The Assignment (1997)

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers (WGA):

Dan Gordon (written by) &
Sabi H. Shabtai (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Plot:

An American naval officer is recruited for an operation to eliminate his lookalike, the infamous terrorist Carlos The Jackal.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Naval Officer | Little League Baseball | KGB | Intelligence Agent

Cast

Aidan Quinn	...	Lt. Cmdr. Annibal Ramirez / Carlos
Donald Sutherland	...	Jack Shaw / Henry Fields
Ben Kingsley	...	Amos
Claudia Ferri	...	Maura Ramirez
Céline Bonnier	...	Carla
Vlasta Vrana	...	KGB Head Officer
Liliana Komorowska	...	Agnieska
Von Flores	...	Koj
Al Waxman	...	Carl Mickens - CIA
Mitchell David Rothpan	...	Joey Ramirez
Gregory Hlady	...	KGB Aide
Gabriel Marian Oseciuc	...	KGB Agent
Frédéric Desager	...	KGB Agent
Kliment Denchev	...	KGB Technician
Yonathan Gordon	...	Yoni
Ndiouga Sarr	...	Nigerian Oil Minister
Manuel Aranguiz	...	Venezuelan Oil Minister
Leni Parker	...	OPEC Receptionist
Jacques Lavallée	...	Du Foltiere - DST
David Francis	...	Naval Aide
Gouchy Boy	...	CIA Aide
Tim Post	...	CIA Aide
Daniel Pilon	...	Admiral Crawford
Richard Jutras	...	Commander Scowcroft
Hisham Zayed	...	Libyan Customs Official
Ted Whittall	...	Norfolk Police Captain
Francis Delvecchio	...	Injured Paris Boy
Lisa Wegner	...	Berlin Lover
Lucie Laurier	...	Paris Lover
Neil Kroetsch	...	Ramirez' Father
Matthew Dupuis	...	Young Ramirez
Paul Stewart	...	Hospital Father
Claude Genest	...	Baseball Dad
Michael Caloz	...	Baseball Kid
David Franco	...	St. Martin Postman
Heinz Becker	...	German Beerhall Singer
Louis Bouchard	...	German Beerhall Singer
Mark Knoeffel	...	German Beerhall Singer
Andréas Lange	...	German Beerhall Singer (as Andres Lange)
Martin Morf	...	German Beerhall Singer

Directed by
Christian Duguay

Writing credits (WGA)
Dan Gordon		(written by) &
Sabi H. Shabtai		(written by)

Produced by
Franco Battista	....	producer
Josée Bernard	....	co-executive producer
Tom Berry	....	producer
Joseph Newton Cohen	....	executive producer
David Saunders	....	executive producer
Stefan Wodoslawsky	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Normand Corbeil

Cinematography by
Christian Duguay
David Franco

Film Editing by
Yves Langlois

Casting by
Karen Margiotta
Mary Margiotta
Lucie Robitaille

Production Design by
Michael Joy

Art Direction by
James Fox

Costume Design by
Ada Levin

Makeup Department
Mélina Di Christo	....	assistant makeup artist
Nicole Lapierre	....	key makeup artist
Serge Lavigueur	....	lab technician
Ryan Nicholson	....	special makeup effects artist: Maestro Studios
Joan Patricia Parris	....	assistant makeup artist
Benjamin Robin	....	key hair stylist
Ronald J. Rolfe	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Francis Choquette	....	assistant unit manager
Simon Hébert	....	assistant unit manager
Renaud Mathieu	....	production manager
Essy Niknejad	....	post-production supervisor
Ric Nish	....	assistant production manager
Lewis Pilote	....	unit manager
Pierre Thériault	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Caroline Béliveau	....	third assistant director
Robbie Ditchburn	....	first assistant director: second unit
Mélany Goudreau	....	trainee assistant director
Balázs Kovács	....	third assistant director
Yochanan Kredo	....	second assistant director
David McLeod	....	first assistant director
Karine Ricard	....	fourth assistant director
Patrick Tidy	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Louis Dandonneau	....	assistant set dresser
Eric Lafrance	....	swing gang
Tristan Tondino	....	head scenic artist

Sound Department
Tim Archer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michel B. Bordeleau	....	supervising sound editor
John Dykstra	....	foley recordist
Brian Eimer	....	sound editor
Claude Hazanavicius	....	location sound recordist
Eric Lambi	....	dialogue editor
Thierry Morlaas-Lurbe	....	sound
Henry Godding Jr.	....	adr recordist (uncredited)
Dean St. John	....	adr mixer: Los Angeles (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Gary Coates	....	special effects technician
Ryal Cosgrove	....	special effects coordinator
Adrien Morot	....	special effects makeup

Visual Effects by
Cheryl Bainum	....	computer graphics producer: Buzz F/X
Bob Beck	....	matte painter
Deak Ferrand	....	digital artist/matte painter: Buzz F/X
Michel Frenette	....	digital compositor: Buzz FX
John Furniotis	....	digital effects artist
Jamie Hallett	....	optical cameraman
Jacques Levesque	....	digital compositor: Buzz FX
François Lord	....	digital effects artist
Andre U. Montambeault	....	digital compositor
Sébastien Moreau	....	digital compositor
Richard Ostiguy	....	digital effects

