The Jackal: 0% John Wick, 1000% Contract Killer

Hello, Peliplaters!

Who comes to mind when you hear the term "professional hitman"? For most people, it’s probably John Wick, portrayed by Keanu Reeves—the highly skilled assassin who can take down an entire gang over a dog and a car. Perhaps influenced by the John Wick phenomenon, countless stories featuring professional hitmen as protagonists have emerged in recent years.

However, John Wick isn't necessarily the most accurate representation of a professional hitman. In Hit Man, Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, a fake hitman conducting sting operations for the police. Through superb acting and makeup skills, Gary demonstrates that the concept of a professional hitman is highly personalized, with everyone having their own perception of what a hitman should be.

For a diverse showcase of hitman portrayals, Bullet Train is a must-see. This film not only features hitmen from various countries but also showcases an array of bizarre killing methods. Even the Marvel animated series introduces a non-human hitman character—Hit Monkey—who, like John Wick, is highly skilled and driven by vengeance.

The issue, as Gary Johnson illustrates, is that most hitman portrayals in movies and TV shows are far from reality. It seems that audiences find hitmen convincing only when they're depicted with personalities vastly different from ordinary people. This approach, however, reveals a significant flaw: how could a professional hitman not be quickly apprehended by the police if they were so easily identifiable at first glance?

In fact, as early as 1973, The Day of the Jackal starring Edward Fox presented a highly convincing portrayal of a hitman, The Jackal. His everyday appearance is that of an English gentleman named Calthrop. Looking at the image above, who would associate his kind face with the term "cold-blooded"?

Calthrop excels at disguising himself as personas "absolutely incapable of murder," such as an engineer on a business trip or a disabled person who needs a cane to move. He creates fake passports for each identity to confuse the police. Even at the end, the police are surprised to discover that the Calthrop identity itself is fake. No one knows his true identity, as if he never really existed in this world.

This film is adapted from a novel of the same name. The author, Frederick Forsyth, is known for his highly realistic, detailed descriptions. He has claimed to have worked as an informant for MI6 for over 20 years, though I'm skeptical of this. It's more likely that he knew someone associated with MI6 who provided him with detailed references about spy work. They might have concocted this explanation for the media for security reasons.

That being said, this film is 50 years old after all. It might be worth watching if you have ample free time. The plot is fascinating, but the pace is very slow, and there's hardly any background music. I dozed off several times while watching, woke up intrigued by the unfolding plot, rewound to continue, and then nodded off again. The last movie that had this effect on me was The Assassin directed by Hsiao-hsien Hou. Don't get me wrong—I didn't fall asleep because their stories were boring. Both films feature many empty shots and detailed depictions, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the assassin's state of mind when they are targeting their victims. It's challenging for me to fully appreciate such unadorned, delicate portrayals in my busy days.

In comparison, The Day of the Jackal (2024) starring Eddie Redmayne has a much faster pace. Not only does it enhance the rhythm and suspense of the story, but Redmayne also perfectly presents the elusive and ever-changing image of "The Jackal." He truly makes me feel that being a hitman is just a professional identity, not his entire life.

In modern life philosophy, people often strive to separate work from personal life, or at least find a balance between the two. In a way, we're all like the "Contract Killer" Jackal. We perform according to contracts, complete specified tasks, and receive compensation. Ideally, once a job is done, the contract becomes obsolete, freeing us from its obligations.

However, reality rarely aligns with this ideal.

While contracts primarily concern "credit," other factors like personal relationships, authority, and responsibility often make it challenging to immediately disengage from contractual constraints after task completion. Among a hitman's many skills, what fascinates us most is their ability to escape—seamlessly returning to ordinary life after a mission. Their other skills—close combat, long-range sniping, disguise—serve to add versatility to their work. We expect hitmen to use clever methods to fulfill contracts, just as we use various strategies to complete our own work.

Isn't our fascination with the hitman archetype, in essence, a projection of our own deep-seated longing for freedom?