Stalin hated Trotsky for many reasons, one among them is that Lenin in his famous testament strongly criticized Stalin as a tough and badly educated leader while recognized Trotsky as the most intelligent politician among the Bolcheviks. In that way Trostky was a kind of impediment for Stalin to seize the whole power in Soviet Union. The party trusted Stalin and the first thing he did was to start a snare campaign against Trotsky among the high bosses of the party as Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin, who finally supported Stalin in this deed. As a result Trostky was declared a traitor and expelled from USSR, living first at the border of USSR, then in Turkey and finally in Mexico. He continued writing and had an increased number of people following him, a fact enough for Stalin to order his assassination. To this end Stalin and his KGB tools used Mexican communists led by the famous muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. They attempted to kill Trostki once unsuccessfully, then decided to change for another way, i.e. to introduce the agent Jacques Mornard, who in fact was not from Belgium as he claimed to be, but Spanish citizen Ramón Mercader del Río, son of mother born in Cuba. Mornard or Mercader finally killed Trostky, but not his ideas. In fact Stalin made a big mistake because trostkism increased and gained a lot of popularity in several countries after the death of Trostky. The present film is just an effort to show something of this fatal happening, but it is not the best in my opinion. There is no introduction to Trostki, how he was expelled from USSR, why this happened, how he arrived in Mexico. Not knowing the history, it will be very difficult to guess that Stalin was behind this assassination. The relationship of Trostki with some communists, as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is neither shown at all. The role of Trostky is played well by Richard Burton although he looked fatter than the real Trostky, but Alain Delon as Mornard or Mercader did not play this role convincingly. Mercader was a Stalinist fanatic, and this characteristic is not seen in the role played by Delon. He looked as schizophrenic rather than a man with political convictions.
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esteban17475 March 2007
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While this certainly doesn't deserve to be included in Michael Medved's "50 Worst Films Of All Time" book, it's nonetheless a disappointment when considering the talent involved!
An unconvincingly made-up Richard Burton is a good Trotsky (even if director Losey had originally wanted Dirk Bogarde); the film takes pains to depict the family-man (embittered by the Stalinists' extermination of his children) as well as the politician. Though struggling with the often unwieldy English dialogue, Alain Delon is ideally cast as the slick but icy and enigmatic assassin; still, his final break-down comes across as absurd more than anything else. However, the feminine roles in the film result in being no more than perfunctory: Romy Schneider carries on a tedious romance with Delon (they were once lovers in real-life), while Valentina Cortese appears as Trotsky's dowdy wife. Also notable in the cast is Giorgio Albertazzi as the police inspector investigating an earlier attempt on Trotsky's life; Luis Bunuel regular Claudio Brook appears unbilled in one scene as Delon's 'contact man' in Mexico.
The subject matter, in itself, isn't exactly appetizing but some of Burton's speeches are undeniably compelling (one of which mentions that Trotsky feared he'd succumb to a brain hemorrhage the uncanny irony is that Burton himself died in that manner, and at approximately the same age as the Russian leader!) and the interaction between him and Delon towards the end generates a reasonable amount of tension (culminating in Trotsky's bloody and protracted assassination). Still, at the end of the day, Losey's treatment of events is surprisingly lifeless (especially for a Hollywood exile from the anti-Communist days!) and of a seriousness which is oppressive (including the obvious use of symbolism via a gory bullfight sequence).
P.S. Incredibly enough, the afore-mentioned Bunuel (my personal favorite film-maker) once spent a night in a Mexican jail with none other than Trotsky's real-life killer as his cell-mate! -
lee_eisenberg10 March 2007As I understand it, "The Assassination of Trotsky" has been considered by many a rather crummy movie. I didn't find it such at all (of course, after you've seen pieces of crap like "Everyone Says I Love You" and "Baryshnya-Krestyanka", almost anything seems good). The movie focuses less on Leon Trotsky (Richard Burton) than on his assassin, the enigmatic Frank Jackson (Alain Delon). I thought that a really effective scene was the bullfight: we know that the matador is eventually going to kill the bull, though the emphasis is on everything leading up to it (sort of like what happens in the movie).
Overall, I thought that the movie was worth seeing. It shows how although Trotsky felt betrayed by what the Soviet Union had turned into under Stalin, he hadn't abandoned his mission of promoting international socialism. I wonder what he would have thought of the Soviet leaders after Stalin, had he lived to witness the changes there.