Stunts
Koby Azarly	....	stunt performer
Andy Bradshaw	....	stunts
Andrew Campbell	....	stunts
Annie Carignan	....	stunts
Jason Cavalier	....	stunts
Mike Chute	....	stunts
Peter Cox	....	stunts
Marc Désourdy	....	stunt double: Ramirez/Carlos
Gina Duhamel	....	stunts
Charlene Francique	....	stunts
François Gauthier	....	stunts
Benoit Gauthier Jr.	....	stunts
Michel Ghorayeb	....	stunts
Johnny Goar	....	stunts
Phong Doan Huy	....	stunts
Héléna Laliberté	....	stunts
Yves Langlois	....	stunts
André Laperrière	....	stunts
Gilbert Larose Jr.	....	stunt rigging technician
Gilbert Larose Jr.	....	stunts
Jeremy Lavalley	....	stunt rigger
Jeremy Lavalley	....	stunts
Stéphane Lefebvre	....	stunt double: Ramirez/Carlos
David McKeown	....	stunts (as Dave McKeown)
Minor Mustain	....	stunts
Louis Pharand	....	stunts
Hilary Porter	....	stunts
David Rigby	....	stunts
Michael Scherer	....	stunt coordinator
Michael Scherer	....	stunts
John Walsh	....	stunt double: Jack Shaw

Camera and Electrical Department
Georges Archambault	....	additional camera operator
Itzik Ben-Aroya	....	key grip
Jacques F. Bernier	....	additional assistant camera
Michel Bernier	....	additional assistant camera
Michel Bolduc	....	additional assistant camera
Philippe Bossé	....	still photographer
François Daignault	....	second assistant camera
Kristen Dolenko	....	second second assistant camera
Christian Duguay	....	Steadicam operator
Christian Duguay	....	camera operator
René Fréchette	....	third assistant camera
Nimi Getter	....	gaffer
Mark Hoffman	....	first assistant camera
Pierric Jouvante	....	additional grip
Ofer Margolin	....	electrician
François Pavant	....	additional assistant camera
Michel Périard	....	key grip
Bruno Philip	....	additional camera operator
John Pingry	....	assistant camera
Philippe Prud'homme	....	additional assistant camera
Yehuda Sar-Israel	....	second assistant camera
Mark Silver	....	key grip
Danielle Turgeon	....	second assistant camera

Animation Department
Benjamin Robin	....	character concepts: "Carlos" and "Ramirez"

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Cecile Braemer	....	costume coordinator

Editorial Department
Jacques Bournival	....	editing consultant

Music Department
Roger Hewett	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Claude Boulet	....	remote-cam technician
Alain Caporicci	....	production assistant
Johanne Caporicci	....	location manager
Guylaine Chagnon	....	script supervisor: Israel
Sam Coppola	....	legal services
Paul Dupont	....	safety coordinator
Bram Eisenthal	....	unit publicist
Daria Korolus	....	foreign location coordinator
Sylvie Laurin	....	production administrator
Lorette Leblanc	....	continuity
Jacqueline Marleau	....	production coordinator
Julie Matlin	....	assistant: Tom Berry
Elissa McBride	....	talent coordinator
Michel Mollicone	....	production assistant
Tim Monich	....	dialect coach (as Timothy Francis Monich)
Diane Pitblado	....	dialect coach
James Tamblyn	....	video and computer playback coordinator
Robin Tremblay	....	particle effects: Groupe Image Buzz
Sylvain Vary	....	assistant location manager
Dave Young	....	weapons handler: Montreal
Melissa Brown	....	assistant to executive producer (uncredited)
Tom Trigo	....	location scout (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Allegro Films
• Triumph Films

Distributors

• Triumph Films (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Paramount Network (UPN) (2000) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Films (1997) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (Australia) (video)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Special Effects

• Buzz Image Group
• Cineffects Productions

Other Companies

• Film Effects  digital composites
• Film Effects  titles and opticals
• Tait Ritchie Casting  Toronto casting

Also Known As:

Jackal (USA) (working title)
Le mandat (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

Spain:111 min | USA:115 min | Canada:119 min (Ontario)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:18 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Acre, Israel

Company:

Allegro Films

Goofs:

Factual errors: The KGB Head Officer is wearing incorrectly colored shoulder boards. A KGB General would have royal blue outlining the gold, the uniform shown has the Army red.

Quotes:

Jack Shaw: What did Darth Vader say to Luke Skywalker? Come over to the dark side. Come over, Annibal. You have no idea of the power we have.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Soundtrack:

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Smart, Sophisticated Action/Thriller

I loved this film. It was so intelligent but it also had some great action sequences, without basing the movie solely around them. Quinn, Sutherland and Kingsley all put in fantastic performances and there are enough twists to keep anyone interested. The ending was great as well.