The Italian Job is one of the best-loved British classics ever made. Most people in my home country of Britain have seen the film many times (most of those times spent drinking tea and speaking like the queen, of course), but there's more than enough for audiences from other countries to like about this delightful thriller as well. As you almost certainly already know, The Italian Job stars Michael Caine as the criminal at the centre of the job, dubbed 'The Italian Job' (would you believe). Caine is iconic in this film; his voice and mannerisms are often imitated, and it is this film that is probably most responsible for that. The plot follows Charlie Croker (Caine), a freshly released crook that, with a tip off from a deceased friend, decides to steal £4 million from Italy. However, it's not an easy job and there are many risks involved, so the job must be astutely planned and flawlessly executed for it to work right - and it is there that the film really takes off.
The Italian Job is well remembered for two things, the first of which is the Mini's. This is the film that made Mini's cool, so as you might expect, there is a fair amount of stunt work involving the Mini, a lot of which is truly spectacular - these little cars can be seen driving up stairs, onto and across roofs, through shopping centres, flying over various chasms etc and it's all very exciting. The second thing that it is remembered for is, of course, the line - "you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!", which is one of the most quoted of all time. The film's impact on popular culture has been immense, and that line's impact in particular is legendary; people that don't know the film know that line, and I dare say that a lot of them quote it even. It's up there with 'I'll be back' or 'that' line from Dirty Harry. The film also highlights a lot of British culture, most notably the reaction to something going right. English patriotism is a little different to the American version - while in America, the whole country may be united under the stars and stripes, very apple pie-like; England is much more content to chant a little inside of a prison. I know which version I prefer.
I could waffle on all day about this film, but we've both got better things to do, I'm sure so I'll finish by commenting on the ending; which is, simply, sublime and a perfect way to end the film; funny, well executed and absolutely genius. Well played.
