The Assassination (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 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

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
Moroccan nationalist Mehdi Ben Barka
Moroccan general Mohamed Oufkir, thought to be responsible for Ben Barka's murder
Mehdi Ben Barka (left) and Mohamed Oufkir inspired the dynamic between Sadiel and Kassar.

References
  1. "The Murder of Mehdi Ben Barka". Time. 29 December 1975.
  2. "8th Moscow International Film Festival (1973)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.


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