Also starring Romy Schneider and Valentina Cortese. -
ma-cortes15 May 2021So-so and unhistorical attempt attempt to dramatize the last days of the Russian Revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky in Mexico , when his ideas accordingly shrink in importance . For one moment , they hold history in their hands . With one terrible blow , they make it .
Thrilling and interesting film dealing with Trotsky's last couple of months in exile in Mexico. Revolving around a web of intrigue , concerning a twisted conspiracy of terror resulting in an act of madness carried out by Stalinist agents got to him . There are some brilliant scenes as the bullfighting scenes or the mise in scene of the murder , being competently shot . Main and secondary cast are frankly good . Richard Burton gives a nice acting , portraying him as a dry and pedantic figure, as he was the famous leader who commanded Red Army during the Civil War against the White troops , and eventually , he's done in with an ice pick . Support cast is pretty well, such as : Valentina Cortese as Trotsky's kind wife , Romy Schneider who is wasted seeming like an unfinished role , Enrico Maria Salerno as Salazar , Jean Desailly , Duilio Del Prete , Michael Forest , Hunt Powers , among others .
It contains an atmospheric cinematography by Pasqualino De Santis , however , a perfect remastering being really necessary . The picture was profesionally and deliberately directed by Joseph Losey , though it has some flaws, gaps and shortcomings . Here Losey doesn't give too much historical remarks , we're so starved of hard information that one can only wish for more . The American Losey was a good director on his own , making nice films as in USA as Great Britain where he exiled pursued by the HUAC -House Un-American Activities Committee- , as he made the following important movies : The boy with Green Hair , The Lawless , The Prowler , M , The Big Night , Time without pity , The Criminal, The Damned , Modesty Blaise , Secret Ceremony , Figures in a Landscape , The Go-betwen , Accident , A Doll's House , King and Country, Boom , Galileo, The Romantic Englshwoman , Mr Klein, and The Servant at his best . -
insomnia16 August 2002One person who has "commented" on this film, consider Losey a 'hack'. Well, I beg to differ. If Joseph Losey had only made such wonderful films as "The
Servant", Accident", "King & Country", to name but three, his place as a great director, would be assured. However, I do agree that this film, "The
Assassination Of Trotsky", is not one of Losey's better efforts. In fact, on second viewing, it's a total fiasco. It has no redeeming features whatsoever. I know that Hollywood tends to 'distort' history when it suits them, but "The Assassination of Trotsky" is not a product of the Hollywood Factory. In fact, if Hollywood had made a film about Trotsky, it couldn't, surely, be as bad as this one. Richard Burton plays Trotsky. He does have a passing resemblance to Trotsky, but it
ends there. Trotsky, who played a major part in the Bolshevik October
Revolution of 1917, was also an intellectual and led the lefist opposition to Stalin (how history would have been different if that despot had been deposed!). He was expelled from the party and sent into exile, ending up in a villa near Mexico City. There he founded the Fourth International - devoted to what Trotsky described as 'pure communism'. Which is perhaps why, on Stalin's orders, that Trotsky was assassinated. None of this given the importance it deserves.
Without alluding to the crucial role Trotsky played in the founding of
communism, anybody who sees this film (poor blighters), will see this film as just so much histrionics. As Trotsky, Burton has all the believability of Groucho Marx in the role of Napoleon: thinking about it, maybe Groucho would have made a
better fist in the role of Trotsky. As for Alain Delon, as the assassin, he's all nervous twitches, and beetled eyebrows. Joseph Losey's mind must have been
on autopilot when he lensed this celluloid travesty -
clanciai13 September 2018Joseph Losey's films are usually depressive, but this one is more so than usual. The script is terrible, but it could hardly have been made much better, as the story is sordid enough: the exiled Trotsky confined to what he himself calls a submarine existence in a restricted house constantly subjected to assassination attempts, as Stalin insists on having his former colleague assassinated even though he is already exiled. The Trotsky case is compared with a horrible bullfight where the bull is slowly tortured to death by the cruel proceedings of ritual matador bloodthirst. Trotsky lives alone with his wife, his children having been assassinated previously or sent to Siberia. Enter Alain Delon married to Romy Schneider, who quarrels all the time as Alain Delon is hopelessly incommunicative, obsessed with the one idea, as it turns out, to murder Trotsky. It's a slow and dull film in which the most interesting ingredient probably is the fantastic murals by Orozco, which are shown every now and then to illustrate the grotesque Mexican setting around the ailing Trotsky, who expects to die of some stroke any time anyway, at the age of 60. The film is historically interesting, of course, and Richard Burton is always worth seeing, but it's not one of Losey's best films.
