''I as in Icarus'' (french: link=no, I... comme Icare) is a 1979 French thriller film directed by

Henri Verneuil Henri Verneuil (; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International ...

Selected cast

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held stron ...

as Henri Volney *

Michel Etcheverry Michel Etcheverry (16 December 1919 – 30 March 1999) was a French actor. First a teacher, he was fired in 1941 for refusing to make the Maréchal children sing, here we come! . He began his career in the theater as a stage manager, then joined ...

as Frédéric Heiniger *

Roger Planchon Roger Planchon (born 12 September 1931 in Saint-Chamond, Loire, died on 12 May 2009 in Paris), was a French playwright, director, and filmmaker. Biography Roger Planchon spent his childhood in the Ardèche, notably in Dornas. He found its inspir ...

as Prof. David Naggara *

Pierre Vernier Pierre Vernier (19 August 1580 at Ornans, Franche-Comté (at that time ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs, now part of France) – 14 September 1637, same location) was a French mathematician and instrument-inventor. He was the inventor and epony ...

as Charly Feruda *Jacques Denis as Despaul *

Georges Staquet Georges Staquet (1932, in Bruille-lez-Marchiennes – 2011) was a French actor. Partial filmography * ''The Day and the Hour'' (1963) - L'aubergiste (uncredited) * '' Bande à part'' (1964) - Legionary * ''Marie Soleil'' (1964) * '' Pierrot l ...

as Le gardien de l'immeuble d'assassinat *

Brigitte Lahaie Brigitte Lahaie (born Brigitte Lucie Jeanine Van Meerhaeghe; 12 October 1955) is a French radio talk show host, mainstream film actress and former pornographic actress. She performed in erotic films from 1976 through 1980 and is a member of the ...

as Ursula Hoffman

Plot

The film's plot is based on the

Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

and subsequent investigation. The film begins with the assassination of President Marc Jarry, who is about to be inaugurated for a second six-year term of office. Henri Volney, state attorney and member of the commission charged with investigating the assassination (based on the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States P ...

) refuses to agree to the commission's final findings. The film portrays the initial controversy about this, as well as Volney and his staff's reopening of the investigation.

Fictional state

The action takes place in a fictional Western state where the spoken language is mainly French, but German, English and Spanish also are spoken. Its location, or even continent, is unknown. The capital city is made only of modern buildings, like

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

. The political regime is presidential, the President being Marc Jarry at the beginning of the film.

Location

The new town of

Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...

in the northwestern suburbs of Paris was used as a filming location for the movie. The EDF-GDF tower designed by architect Renzo Moro is the building from which the shots were fired to assassinate president Marc Jarry. The governor's palace was the prefecture of the Val d'Oise. The huge room used for council meetings is the High Court of Justice. The long scene of the psychological experiment towards the end of the film, supposed to take place at the University of Laye, in fact takes place at ESSEC Business School in Cergy. This fictional Laye University is Yale University and the experiment shown in the film is the famous

Milgram experiment The Milgram experiment(s) on obedience to authority figures were a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. They measured the willingness of study participants, 40 men in the age range ...

, Stanley Milgram being a professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The filmmakers chose the modern and innovative architecture of the new town to avoid depicting any particular country.

Accolades

The film was awarded the Grand prix du cinéma français for Best French Movie in 1979. It received five César Award nominations in 1980, including Best Movie, Best Actor (Yves Montand), Best Screenplay, Best Music and Best Production Design.

References

External links

* * {{Henri Verneuil 1979 films 1970s French-language films 1970s political thriller films Films directed by Henri Verneuil French thriller films Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films set in Europe Films à clef 1970s French films