The Day of the Jackal (Çakalın Günü)

The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 Franco-British political thriller directed by Fred Zinnemann, adapted by screenwriter Kenneth Ross from Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel of the same name.

Edward Fox stars as a professional assassin known only by the codename "the Jackal." Set in France in the aftermath of the Algerian War, the story follows the killer as he is hired by the leaders of the clandestine OAS to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1963. While the Jackal methodically prepares his attack — drawing loosely on the real Petit-Clamart attempt — the French police, led by Deputy Commissioner Lebel, played by Michael Lonsdale, work relentlessly to identify and stop him. The film depicts this cat-and-mouse pursuit in meticulous detail.

The film received strong reviews, won the BAFTA Award for Best Editing, and earned one Academy Award nomination along with further BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. In 1999 the British Film Institute ranked it the 74th greatest British film of the 20th century. A loose Hollywood remake, The Jackal, starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, followed in 1997.