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AlsExGal26 August 2018I should have read a biography of Trotsky before seeing this film. I knew little about him before, and I don't know any more about him after watching this. This is a dreadful muddled film that seeks to conceal facts about Trotsky and make everything unclear. A prologue to the film ended with (I'm paraphrasing) "What events are unclear have been left that way". That should have served as a warning to me.
The setting is Mexico in 1940. Trotsky goes about his last days dictating his memoirs, talking to his wife, escaping assassination attempts by Stalin's agents (why--the viewer is only told Trotsky's ideas would mean the end of Stalin's regime), asking when the rabbit food for his rabbits will be delivered, and other such events. A paid assassin figures in this, but lacks the nerve to actually do his job. He takes more than two attempts. The film finally ends with the title event, which is staged like something out of a Hammer film, and has everyone screaming and bellowing.
Richard Burton as Trotsky does a lot of pontificating and dictating, but never shows what made Trotsky tick. Alan Delon as the assassin is expressionless and mostly silent until the end; then he and Burton seem in a contest to see who can bellow loudest (a tie) and longest (Delon). Cortese fades into the background.
There is a ten minute bullfighting scene that has no purpose. There are murals by Diego Rivera featured in the film (I know because they were mentioned in the credits). There is a horrid atonal score by Egisto Macchi. I'd recommend you pass on this one. -
Pellaeon429 June 2002The subject matter was the only saving factor for this movie, but the quality was hardly befitting of such a story and man. Historiographically the movie stayed true to facts or that is, the facts accepted by Nicholas Mosley, the screenwriter. Mosley had published a book of the same title the same year as the production of this movie. They claim in the opening scene to portray the facts as closely as possible and those that are ambiguous they leave open, but the assassination of Trotsky is surrounded by mystery and speculation. I've come to understand that the only piece of hard evidence agreed upon by all, is that Trotsky died at the end.
Disappointingly the movie tends to leave out or vaguely use interesting details related to the incident, which makes the movie somewhat confusing to those who have no previous knowledge of the event. And that would be my advice, that one should look into the topic independently after seeing this movie in order to better grasp such a historically significant event. In terms of acting and plot I don't believe the movie pays it justice. -
rmax30482322 November 2014When Joseph Losey gets his hands on the right material he can do wonders with it. This doesn't seem to have been the right material, or maybe Losey was just impatient with Burton's boozing or something.
First, don't expect a biopic of Leon Trotsky, the stormy petrel of revolution. The title describes the assassination of Trotsky. He's a professorial sort, exiled to Mexico City after Stalin took over and betrayed Lenin's principles by playing footsies with Wall Street. It often happens with extremist ideologies that they split up, because everyone wants to be purer than the next guy. At that, Trotsky was lucky to get out alive. Stalin had ANYONE who represented a threat to his power murdered. Stalin went about, doing bad.
It's an unpleasant movie. We have to sit through a bullfight and learn why movies usually don't show us the final coup, after which the bull drags himself around vomiting blood until he flops down, while the crowd cheers. I know -- the bravery and grace of the matador and all that, but why don't they just let the bull go? Sometimes there is a thin line between beauty and baseness. I understand why the scene was included. The matador does to the bull what Alan Resnais does to Burton, more or less. And instead of dying a neat Hollywood death, Burton staggers up from his chair, a hole in his skull, stares at Resnais and shrieks bloody murder.
There are long periods in which we watch Mexicans doing nothing in particular. And the scenes can be confusing. It's not always easy to tell what's going on. The musical score appears to have been made by a thousand chirping electronic crickets.
Lots of talent and momentous intentions gone awry. -
conanlabiche-8565225 November 2023You can tell its poorly made, but greats like delon and burton can keep most films interesting by their sheer film presence.
The quality is poor.
If this was remastered and an alternate track commentary on the actual history and events as they took place, it would make a more interesting view.
Maybe even a buy.
As it stands, a rental is appropriate, i suppose.
Hadn't seen it in a long time, didn't remember that delon played jackson as a rather pathetic weakling. I thought that was a nice touch.
He alternates between cool and unstable.
Schneider over acts.
Overall, im glad i saw it again.
