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The Assassination (film)

April 13, 2024

The Assassination (French: L'Attentat, lit. 'The Attack') is a 1972 French-Italian political thriller film directed by Yves Boisset. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Gian Maria Volonté, and Roy Scheider, it was released in the U.S. as The French Conspiracy.

The Assassination
French film poster
Directed byYves Boisset
Written byBen Barzman
Basilio Franchina
StarringJean-Louis Trintignant
CinematographyRicardo Aronovich
Music byEnnio Morricone
Release dates
  • 4 October 1972 (1972-10-04) (Italy)
  • 11 October 1972 (1972-10-11) (France)
Running time
120 minutes
CountriesFrance
Italy
LanguageFrench
"The French Conspiracy" redirects here. Not to be confused with The French Connection (film).

The film was inspired by the 1965 disappearance of Moroccan nationalist politician Mehdi Ben Barka in Paris. Shortly after his death, it emerged that Ben Barka had been abducted by French police, leading to speculation of a plot between Moroccan agents, French intelligence, and the CIA.[1]

The Assassination was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize.[2]

Plot edit

Colonel Kassar (Piccoli), an African dictator supported by the CIA, makes a pact with the French secret service to target Sadiel (Volonte), a politician from his home country who is currently in exile in Geneva. Sadiel is a left-wing idealist who hopes to someday return and lead a democratic opposition to Kassar's regime.

French intelligence targets François Darien (Trintignant), a militant left-wing French journalist who is active in radical causes. It is implied that Darien supported the FLN during the Algerian War, where he was arrested for killing a police officer and was turned into a police informant. Lempereur (Bouquet), a lawyer working with French intelligence, identifies Darien as a past associate of Sadiel.

Government agents blackmail Darien into working with them, though he believes his role is merely to facilitate Sadiel's travel from Geneva to Paris, where the leader will film a television program. Darien realizes that the program is a sham, but Lempereur tries to convince him that is cover for secret negotiations between Sadiel and Kassar.

Sadiel agrees to come to Paris. However, he is abducted by corrupt policemen before he can meet with Darien and Michael Howard (Scheider), an American TV correspondent working on the program. Darien follows Sadiel to a mobster's house, where he sees his mentor and realizes that he has betrayed him. He also realizes that he will be killed by French intelligence to cover up the operation.

Darien escapes and warns his girlfriend Edith (Seberg), but refuses to go to the police, who he considers corrupt. Edith contacts Sadiel's lawyer Vigneau (Cremer), who goes to the police but refuses to tell them where Darien is hiding. Reluctantly, Police Commissioner Rouannat (Perier) orders a search of the mobster's house, but does not find anything out of the ordinary except a strange knife (which Kassar had threatened Sadiel with).

Darien calls Howard and tells him to meet at his office, where he has recorded a tape that reveals everything. The call is recorded by French intelligence, who it is implied have been tapping Darien's phones the whole time. Howard shows up but kills Darien, revealing himself as a CIA asset, and makes his escape before French police arrive. Darien's death is framed as a suicide, and the tape as his confession. Rouannat is suspicious, but is ordered by his superiors not to look into the matter further.

Cast edit

 
 
Mehdi Ben Barka (left) and Mohamed Oufkir inspired the dynamic between Sadiel and Kassar.

References edit

  1. ^ "The Murder of Mehdi Ben Barka". Time. 29 December 1975.
  2. ^ . MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.

