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I as in Icarus

I as in Icarus (I... comme Icare)

Movie · 1979 · 15 people

Henri Verneuil directed I as in Icarus (French original I… comme Icare), a 1979 French political thriller. Running about 121 minutes, it opened in France on 19 December 1979 and is described as a blend of mystery, drama and political thriller. In Iran it became known as Terror, and in Germany it carried the title I wie Ikarus. Its distinguishing feature is that it moves the events to an unnamed Western country while drawing heavily on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In the story a president is killed in an assassination. An appointed commission treats it as the act of a lone gunman and closes the file, but the prosecutor on the case, played by Yves Montand, doubts that verdict. He reopens the evidence, questions witnesses and uncovers a plot involving the secret services. The closer he gets to the truth, the more he meets obstacles, threats and a cover-up directed from the top of the state. Michel Albertini, Roland Amstutz, Brigitte Lahaie, Jean-François Garreaud and Maurice Bénichou also appear.

Verneuil wrote the screenplay with Didier Decoin, and Ennio Morricone composed the music. The title's Icarus reference suggests the price of flying too near the sun, the danger of reaching for a truth the powerful want hidden.

DirectorHenri Verneuil

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Cast

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Henry Djanik Henry Djanik Actor · died at 82 Jacques Sereys Actor · died at 94 Yves Montand Brigitte Lahaie Roland Amstutz Jean-François Garreaud Maurice Bénichou Alain Ollivier Bernard Larmande Didier Sauvegrain Edmond Bernard Françoise Bette Gabriel Cattand Georges Beller Georges Staquet

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Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

This is a thriller driven by evidence, not explosions. Every time the prosecutor questions a witness the danger creeps closer, and the cover-up at the top grows scarier. It runs about 121 minutes and is built on interrogations and witness statements, so anyone expecting fast action may find their patience tested midway. But as the scale of the plot comes into view, the tension genuinely tightens.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

The political thrillers of the seventies leaned on ideas and acting rather than spectacle, and Verneuil's film is a fine example of that skilled tradition. The prosecutor played by Yves Montand, who refuses to accept the official verdict, is a classic figure of conscience standing up to power. Ennio Morricone's score adds the uneasy, elegant air we know from the best work of that era. The Icarus reference in the title, recalling the price of flying too close to the sun, lends the story a mythological depth as well.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film's clever choice is to draw heavily on the Kennedy assassination while moving the events to an unnamed Western country. That abstraction lifts the story out of a single nation's history and turns it into a general question about state secrets, intelligence services and accountability. A commission closing the file with a 'lone gunman' verdict shows how easily an official narrative is built. On the other hand, that generality also means it avoids saying anything specific about the real event; the film is less a historical analysis than an allegory of an age of distrust.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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