Just filling in words to post :) -
JasparLamarCrabb5 April 2006If you get it into your head that the great Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was in fact a boozy Welsh actor, then you might be able to sit through this mess. Otherwise, be prepared for a puzzler --- it's not terrible, it's just incoherent. Director Joseph Losey tosses history to the wind in favor of an underdeveloped story that introduces a lot of characters but doesn't say who they are or why they're in Mexico. Characters just keep meeting in the half ruins of Mexico City. It's beautifully photographed but has a heavily edited feel to it. Many scenes end very abruptly.
As the assassin, Alain Delon pouts a lot and wears sunglasses. Romy Schneider plays a character that was, at least historically, a disillusioned Trotskyite from Brooklyn! Schneider is stunning but not very well utilized here. And for some reason, she shouts every other line. It's never explained why or how she got hooked up with Delon, but it's just as well...the script offers no motivation for any character. As Trotsky, Richard Burton dons a very fake looking van dyke mustache and round glasses and spouts revolutionary thought into a Dictaphone. Classy Valentina Cortese has virtually no lines as Mrs. Trotsky so why she was cast is anyone's guess.
There's probably a truly compelling story to be told about the last days of Trotsky, but this isn't it. -
ddelamaide10 June 2002I saw this film when it came out, in 1972, and it made such an impression on me that I have a clear recollection of it now. I just visited the Trotsky Museum in Mexico City, the house where he was assassinated. He was in fact killed with an ax--there are photos in the museum of the actual murder weapon that is exactly like the one depicted in the film. So the commentator who makes such a big point about it being an ice pick is uninformed. This commentator may also be unaware that Joseph Losey was one of the great British filmmakers of his generation, so it's perfectly natural that he make films in English.
What is good about the film? Richard Burton's ability to convey the charisma of Trotsky, the combination of visionary and pragmatic politician who had the misfortune to be outmaneuvered by two equally powerful men with far fewer scruples, Lenin and Stalin. Alain Delon's portrayal of the ice-cold assassin, motivated not by ideology nor even by money, nor in fact any discernible force other than his own profound emptiness. One of Delon's best roles ever.
The cinematography is extremely powerful. As I say, 30 years later, the images are clear in my mind.
Time to rehabilitate this film, folks. There's a lot of trash out there with higher ratings than this 4.6, so if you've seen it, add your vote. If you haven't, try to see it, and vote what you think it's merit is. -
evening15 April 2023I think past reviewers are too harsh on this evocative portrait of political tensions in 1940 Mexico City.
Richard Burton is convincing as the exiled counterrevolutionary Trotsky, who, having soured on Soviet treachery, was living on borrowed time South of the Border, always wary of the next assassination attempt, as "even here, the vultures are gathered."
A subplot involves Gita (Romy Schneider), a committed American communist inexplicably devoted to the troubled, mysterious Jacson (Alain Delon), who ultimately sinks an ice pick into Trotsky's head. Delon bore a resemblance to Elvis Presley; even so, one wonders what Gita sees in her cold and dismissive lover, as she meekly asks, "Why do you get like this?"
Gita doesn't see the light till she realizes Jacson had used her to get close to her idol, and her eventual rage reminded me of the chastened Lindsay Crouse character at the end of "House of Games" (1987).
This movie includes stomach-turning scenes from a bullfight, a metaphor for the murder attempts Trotsky endures from afar, inflicted by his enemy, Stalin. As the cultured Trotsky raises bunnies in his yard, and somewhat naively receives visitors from around the world, he voices appreciation for his wife (Valentina Cortese). Inexplicably, no mention is made of the old man's reputed affair with painter Frida Kahlo.
The movie builds to considerable suspense toward its conclusion, as a bloodied Trotsky's shriekings grip the heart -- "Tell them not to kill him. He must talk!"
Wikipedia tells us that Trotsky's killer spent 20 years in a Mexican prison, later dividing his time between the Soviet Union and Cuba.
I wish my intellectual, history-informed Dad were still alive to discuss the real Trotsky. The profile here is almost entirely positive, and one wonders about that... -
tedr011316 September 2006This film has a reputation as a terrible film which I find greatly undeserved. It is average in the sense there are better films and there are worse. I found the film to be fairly static. The story is slow moving and the character of the assassin is never really delineated. Alain Delon is the true lead of the film, with Burton's Trotsky more a secondary character. I thought Burton did a fine job as Trotsky, the only think slightly bothering me is that Burton was physically imposing and that's not how I picture Trotsky. I picture him as more of a bookish intellectual of less than physically imposing attributes. (I do not know the actual physical attributes of Trotsky.)
