deliver enough information about the birth and breeding of terrorist groups to give us all a wake-up call.

Édgar Ramírez, a young Venezuelan actor fluent in many languages, is the main reason for watching this epic suspense thriller. He is a major presence and makes 'Carlos' seem like a righteous humanitarian revolutionary - a problem when the details of the real character Carlos are examined. He is able assisted by a strong cast - a few of the main additional characters are played by Alexander Scheer, Alejandro Arroyo, Ahmad Kaabour, Talal El-Jordi and Juana Acosta in addition to many many others. But sitting through he series, especially during the long hours of lack of activity aboard a hijacked airplane with hostages for example, begins to bog down the story. Once the idea of the story is hatched it simply becomes a long song spanning many countries and diminishes in interest. The series is due to open in theaters this week: it will be interesting to see if they play the entire 5 hours in one sitting!

Grady Harp