I... comme Icare (1979)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

Didier Decoin (writer)
Henri Verneuil (writer)

Release Date:

19 December 1979 (France)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

After the recently re-elected President of a fictitious state has been assassinated, one of the members...

Plot Keywords:

Conspiracy | Secret Service | Kennedy Assassination | Psychological Experiment | Witness

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Yves Montand	...	Le procureur Henri Volney
Michel Albertini	...	Luigi Lacosta
Roland Amstutz	...	Gregory
Jean-Pierre Bagot	...	Michaël Mix
Georges Beller	...	Sam Kido
Maurice Bénichou	...	Robert Sanio, l'homme à la caméra
Edmond Bernard	...	Le présentateur TV
Françoise Bette	...	Mme Bellony
Roland Blanche	...	Garcia Santos
Benoît Brione	...	Le reporter Bobino (as Benoist Brione)
Jacques Bryland	...	Nicolas Rosenko
Gabriel Cattand	...	Le président Marc Jarry
Nanette Corey
Jacques Denis	...	Despaul
Erick Desmarestz	...	Bob Dagan

Also Known As:

I as in Icarus (International: English title)
I for Icarus (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:120 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cergy, Val-d'Oise, France

Company:

Antenne-2

Trivia:

The lab scenes describing "obedience to authority" experiments are based on real-life research conducted by famous psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1963 in Yale University.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The amateur video sold to Procureur Henry Volney was shot using at least 2 cameras : one for the wide shot of the car in the crowd, and one for a closer shot, at a different angle, of the president being killed.

one of the greatest conspirological thrillers of all time

Henri Verneuil's film may be not so famous as Parallax View, 3 Days of the Condor or JFK but it is certainly not worse and sometimes even better than these classic representatives of the genre. Action takes place in fictional western state where fictional president has been killed. After several years of investigation, special government commission decides that president was killed by a lone gunman. But one man - prosecutor Volney, played by Yves Montand - thinks there's something more to be investigated and so the film starts. This movie doesn't deal with some exact theories, but it embraces the whole structure of relationship between government and society in today's world. Such film could be made only in the 1970-ies but it will never lose it's actuality. Furthermore, it's even a bit frightful how precise are it's oracles. 10 out of 10.