In any case, Romy Schneider is very lovely and sexy and the camera also treats Delon well, even if we do not have any clear insight to his motivation. In the end, I'm not sure what the purpose of this film was and that is its greatest failure. But, while the film did not succeed, there is nothing memorably bad about it. So my rating falls plum in the middle. -
Kirpianuscus11 January 2017a film of controversies. because it could be better. or because it uses , in not the most inspired manner, good actors. for atmosphere. for realistic details of story. for the status of history lesson, useful for understand the essence of a life and struggle and cruel idealism. Richard Burton is not the best option for the role of Trotsky. but , not surprising, he does a decent job. Alain Delon seems be on the thin ice. but his performance, version of empty soul character, is far to be bad. Romy Schneider is herself one of the virtues of film, only for her presence. "The Assassination of Trotsky" is one of films who has all opportunities to be easily criticized. if you ignore its message. because, more than a historical film, it is a warning. and, maybe, this must be the start point for see it.
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This late biographical drama about the last days of Alexander Trotsky is an interesting misfire, filled with potential but never quite delivering. Richard Burton, considered one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, had his share of flops where he was not quite praised, and during its release, this was one of them. He isn't bad as Trotsky, and in fact, he does have several great moments where Trotsky ponders his fate and expresses his moral point of view. Burton's British accent is distracting as are the French accents of Alain Deloin as his brutal killer and Romy Schneider as Burton's secretary/Deloin's mistress. But, taking dramatic license, it's easy to get past this and just taken the facts as presented.
Set in Mexico in 1940, this shows the social issues going on there as well as the impact of trustees presence in the middle of it. Deloin plays a character whose lack of a personality indicates that little was known about the man who killed Trotsky, and while it is obvious how he got into Trotsky's world to eventually assassinate him, the assassination is brutal, but there are times when Burton in character does seem resigned to his fate, even though he expected a different cause to lead to his ending. This is far from a perfect film with really no motive presented other than the fact that even though in exile, Trotsky was considered an enemy to the new Russian order, one that he had helped create. The ending is dragged out and merciless, one of the main flaws of the film. -
whatsupomar5 March 2012Doubtless, one of the greatest tragedies ever inflicted upon mankind was the rise and spread of communism in the 20th century. For the ideology to control the masses, millions were killed and large segments of the population were imprisoned or sent to labor camps. Several countries were destroyed and the hatred among classes became the basis of the "International movement" for world domination.
A big mess like that should never be forgotten and that's why I encourage everybody, especially young people, to be well informed on all matters pertaining to the communist horrors. Now for the film review I must start mentioning that "The Assassination of Trosky" is not an anti-communist film, nor is it anti-Soviet or anti-Stalin or anti-anything. I can't even vouch for its historical accuracy but I still recommend it for the importance of the subject matter. In short for those who totally ignore who Trosky was and his place on the Soviet debacle this could be a good place to start.
The 1972 film boasts a prestigious cast of actors and an intelligent director but somehow those ingredients don't add up to a good movie. I can't place my finger on it but it could be the sometimes vague script, the slow moving start or even some of the performances. I may get grief for saying this but I found Richard Burton totally miscast as the Russian revolutionary and you can tell he's wearing a fake goatee a mile away. As the movie progresses there are some moments in which he shines but overall he comes through too Shakespearean to be credible.
Meanwhile the character of the assassin, as played by the great Alain Delon, is never given the opportunity to be for real. Mr. Delon plays it full of nervous ticks like he doesn't understand what motivated Mercader, the real killer, to embark in such a gruesome mission. Maybe there was no research that could inform him that his character was the son of Caridad, a Cuban lady who has gone down in history as the ultimate mother from hell. The lady, who after her marriage to a Spanish rich guy, showed signs of mental instability, raised all her sons to be servants of the communist international movement. (For an excellent presentation of the Mercader character and the whole Trosky affair try to see the 1996 award winning documentary "Storm The Skies", a real gem.)
As much as I love Romy Schneiner, I have to guess that her character is a total fabrication in order to pair her again with real life ex-amour Delon and to show them again loving and fighting. The producers must have thought that including her would give the film an extra boost at the box office and maybe it did. Although she gets briefs chances to display her histrionics as Delon's lover and Burton's secretary she seems to belong in a different movie. Of the actors only Valentina Cortese seems credible as the devoted Trosky wife.
