and didn't hate De Gaulle, why didn't he leave France with the $250,000 down payment once his plan was discovered? He could no longer realistically expect to carry out the assassination and also escape.
shareSPOILERS
Because as he said when he first met the OAS leaders this job would be the last he could be expected to do because of the world-famous target and the focus if successful (or not) on him the gunman. So he wanted the entire $500,000 U.S. dollars as payment since he would have to live a very discreet life from then on. His plan wasn't fully discovered- the authorities weren't aware of what his last disguise was or where exactly he would be shooting from until it was almost too late. Even when his pursuers found him he HAD gotten off a probably successful kill shot except his target had moved at the last second.
Ultimately one could say that the Jackal though a professional got a little too greedy with some arrogance thrown in and made the wrong move by taking the France turn-off instead of Italy.
Interesting question. I'm sure a lot was going through the Jackal's mind when he got the information that Wolenski talked before dying. He probably thought that, since the French authorities got to Wolenski, they might have got to Rodin too, and since Rodin knew the Jackal's name and address ("send me the contact phone number by mail"), he might as well just try to complete the mission. But, it just occurred to me, if the Jackal thought they might have gotten Rodin, then how would he collect the other $250,000? There would be no way, so therefore not a lot of motivation to complete the project. But he tried too anyway.
Well, it's all fiction anyhow, but it's interesting to speculate.
Arrogance and greed. He had already negotiated that if the plan were to fail before completion he could walk away. He pondered leaving at that fork in the road where he could have gone to Italy but decided that he had probably covered his tracks adequately. To be fair it was pure chance that led the British authorities to the name he used for his fake passport
sharehmmm....maybe there's something more than money that drives a professional in his "business"? He certainly was involved in his work. For sure he sweated the details and was always concerned that things would be technically right. As far as moral compunction well we see what he did. Killing apparently doesn't bother him. Just part of the job. The Jackal is an interesting guy in that he's a different kind of a guy than Zinneman's other "heroes", i.e. Kane (High Noon) and St. Thomas Moore (A Man for all Seasons). Those guys had a "conscience" with responsibility. The Jackal looks like he had "responsibility" but no conscience.
shareZinnemann has said that this type of film and lead character was kind of a departure for him - but maybe he saw his heroes, guys who had conscience with responsibility, in Lebel and all the others trying to stop the Jackal.
shareYes, it looked like it was. The Jackal was just on the other side of the "law". It appeared he had a diffeent moral sense than Zinneman's other characters.
shareIs it Lebel who says, "He simply challenged the whole lot of us".
He thinks that their knowing he exists doesn't mean they can find out who he is quickly enough and catch him.
And he's right: by the final day, they're just back to knowing the threat but no closer to knowing who he is or how he's going to do it. To me, that's the beauty of the film.
---------------------------------------------------------
Free your mind and the rest will follow
"Is it Lebel who says, "He simply challenged the whole lot of us".
I agree the Jackel had his mercenary reasons, but I'm also sure he was simply motivated by the "challenge" of pulling off the assassination and escaping against overwhelming odds. Remember his initial interview with the OAS guys where all and sundry agreed that it was "almost" impossible...but then he said he'd do it any way.
As I remember it, the book does make it quite clear that he just wants the money. The character's shown clearly in stark contrast to the principled OAS leaders.
There's a scene in the middle of the book where Valmy has told him over the phone that the intent of his mission has been discovered. It has the Jackal look at the restaurant bill in his hand, think, "Christ! The prices these people charged.", and reflect that what one needed was "dollars, dollars and more dollars".
To me, that's the beauty of the character shown in the book and 1973 film. It's only in dodgy action movies where the character wants to be "the best of the best". This guy just wants to be icily successful and retire.
Not quite like Bruce's bash at it years later :-)
---------------------------------------------------------
Free your mind and the rest will follow
In the book, the OAS ask the Jackal what would prevent him from vanishing with the first payment of $250,000. He tells them that he knows the OAS would hunt him down with a view to killing him. He says that he'd have to spend all of that money on protecting himself. He'd spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, which is why he wouldn't try to cheat them. In the same scene, he makes it quite clear what would happen if the second payment of $250.000 wasn't paid when the President was assassinated. "In that event, i will go to work on my own account..and my targets would be you 3 gentleman!"
share