699 words, 4 minutes read time.
Carlos: The Jackal Speaks – available on BBC Iplayer – is a gripping and deeply unsettling documentary that opens the door to the enigmatic and terrifying life of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal. Directed by Israeli filmmakers Yaron Niski and Danny Liber – the duo behind Killing Escobar – the film stitches together chilling prison interviews, rare archival footage, and contemporary insights to present a nuanced portrait of one of the 20th century’s most infamous international terrorists.
Born into a wealthy Venezuelan family with Marxist leanings, Carlos studied in Moscow before being recruited into the Palestinian cause. He initially trained with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), quickly rising through the ranks due to his language skills, cosmopolitan background, and ideological fervour. The film carefully traces his trajectory from radical ideologue to high-profile gun-for-hire. By the mid-1970s, Carlos was a central figure in a wave of international terror, orchestrating bombings, shootings, and kidnappings across Europe and the Middle East.
Among the most notorious of his acts was the 1975 raid on the Vienna headquarters of OPEC, in which he and his team took more than 60 hostages, including 11 oil ministers. The operation ended in Algiers after days of negotiations, with many believing that several states tacitly cooperated to ensure its resolution – and Carlos’s safe passage. This marked the beginning of his mythic status as an elusive figure whose operations blurred the lines between political violence and calculated mercenarism. He is also believed to have carried out or ordered a string of bombings in Paris in the early 1980s, including the 1982 attack on the Le Capitole train, killing five and injuring dozens. Other attacks included car bombs, grenade assaults on commercial and diplomatic targets, and the 1974 grenade attack on a Paris shopping arcade that left two dead.
Carlos’s ability to operate across continents, aided by Cold War alliances and connections to state intelligence services, made him a unique figure in the international terror landscape. The documentary delves into these murky waters, highlighting the covert support he received from countries like East Germany, Romania, Syria, and Libya. He lived luxuriously in exile for years, evading justice while maintaining a shifting ideological stance grounded in anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist rhetoric.
Carlos: The Jackal Speaks also scrutinises his arrest and incarceration. Captured in Sudan in 1994 by French agents, Carlos has been imprisoned in France ever since, where he is serving multiple life sentences. The film includes chilling footage of Carlos in his cell, still grandiose and unrepentant, recounting his exploits with a disturbing blend of pride and detachment. He describes his campaign of terror as legitimate warfare, downplaying the suffering of victims. The filmmakers do not shy away from the brutal consequences of his actions – or the psychological toll they inflicted on survivors. Nor do they gloss over the allegations of his mistreatment in prison, including extended solitary confinement and sleep deprivation, which became the basis of an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Carlos emerges as a man of profound contradictions: ideologically committed yet hedonistic, calculating yet reckless, charming yet capable of indiscriminate violence. His romantic entanglements – including with fellow militants like Magdalena Kopp – are portrayed alongside the cold, transactional logic that often guided his political work. At one point, he is shown threatening to blow up nuclear power stations in France to force her release – a move emblematic of his audacity and disregard for civilian life.
Despite everything, Carlos remains defiant. He sees himself as a historical figure, a revolutionary, a prisoner of conscience. Yet the documentary resists giving him the final word. Instead, it offers a sober and comprehensive view of the devastation he caused and the geopolitical games that enabled him to operate for so long.
Carlos: The Jackal Speaks is a compelling, sometimes harrowing documentary that dissects a man who made terrorism a brand and shaped an era of political violence. For viewers fascinated by Cold War intrigue, the mechanics of ideological extremism, or the psychology of those who wage war without armies, this film is essential viewing.
By Pat Harrington
Here’s the direct link to watch Carlos: The Jackal Speaks Storyville – The Jackal Speaks – BBC iPlayer
Please note: If you’re located outside the UK, BBC iPlayer may be geo-blocked. The documentary premiered on June 3, 2025, during Storyville on BBC Four
Picture credit: By Anonymous – NBCNews.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130451174