In short I recommend this film with reservations. Some of you might even like the scene where Trosky gets killed and the premonition at the bull ring with all its cinematic gore but I really hope that it will turn you on into a deeper understanding of Soviet cruelty and the horrible things that happened not to long ago. It could happen again, you know? -
blanche-28 February 2017For a film that makes "100 Worst Films Ever Made" lists, The Assassination of Trotsky certainly is getting good reviews on this site. Not from me, though.
Joseph Losey was an interesting director in that sometimes he was fantastic, as in The Servant and Mr. Klein, and sometimes he just missed the boat.
He offered Trotsky to Dirk Bogarde, who hated the script and still didn't take it after Losey told him it would be rewritten. He offered Richard Burton the same script and the same promise. I'm certain that Losey didn't lie, but if this was a rewritten script, I'd hate to have seen the previous one.
The film, however, does present a fairly accurate portrayal of Trotsky in exile in Mexico during the final months of his life in 1940 and has some artistic touches, most notably, the disturbing bullfight that parallels the actual assassination. Both were gruesome, but the bullfight was revolting and I had to fast forward through most of it. Kudos to Losey for showing what bullfights are really like, however.
The film contains little dialogue, with the exception of Trotsky's dictation. Alain Delon, who received top billing, wears a beige suit and big sunglasses, looking like a silent Italian model while Romy Schneider screams at him. Also I swear to God that sometimes he was dubbed and sometimes he wasn't, as his voice sounded different in different scenes.
The acting of Delon and Burton at the end of the film is fantastic. The way Mercader (Delon) is portrayed, he is unable to kill Trotsky at his first opportunity, and finally, after hesitation manages to do it, although clumsily. In real life he was a Stalin fanatic, dispatched in fact by Stalin to kill Trotsky, but this isn't shown in the movie. The characters are not fleshed out at all, which makes any connection to the happenings difficult.
In real life, Mercader served 20 years in a Mexican prison. Upon release he eventually returned to Russia, where he was honored as a hero. He divided his time between Cuba and Russia until his death in 1978.
For me this film did not hang together, and there was no character development. The script needed more detail. At 103 minutes, there was definite room for some character expansion and background. -
artisticengineer22 October 2007I have mentioned this comment contains a spoiler. This is a tricky matter as the viewer of this film must certainly knows how it ends (much as a viewer of any film about the Battle of the Alamo or the Battle of Little Big Horn has to know, before seeing the film, the ultimate end); nonetheless, to be absolutely frank and forward I will state that my comment contains a spoiler or two.
A lot of viewers of historical films complain that some (if not all) films do not show things "as they actually happened" or is "historically incorrect". Well, they are correct, but usually the changes are made in order to make the film more desirable to the audience; after all, the various films (such as "Titanic") were made not for historians but for movie audiences. Therefore, the directors of most films will take a little "artistic license" during the production of the films.
This movie stays pretty much on course historically and has been criticized by a lot of people for that; people who probably would have also criticized the film had it been historically inaccurate. Sometimes you just can't win...And, that sums up the plot of this film (and historical drama). There is no way that either Trotsky or Jacson (his assassin) will win. Trotsky is convincingly played by Richard Burton. He shows Trotsky as a man who has refused to run any more from Stalin; no matter that this will inevitably doom him.
Alan Deleon (the French version of Richard Gere) portrays the assassin in a way the allows the audience to sympathize with him; even if not approving of what he is about to do. Romy Schneider portrays Jacson's mistress; a fellow communist. In real life a few years before DeLeon and Schneider had been a real life unmarried couple; then, after a couple of years their relationship had ended and they went on to marry different people. Deleon did help Schneider to get some parts afterwards and this was one of them. Knowing this makes viewing this affair (of Jackson and his mistress) on screen difficult as one knows that these actors had actually been in this situation; loving and fighting. Sometimes close; sometimes hating each other. A viewer watching some uncomfortable emotionally charged performances can insulate him or herself by the fact that the performances are simply acting; not real. Yet, in this case that emotional insulation is not there. These people were playing out a true relationship on screen, and it is painfully realistic to watch.
The nature of the murder is foretold in the movie by the bullfight. I have been to a number of bullfights and this one shows a sloppy end with a bloody and prolonged death of the bull. Though bullfight affecionados would like for you to believe that a bullfight ends with a skillful and swift sword stroke by the matador (such as seen in the movie "Fail Safe") the reality is that quite a few bullfights end up as little more than butchery. Which is a good reason to continue to ban those exhibitions in the United States. Well, I digress but not by much. The fact is that assassination is not a particularly noble affair and the film does leave one wondering why Jacson used a pick axe instead of his pistol.
