The story of the rise and fall of the revolutionary, terrorist, mercenary and assassin Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1949. Under the nom de guerre Carlos, he operated in the 1970s in the service of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) - in 1975 he spectacularly attacked the annual meeting of the oil ministers of the OPEC states in Vienna - and in the 1980s acted as the head of a worldwide terrorist organization.
In his powerful biopic, which is actually a historical panorama, Assayas not only draws the psychological profile of an alpha male who is always ready to use violence. He also analyses the emergence, promotion and functionalization of modern terrorism by the international secret services during the Cold War and the Middle East conflict. Fulminant in the role of the professional revolutionary: Edgar Ramírez. He plays the terrorist as a dandy. And an asshole. And adventurer. And bourgeois. As a drive-driven macho for whom the gun brings as much pleasure as the cock. And as an adrenaline junkie who needs the thrill of violence and for whom human life is worth nothing. A compelling portrayal in an impressive work.
