☆ ☆ ☆
The Italian Job (1969) – P. Collinson
Yes, this is the
famous heist movie where the gang escapes with the gold bars in three Mini
Coopers and the chase scenes where the hapless Italian police chase the Brits
in Minis is the reason to see this film.
Before and after the chase, the film is decidedly odd – we watched because
it was rated G (in America) but there are some things that are hard to explain
to a 9-year-old. Michael Caine takes over the planning for the heist (robbing
an armored truck in a crowded city square in Turin, by orchestrating a major
traffic jam) after the original plotter is killed by the Mafia – but he needs British
gangster Noel Coward’s assistance. My problems began when I had to explain why
Coward seemed to run everything even though he is in prison and why the guards let
him have special favours (uh, corruption?).
We sort of ignored Caine’s womanising (and Benny Hill’s professor who
likes big butts!) but there was no way to explain the film’s bizarre ending (“Is
that it?”) other than to say that criminals are not allowed to win in movies of
this sort because what sort of message would that send? There was grudging
acceptance of this but it didn’t win the movie points overall, some feeble attempts
at slapstick comedy notwithstanding.
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