The film shows the murder in painfully realistic detail. Nothing glorified. This movie shows it like it was, and it was gruesome.It does put into perspective the nature of assassination.
Some additional points about this movie: It was made in 1972 and at that time no one knew how the Cold War would end (the Communists were winning in Southeast Asia then). Trotsky is shown in this film as a Communist of a different sort; with some humanity much as we would later view Premier Gorbochev, but this was made years before anybody had heard of Gorby. Anyway, one underlying theme of the movie is how different things might be by 1972 if Trotsky had not been killed. Perhaps he would have thrown enough of a counterweight to Stalin that the Cold War might not have begun. Of historical interest is the portrayal of the American guards of Trotsky; Communists who did not have an accent! Most people do not know or remember that there were some very genuine Americans who were openly Communist before WWII and were proud of that. In fact, 1940 represented a high water mark of sorts of the membership of the American Communist Party. After WWII, when the excesses of the Stalin regime became known in the West, most of the American Communists dropped their membership in that party and joined the Democrats.
The movie is painfully realistic; hence the low ratings is sometimes receives. Yet, history is painful at times and this movie does not pull punches. It does not give us a typical Hollywood sugar coated ending because, quite frankly, that was not the type of ending in this matter. Jacson was a murderer who, like most murderers, could only discover how horrible murder is by actually committing it. Painful and realistic is how I would describe this forgotten jewel. -
austrianmoviebuff9 July 2006To sum it up in one sentence: A forgettable movie, but a forgivable mistake.
Losey. Burton. Delon. Schneider. Cortese. Trotsky. A bunch of great names, thrown into the depths of a weak script that wants to be both, a history lesson and an entertaining political thriller. Shot on location in Mexico and Rome, this European co-production was groomed for international success and turned out to be a devastating disappointment for everyone involved. The audience couldn't cope with it and stayed away, the critics weren't impressed.
The film chronicles the last days of Trotzky (Richard Burton) as a political refugee in Mexico City. Alain Delon tries to play Frank Jacson, a Belgian traveling on a Canadian passport, who murders the dedicated Marxist and atheist.
It is only for a few precious moments that you can partially perceive Losey's talent which he has proved elsewhere (i.e. in "The Servant", "A Doll's House" or "Accident"), and Delon's performance is vain and unconvincing. (The English language clearly overdrew the actor's abilities.) The Losey/Delon team did much better a couple of years later with "Monsieur Klein". -
Varlaam13 June 2000The one thing that everyone already knows about the assassination of Trotsky is that he was killed with an ice pick. Well, in this film, he is killed with an ice axe. An ice pick, an ice axe, they're not the same. To be precise, he is killed with the pick side of a two-headed ice axe, but even then, that's still not an ice pick, which is something entirely different. So which was it really?
The only reason I'm belabouring this very trivial point is that it results in the single decent piece of acting in this film, the reaction of Richard Burton as Trotsky as he is hit in the head with the axe. As you would probably imagine, you have to wait quite a while to get to this moment in the film.
Other than Burton, the film's leads are Alain Delon and Romy Schneider. Neither one is comfortable speaking in English, the language they are required to use here. Most of their scenes are together. Why weren't their scenes done in French instead?
Since the presumable market for a film about that old villain Trotsky would have to be the European Left, why was this film made in English in the first place? Why not French, the language of the leads, or Italian, the language of the crew? Burton's bits in English as the self-important Trotsky could have been interpolated later while everyone else could have acted in a language in which he could show a little expression. As it is, no one would ever guess that Delon and Schneider are major stars under different circumstances. Schneider seems to be here mostly so she can stand and/or lounge in lingerie, but even that appetizing opportunity goes underexploited since, as a self-respecting Trotskyite gal, she doesn't wear any make-up.
There are several "characters" in this movie who in any normal film would have speaking parts, but since they never did settle the matter of what language they were shooting in, these people just stand there looking stupid and not saying anything. Unbelievably, we are expected to care when one of these ciphers gets killed (cue the cheap-looking mannequin) by Stalinists, or Fascists, or Anarcho-Syndicalists, or anti-Castro Cubans, or the CIA, or whatever. Nothing that goes on in this movie is ever very clear. And anyone expecting to learn a little something about the historical Trotsky will come away with the knowledge that he kept bunny rabbits at home.
