Hey there, thanks for stopping in. This week we look at a new featured Letterboxd List. That’s right, not only did the Letterboxd Top 250 become the Top 500, we’ve now got genre and country-specific lists as well. From the Top 250 Mystery Films comes… I… for Icarus (1979).
Title: I… for Icarus
Director: Henri Verneuil
Released: December 19, 1979 (Theatrical – France)
Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes
President Marc Jarry (Gabriel Cattand) was just recently re-elected and is set to start his second term. Prior to his inauguration, he’s taking part in a celebratory parade through town while riding in an open-air vehicle.
As his motorcade turns a corner, three shots ring out.
President Jarry is assassinated.
The ensuing investigation into the assassination takes about a full year to complete.
When the Heiniger Commission finishes their investigation, they determine that the assassin was a mentally unstable individual who acted alone. Everyone who was a part of that commission agrees to sign off on their findings, except for one person, Henri Volney (Yves Montand).
Volney raises questions regarding the investigation and refuses to sign off on it. He feels that they just pinpointed an easy suspect so that they can all just put this behind them and move on.
Local law states that he on the committee who opposes the findings gets to head up the follow-up investigation. Volney is determined to leave no stone unturned in order to find the truth behind President Jarry’s assassination.
But the deeper he digs, the bigger this whole thing gets.
To say that I was thrilled to see Letterboxd expand the genre-specific featured lists would be quite the understatement. As soon as I saw that Mystery had its own list, I knew it’d be next on my list.
I went through the list and picked I… for Icarus at random and went in completely blind. Though less than 20 minutes in and it’s hard to not draw parallels between this and JFK’s assassination.
I suppose that’s the intent as this is a sort of loose retelling of the JFK assassination. Swap out the names and the flags, and you know exactly what you’re watching. But that familiarity doesn’t work against the film. If anything, it’s what pulls you in.
Yves Montand is the reason everything works as well as it does. He plays Volney as methodical without being cold, in a way that makes you feel the weight of what he’s uncovering as he uncovers it. You never get the feeling that you’re a couple of steps ahead of him. You’re right there with him.
The film takes its time.
There’s no action to speak of. What director Henri Verneuil is interested in is the process: the interviews, the documents, the slowly tightening knot of contradictions that Volney can’t explain away. For some, that pace will be a dealbreaker. For others, it’s exactly what makes it feel credible.
The film’s centerpiece is a reconstruction of the assassination, built from witness accounts and forensic logic. It’s meticulous, it’s compelling, and it’s where everything Volney has been building toward finally snaps into focus.
I… for Icarus is not a film that’s going to hold your hand.
But if you’re willing to meet it halfway, it’s absolutely worth your time.
Well, now it’s your turn.
Have you seen I… for Icarus? If so, then leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and tell me what you thought of it!
As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to keep up with everything else that I’ve been watching lately.