The Italian Job (1969) ― review by Saaya

The Italian Job 
directed by Peter Collinson

Story: After Charlie Croker was released from prison, he was asked to steal $4 million gold bullion in Italy by Beckerman who was killed by Italian mafia. So he plans and tries it with his companions by means of causing the traffic jam. However, because of Italian police and mafia, it is not easy to make a success of his plan,...




I would like to talk about the composition of 'British v.s. Italy'. In this film, there are some components of it.

1. Car

Famous and popular cars are found in this film.

British Car: Mini, Jaguar, Aston Martin
Italian Car: FIAT 500, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo



Famous scene is the car chase of Mini and Alfa Romeo. Mini is said British symbol of the 1960s. The team of main characters ride Mini whose colours are red, white, and blue, and it expresses the Union Jack. On the other hand, Alfa Romeo is said Italian icon because it was success for both aspects of sports and commerce in 1960s. It is used as the police car. 






2. British Gang and Italian Mafia


At the beginning of this film, the man, who was a original planer of the robbery of the gold bullion, was killed by Italian Mafia. Then, Italian Mafia tries to inhibit Charlie and his team from stealing.


Charlie's line

"You'll be making a grave error if you kill us. There are a quarter of a million Italians in Britain, and they'll be made to suffer. Every restaurant, cafe, ice-cream parlour, gambling den and nightclub in London, Liverpool and Glasgow.....will be smashed. Mr. Bridger will drive them into the sea"


Boss of Italian Mafia, Altabani's line

"Well Gentleman... it's a long walk back to England... and it's that way"

These two lines show the confrontation between British and Italy clearly.

3. FIAT

Charlie and his team planed to steal from FIAT which is one of the representative car company of Italy. 

Next, I want to focus on the character.

The most impressive character for me is Mr. Bridger. He is a boss of English Gang, and he is in prison. However, he has an absolute authority and people obey him, even if the prison officer. Moreover, he is a patriot, and really loves and respects Her Majesty Queen, so there are lots of pictures of Queen on the wall in his room. Its interesting point is that Noël Peirce Coward played a role in Mr. Bridger, because Noël Peirce Coward avoided to love his country seriously. 

Furthermore, Mr. Bridger's attitude is like the nobility, particularly at the scene that he was applauded by people in prison. (In this scene, the way to applaud is also impressive, because it is similar to cheering the football team.)  


Noël Peirce Coward (1899-1973)
・British actor, composer, lyric writer, director, and playwright



I really enjoyed watching this film. The scene of car chase is worth seeing, I think, and also its songs are good. I hummed the main song unintentionally after i finished watching, and still remember it! This film was remade in 2003 in America, so I want to watch and compare between British and American version.







The Italian Job official web site: http://www.theitalianjob.com/index.htm

Italian Job theme with lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbeXL6AXmi0