‘THE DAY OF THE JACKAL’ ON PEACOCK

Historical events can lead to interesting entertainment, whether in books, cinema, and even television. British author Frederick Forsyth got the ball rolling, so to speak, when as a journalist in the early Sixties he covered French affairs and the assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle.

During World War II, De Gaulle became a general in the French army, and later a leader in the resistance during Nazi Germany’s occupation of France. Until his death in 1970, the General would remain a consequential leader, even serving as President for a decade.

General de Gaulle was the subject of a deadly plot by the paramilitary group OAS, composed of military members filled with bitter resentment that France allowed Algeria to become an independent nation.

While several attempts were made on his life, the most famous effort occurred on August 22, 1962. Barely escaping death in a hail of machine gun fire, De Gaulle’s ordeal formed the basis of Forsyth’s first novel.

“The Day of the Jackal” was the result of Forsyth’s maiden step to a career of thriller novelist that included the works of “The Odessa File,” “The Dogs of War,” and “The Fourth Protocol,” all of which were adapted into films.

Forsyth’s “The Day of the Jackal” was first adapted into the 1973 film of the same title, starring British actor Edward Fox as the Jackal, a professional assassin hired to kill then-President of France Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1962.

The Peacock ten-episode series “The Day of the Jackal” is set in modern-day Europe, so it can hardly be considered a remake of a classic film other than the central premise of shrouding mystery around an elusive professional killer.

British actor Eddie Redmayne’s Jackal, a masterful chameleon and known to his family as Charles, works as a lone assassin for the highest bidder where his contact with an employer is through the dark web.

A master of disguise, the Jackal is first seen impersonating an old janitor to infiltrate an office building of a media empire belonging to Manfred Fest (Burghart Klaubner), a candidate aspiring to become Germany’s chancellor.

Why then does the Jackal intentionally shoot Fest’s son in the leg? Is this a veiled threat? That does not seem to be the case because the Jackal’s next assignment is to eliminate the hopeful political figure.

The set-up is a diversion intended to draw Fest to a place where the assassin could exterminate his target with a high-powered specially-made sniper rifle at a distance that would seem wildly unattainable.

The Jackal’s planning and execution of the contract is flawless. Quickly escaping from a high-rise building, he leaves behind no detectable trace of his identity by initiating a series of explosions destroying any evidence.

Meanwhile, MI6 agent Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch) hears about the shooting while at home with her husband and daughter, realizing that it’s probably only a matter of time before intelligence sources pool their resources.

The very next day at the MI6 headquarters in London, high-level persons at the agency are meeting with a German intelligence figure, and Bianca invites herself into the gathering because she’s a gun expert and has thoughts about how an assassin could pull off an evidently impossible job.

Bianca is not exactly popular with her superior, but she does impress the director, Isabel Kirby (Lia Williams), with her tenacity and obsession that takes her to Northern Ireland in a hunt for special weapons maker.

An equally interesting side of the Jackal is his personal life at his beautiful mansion on the Spanish coastal city of Cadiz with his wife Nuria (Ursula Corbero) and young child.

Yet, marital discord festers as Nuria grows increasingly curious about his secretive business trips. You would think she might wonder what line of work would result in a lavish lifestyle.

The complex and driven natures of both the Jackal and the dogged MI6 agent heighten the suspense at every turn. The less said about where their journeys lead the better, lest any spoilers be given away.

Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television series (Drama) and star Eddie Redmayne for Best Performance by an Actor in Television Series (Drama), Peacock’s “The Day of the Jackal” will be exposed to a wider audience when NBC airs the first episode on Monday, December 30th.

The accolades don’t stop with Hollywood’s foreign press. The Critics Choice Awards nominated “The Day of the Jackal” for Best Drama Series and Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

Whether the show gets nominated in Emmy Awards categories may be a matter of eager anticipation, but there is enough cat-and-mouse tension throughout every episode of this thriller that there’s no need to wait for the Television Academy to weigh in with a verdict.

The bottom line is that “The Day of the Jackal” is an immensely suspenseful, intriguing, and captivating thriller that one should be very much tempted to binge-watch, all for the reason that Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch are such compelling adversaries.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.