At the beginning of Olivier Assayas's film, Illich "Carlos" Ramírez Sánchez (Édgar Ramirez) proclaims himself the resistance to the imperialist forces of capitalism. Communism needs a fighter rather than more rhetoric, he argues. Throughout the film, we see his vain attempts to fight the established western way of life by killing police and snitches, tossing bombs, taking hostages, and playing up his boogeyman status. It's an epic record of two decades, but Assayas makes it unique by chronicling it impartially.
What I've come to expect from a multi-hour crime epic is something along the lines of Goodfellas or Casino - shots that celebrate the criminal's peaks and nadirs, bloody climactic montages, and a rocking soundtrack (although maybe I'm thinking more of Scorsese knockoffs and Vinny Chase's "Medellin"). Three hours goes relatively quickly and it's well-soundtracked, but there's not the now-cliche montages that underline the crime lord's dramatic moments. Assaya's lens is more objective, but he also signals Ramirez Sanchez's vitality through a few recurring images/locations. As he exits the plane in Lebanon, when he's coming up as a key terrorist operative, he looks confident but he's still just another passenger. After taking members of the OPEC meeting hostage, he controls the plane, deciding its course. When he's captured by the Sudanese/French, he's lying bound on the floor of the French plane. The last shot is of a French policeman telling him that on the plane, he's in French territory (where he will ultimately be tried for his crimes).