Delon plays Trotsky's assassin, Jackson, "spelled without a k". He's Belgian. When asked why a Belgian has a name like Jac(k)son, he explains that he's really French-Canadian. Oh, well, that's clear. Most of the movie operates on a "duh" level much like that.
It is safe to conclude from the preceding that some mystery surrounded the precise identity of the assassin. If that is the case, the hapless direction of the utterly inept Joseph Losey was entirely confounded by a notion like "mystery". Or "tension". He manages to convey neither. The film has very little cutting, and hardly any reaction shots. There is no indication of what one is supposed to feel at any given moment. Everything looks like it was one take and wrap.
Losey is fond of this absurd set-up where two people supposedly have a conversation with one in the extreme foreground and the other in the remote background. Natural sound wouldn't work so there's some badly dubbed dialogue on top. It's an attempt at an "arty" shot that Welles might have done something with, but which is completely botched in the hands of a hack like Losey.
I can't conceive of anyone deriving any entertainment or elucidation from this fiasco. Five minutes spent with any reputable biography are more illuminating than 100 in the company of this film. -
HotToastyRag21 July 2017I really don't know why anyone would want to watch this movie, unless you're a Russian history buff and particularly wants to watch a movie about the end of Trotsky's life. I'm not spoiling anything; it's in the title! Richard Burton plays the doomed titular character, but besides wearing glasses and a goatee, he doesn't really do much to try and convince the audience he's Russian.
Trotsky is living in Mexico, and through Stalin's orders, a young man is faced with the task of assassinating him. Who wants to watch that? Throw in a non-exciting romance, random Trotsky rants, and a disgusting bullfight after which the bull is chopped up into little bits, and you have a pretty lousy movie. -
jatrius11 November 2011Avoid.
Interminable opening crowd scenes of labour activists arguing as they parade in a clumsy attempt to highlight the passion of the schism. Romy Scheider and Alain Delon are strangely passionless and Richard Burton's Trotsky is on autopilot. Maybe they all just fancied a holiday in Mexico. There's no dramatic tension because there's no sympathy available for the characters on screen; instead the viewer is willing the whole ensemble to get on with it so that they can do something more interesting with their life like stare at fridge magnets or grout some bath tiles.
***** Spoiler Alert ****
Trotsky does get assassinated. It's as banal as that. -
stuart-52329 January 2007Remember that opening line from The Stranglers' great song from the late-70s, 'No More Heroes'? Well this film provides us with a precise answer to that question, rather than the song's own rather flippant retort ("He got an ice-pick that made his ears burn"). 'The Assassination of Trotsky' is a fascinating story and one that deserves telling. At first Richard Burton seems a bit one-dimensional but as the film develops his performance evolves to reveal the revolutionary's personal charisma, his considerable intelligence, and his devotion to Marxism and his beloved wife. Alain Delon is simply riveting as the emotionally retarded Jacson - ultimately revealing him to be a pathetic individual, and Romy Schneider is brilliantly passionate in her role as Jacson's lover and Trotsky's devoted secretary. Although flawed in parts (with a script that was clearly chopped by the studios), this is an intense, realistic examination of Trotsky's last few months, with a quite stunning murder, where Losey puts the viewer in Jacson's shoes to devastating effect. A genuinely chilling moment in very fine, though admittedly patchy, film.
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planktonrules24 March 2022"The Assassination of Trotsky" is one of the entries in Harry Medved's exceptional book "The 50 Worst Movies of All Time". And, while I might not hate the movie as much as he did, I did see it and thought it was terrible...much of it due to some awful overacting.
The story is based on true events. During the Russian Revolution and reign of Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was considered one of the founders of the USSR. But, after the incredibly paranoid and homicidal Stalin took power, Trotsky was seen as a dangerous rival and he had to run from the Soviet Union or suffer the same fate as other folks Stalin disliked...death. He took refuge in Mexico and was eventually murdered by a NKVD agent.
So why is this movie so bad? Well, it has many strikes against it. First, Leon Trotsky wasn't exactly a swell fellow, so it's difficult to feel for him like you might feel for a stranger. Second, the script was duller than dirt. But finally, third, the acting. Although Alain Delon and Richard Burton could do wonderous things on the screen, both are pretty dreadful here. And, Delon manages to even be worse than Burton in the overacting department.
Overall, a movie that is dull, badly acted and, believe it or not, kind of silly.