
Director: Julien Leclercq
Running Time: 87 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: August 6th 2012

Personally I blame Paul Greengrass. Ever since his Bourne movies, action filmmakers have been falling over themselves to have the movie that looks most like the cameraman is having a seizure. And I know it may make me sound like a cretin, but shaky-cam is particularly problematic for foreign language films. When watching The Assault, trying to read the subtitles while the picture in the background is wobbling all over the place, really does make your eyes go funny.
The film is based on the true story of the 1994 hijacking of an Air France plane in Algeria by hardcore, anti-French Islamists, involved in the country’s civil war. Before the plane takes off, four men take control of the vehicle, leading to a tense stand-off on the tarmac. The hijackers demand to be allowed to take off for Paris, killing passengers in an attempt to get their ultimatums granted. [Read more…]