2010’s French-German co-production Carlos began as a television miniseries, its three parts topping out at a lengthy 5 hours and 39 minutes, while a 165 minute version was released theatrically. In truth, the longer version is necessary to really understand the notorious career of Illich Ramairez Sánchez (Edgar Ramírez), the Venezuelan terrorist and killer for hire who went by the name Carlos. Known around the world as Carlos the Jackal, he said that Marxism was his religion and that he was dedicated to the Palestinian cause.
Perhaps by trade, the fervent PFLP member talks almost non-stop throughout Olivier Assayas’ film, piling tirades upon tirades of revolutionary rhetoric and detailed historical accounts to incite willing comrades; the rhetoric, it would seem, is also a strong aphrodisiac for radical leftists of the female persuasion, as he always has someone more than willing to share his bed.
For all the talking, Assayas has first and foremost, crafted an action film. The camera is almost always active. What begins in Beirut, where a young, fit Carlos receives his first big assignment from Wadie Haddad (Ahmad Kaabour), ends two decades later in Khartoum, where a beer-bellied Carlos briefly enjoys protection from the Syrians. In between, Carlos undertakes various bloody missions: taking hostages at a consulate in The Hague to secure the release of a Japanese comrade, and kidnapping a group of OPEC ministers, among other things. During these years, trying to change Carlos’ reputation as a loose cannon among his sponsors take their toll. For a while his group operates out of the Eastern Bloc Soviet satellite Hungary, with the only rule being that all their attacks be conducted elsewhere. Carlos can’t even follow that rule, and is forced to find a new sponsor. In time, Carlos loses his status as the leader of a great revolution, and becomes a gun for hire, a political murderer, willing to hit almost anyone or anything for a paycheck and asylum. As the power of the Soviet Bloc deteriorates, Carlos’ options disappear. Eventually, his former Syrian employers make a deal to help a dedicated French anti-terror squad track him down.
For anyone who has the even the slightest recollection of the period when Carlos was the most wanted fugitive in the world, watching this film makes the fact that he was able to evade capture for so long, all the more amazing. By the middle of part three, when Carlos seems to kill nearly everyone in his path, he’s holed up in Syria with his wife and child, last place that will hide him on the indistinct promise that he’ll assassinate the leader of Egypt. Once the Berlin Wall falls, Syria decides he’s a liability.
Shot on locations throughout Lebanon, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Morocco, Sudan, and Yemen, this epic film is one of the most detailed films of a political figure you’ll ever see. Before and after shooting began Carlos repeatedly warned Assayas not to complete his film – so when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May earlier this year, Carlos was none too pleased.
Édgar Ramírez is wonderful in the lead role of Carlos. The actor is able to balance the arrogance and self-confidence Sánchez is known for with small hints of a man suddenly unsure of what to do next when trouble arises, hastily acting on his decisions, regardless of the consequences. The filmmakers do a fine job of humanizing and demystifying the man behind the monster, not by turning him into a sympathetic figure, but by showing him to be a man with many flaws.
Note: This Blu-ray release contains the complete five-and-a-half hour version of Carlos.
Presented in the 2:35:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer from Criterion is utterly fabulous. Carlos possesses a distinct visual palette of yellows and browns that are served flawlessly here. Compression artifacitng, edge enhancement, aliasing, or any other digital anomalies are nowhere to be found. Black levels are inky and consistent and detail is spot on throughout.
The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound mix is just as fabulous. Fusing the ordinary dialogue sequences with loud, dynamic action scenes, this lossless track is a pitch prefect. All dialogue is perfectly audible, surrounds are utilized liberally and cleanly, and fidelity is finessed, with both high-and low-ends coming through pristinely.
English SDH subtitles are included.
The two-disc Blu-ray set contains the following special features:
Disc 1
- Trailer: the original U.S. trailer for Carlos. In Spanish and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (3 min, 1080p).
- Shooting of the OPEC Sequence: raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments by director Olivier Assayas about the OPEC hostage crisis. Directed by Arnaud Giocomini for Film En Stock. In French and English, with optional English subtitles and imposed French subtitles where necessary. (21 min, 1080i).
- Selected-scene Commentary: cinematographer Denis Lenoir discusses six important scenes from Carlos. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080p).
Disc 2
- Olivier Assayas: an informative video interview with director Olivier Assayas, who offers his thoughts on why and how Carlos became a mythical figure during the 70s and 80s. The French director also discusses the various obstacles his team had to overcome before and during the shooting of Carlos, and more. The video interview was shot exclusively for Criterion in Paris in April 2011. (43 min, 1080p).
- Edgar Ramirez: actor Edgar Ramirez compares Carlos to Che and the socio-political environment the two shared before the end of the Cold War. The video interview was shot exclusively for Criterion in Tenerife, Spain, in June 2011. (20 min, 1080p).
- Denis Lenoir: Denis Lenoir, one of Carlos‘ two cinematographers, discusses his collaboration with director Olivier Assayas. The video interview was shot exclusively for Criteiron in April 2011. (14 min, 1080p).
- Carlos: Terrorist Without Borders: this absorbing documentary first aired in France in 1997, as part of the television series Les brulures de l’histoire. It traces the life of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez a.k.a Carlos, from his involvement with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1970 to his imprisonment in Paris in 1994. In French, with optional English subtitles. (59 min, 1080i).
- Hans-Joachim Klein – an interview with German left-wing militant Hans-Joachim Klein a.k.a Angie, conducted in 1995 by Daniel Leconte, who produced Olivier Assayas’ Carlos. The interview was excerpted from the documentaries The Carlos Years: Klein, A German Case – First Part and The Carlos Years: Angie, The Clandestine Years – Second Part, courtesy of Doc En Stock. In German, with optional English subtitles. (39 min, 1080i).
- Maison de France: a documentary film about the 1983 bombing of the Maison de France in West Berlin, an act against the French state planned by Johannes Weinrich on behalf of Carlos. In German and French, with optional English subtitles. (89 min, 1080i).
- Booklet: an illustrated booklet featuring essays by critics Colin MacCabe and Greil Marcus, plus biographies on selected historical figures portrayed in Carlos, written by the film’s historical adviser, Stephen Smith.