External links edit


 

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April 13, 2024
assassination, film, assassination, french, attentat, attack, 1972, french, italian, political, thriller, film, directed, yves, boisset, starring, jean, louis, trintignant, gian, maria, volonté, scheider, released, french, conspiracy, assassinationfrench, film. The Assassination French L Attentat lit The Attack is a 1972 French Italian political thriller film directed by Yves Boisset Starring Jean Louis Trintignant Gian Maria Volonte and Roy Scheider it was released in the U S as The French Conspiracy The AssassinationFrench film posterDirected byYves BoissetWritten byBen BarzmanBasilio FranchinaStarringJean Louis TrintignantCinematographyRicardo AronovichMusic byEnnio MorriconeRelease dates4 October 1972 1972 10 04 Italy 11 October 1972 1972 10 11 France Running time120 minutesCountriesFranceItalyLanguageFrench The French Conspiracy redirects here Not to be confused with The French Connection film The film was inspired by the 1965 disappearance of Moroccan nationalist politician Mehdi Ben Barka in Paris Shortly after his death it emerged that Ben Barka had been abducted by French police leading to speculation of a plot between Moroccan agents French intelligence and the CIA 1 The Assassination was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 References 4 External linksPlot editColonel Kassar Piccoli an African dictator supported by the CIA makes a pact with the French secret service to target Sadiel Volonte a politician from his home country who is currently in exile in Geneva Sadiel is a left wing idealist who hopes to someday return and lead a democratic opposition to Kassar s regime French intelligence targets Francois Darien Trintignant a militant left wing French journalist who is active in radical causes It is implied that Darien supported the FLN during the Algerian War where he was arrested for killing a police officer and was turned into a police informant Lempereur Bouquet a lawyer working with French intelligence identifies Darien as a past associate of Sadiel Government agents blackmail Darien into working with them though he believes his role is merely to facilitate Sadiel s travel from Geneva to Paris where the leader will film a television program Darien realizes that the program is a sham but Lempereur tries to convince him that is cover for secret negotiations between Sadiel and Kassar Sadiel agrees to come to Paris However he is abducted by corrupt policemen before he can meet with Darien and Michael Howard Scheider an American TV correspondent working on the program Darien follows Sadiel to a mobster s house where he sees his mentor and realizes that he has betrayed him He also realizes that he will be killed by French intelligence to cover up the operation Darien escapes and warns his girlfriend Edith Seberg but refuses to go to the police who he considers corrupt Edith contacts Sadiel s lawyer Vigneau Cremer who goes to the police but refuses to tell them where Darien is hiding Reluctantly Police Commissioner Rouannat Perier orders a search of the mobster s house but does not find anything out of the ordinary except a strange knife which Kassar had threatened Sadiel with Darien calls Howard and tells him to meet at his office where he has recorded a tape that reveals everything The call is recorded by French intelligence who it is implied have been tapping Darien s phones the whole time Howard shows up but kills Darien revealing himself as a CIA asset and makes his escape before French police arrive Darien s death is framed as a suicide and the tape as his confession Rouannat is suspicious but is ordered by his superiors not to look into the matter further Cast edit nbsp nbsp Mehdi Ben Barka left and Mohamed Oufkir inspired the dynamic between Sadiel and Kassar Jean Louis Trintignant as Francois Darien an unstable intellectual Michel Piccoli as Colonel Kassar the dictator of a North African country Jean Seberg as Edith Lemoine a leftist nurse Gian Maria Volonte as Sadiel a leading Maghreb progressive Michel Bouquet as Lempereur a corrupt lawyer working with the French government Bruno Cremer as Michel Vigneau Sadiel s lawyer Francois Perier as Commissioner Rene Rouannat an honest police officer who investigates Sadiel s disappearance Roy Scheider as Michael Howard an American TV correspondent who helps plan Sadiel s program Daniel Ivernel as Antoine Acconetti a French mobster who cooperates with Kassar s plot Karin Schubert as Sabine Philippe Noiret as Pierre Garcin a public television director who helps plan Sadiel s program Jacques Francois as Lestienne the head of the French secret service Jean Bouise as a high ranking French police officer and Rouannat s superiorReferences edit The Murder of Mehdi Ben Barka Time 29 December 1975 8th Moscow International Film Festival 1973 MIFF Archived from the original on 16 January 2013 Retrieved 3 January 2013 External links editPlot at IMDb nbsp nbsp This article related to a French film of the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article related to an Italian film of the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Assassination film amp oldid 1196165624, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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