The Italian Job

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels wearing flares.

Just as the cynically humored westerns made by Italian directors such as Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly were called spaghetti westerns, The Italian Job could be the first fish and chips mobster film. Recently arriving at its 30th anniversary, this movie was a milestone in British Cinema. It has proved to be the seed of gangster films like Get Carter and The Long Good Friday.

Michael Caine as the lead as the wise guy with a plan. The plan is for a caper down in Milan which of course, is the Italian Job. The plan was perfected by Caine while doing time. Now having just been released, he sets out putting the plan into action, first of all be needs some backing to finance the Job, and a well practiced to pull it of.

Gold is the loot and is to be stolen after a football match between Italy and England but an essential requirement is to hack cite of the first computers around. The nutty professor in charge of taking over the IT operation is no other than Benny Hill.

However, things get complicated when the real maflozzi decide that no British upstart going to steal gold from their country. The situation escalates, culminating in a thrilling car chase not in Jaguars or Ferraris, but in Minis, that eluded the police by driving all over the city even through the sewer system.

You can still find Italian restaurants that name the parmesano special after this movie. It's that cheesy. Indulge and enjoy.

Gonzalo Soltero.