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Summary
The Italian Jobending features one of the most iconic cliffhangers in movie history . Michael Caine leads one of the most memorable roles of his career as smooth - lecture Cockney crook Charlie Croker , who arrange together a bunch to slip a stash of golden bullion on its fashion through Turin , Italy . Along the way , they face adversity from the Mafia , the local authorities , and simple bad portion . The Italian Jobfollows the heist flick chemical formula passably closely until its delightfully subversive ending brings the whole operation grinding to a stoppage , dangling on the side of a mountain in the Alps .
Caine ’s functioning , the thrilling climactic Mini Cooper chase successiveness , and the portrayal of contemporary civilisation have madeThe Italian Joba staple of British cinema . The equivocal final scene is one of the main reason the movie has enjoy a lasting bequest . The end leaves audiences with a dilemma while the credits range . The problem Charlie and his gang face at the end ofThe Italian Jobremains contend to this day . The Royal Society of Chemistry even put the best minds in the world in a competition to reckon out a scientifically legal way to solve the quandary .
The best heist movies can be comedies , dramas , or thrillers . But they all necessitate an eclectic gang and a crowing score hold off for them at the end .
The Italian Job Ends On A Literal Cliffhanger
The Crew Is Actually Hanging From A Cliff
Unlike most othermovies about dangerous heists , the looting is a resounding succeeder in the third act of The Italian Job . Charlie and his crew get aside with the Au , split it up between three Mini Coopers , and supervise to evade the police in a mellow - speed pursuit through the streets of Turin . After outrunning the law , they dump the Minis , stretch the gold onto a busbar , and take off with the rest of the crew on a long , winding mess road . Then , the motorbus spins out of control and dangles over the edgeof a cliff .
It ’s a genuine cliffhanger with the quality hanging off a cliff .
The crew huddles to the front while the gold slides to the back . Charlie says , “ Hang on a minute , sonny boy , I ’ve obtain a cracking idea … ” However , the movie ends before that “ majuscule melodic theme ” is revealed . Not only is this acliffhanger movie endingthat exit the audience without a clear resolution , but it ’s a real cliffhanger with the character hang off a drop-off . allot to the behind - the - scenes documentaryThe Making of The Italian Job , four authoritative conclusion were spell . Producer Michael Deeley was dissatisfied with them and came up with the cliffhanger that made it to the last cut .
How Could The Italian Job’s Cliffhanger Ending Have Been Resolved?
A Contest Was Held To Figure It Out
The ending ofThe Italian Jobencourages spectator to fill in their resolving to the tarradiddle . There are several factors to consider , but the idealistic solution would save the gold without mislay any of the crew members to a venomous fall . In 2008,the Royal Society of Chemistry held a competitionto do up with the most plausible solution to the trouble ofthe equivocal ending ofThe Italian Job . John Godwin had the win entry ; he suggested knocking out the motorcoach ’s window and debilitate the fuel tank ( viaReuters ) .
With the empty double-decker tankful , the bus would stop teetering on the cliff ’s edge and patch up back down on the road . This would enable one of the robbers to pop off the busbar , load rocks onto it , and equilibrize the weight unit , thus ensuring the dependable recovery of the Au without peril the crew . Stranded on a desolate mountain road , Godwin purpose an escape plan - grease one’s palms a passing automobilist with stolen Au to secure a vehicle . The Royal Society of Chemistry ’s primary executive , Dr. Richard Pike , lauded Godwin ’s entry as " the variety of practical thinking Croker would have used . "
moving picture remaking are unmanageable to get right , and sometimes not even the cast can find a good word to say about them .
Why Did The Mafia Want To Foil The Heist?
The Mafias Involvement Remains A Puzzle
Inthe opening tantrum ofThe Italian Job , the mastermind behind the heist is endure off the route and sent to his death by some Italian mobsters who want to prevent the looting from going forward . When Charlie takes over leading of the heist at his dead Quaker ’s posthumous request , he is harass by the Mafia every step of the way of life .
It ’s never clear why the Mafia is so inexorable to stop the heist from drive station .
At one point , the mobsters are going to bolt down Charlie , and he has to threaten to vandalize all the Italian establishment in the UK to get them to spare his aliveness . Yet it ’s never clear-cut why the Mafia is so adamant to stop the heist from taking place . To the originalCharlie Croker and his heist squad , the Mafia simply acquaint another obstruction abide in the elbow room of their goal . They ’re the villains in a movie with no clear heroes .
Original SR Image by Shawn Lealos
Since the mobsters are n’t the chronicle ’s focus , the filmmaker are n’t too concerned with their motivation . There are two possible rationality why the gangster desire to scotch the heist so badly . The simplest explanation is that the Mafia want to steal the memory cache of golden bullion for themselves . There ’s also a opportunity that they want to keep British crook out of their rest home turf of Italy .
Was An Italian Job Sequel Planned?
The Box Office Failure Doomed A Sequel
Michael Caine told theBBChis version of what come about after the movie ’s ending , which would ’ve led intoa sequel toThe Italian Job . Similar to Godwin ’s explanation , Caine ’s involved discharge the fuel tank to poise out the weight and point the teetering bus . Caine explain :
“ I crawl up , change over on the engine , and last out there for four hours until all the petrol runs out . The van bounces back up so we can all get out , but then the amber go over . There are a burden of Corsican Mafia at the bottom look out the whole thing with opera glasses . They snaffle the gold , and then the sequel is us chasing it . ”
The lack of anItalian Jobsequel is attributed to the film ’s electronegative inspection and underperformance at the U.S. box office ( via theDaily Mail ) . peradventure it ’s for the salutary that this cornerstone of British movie theater remained a standalone employment . The cast portion out great chemistry , but comedy sequels are tricky to perpetrate off . A continuation might have tarnish the bequest of the original . The undetermined cliffhanger is one of the most iconic movie endingsof all time , and making a sequel that answer the cliffhanger would have ruined its equivocalness .
Michael Caine has appear in many bad picture show like jaw : The Revenge , but here ’s the 1979 revenge thriller he claims is his most " wretched " film .
The Real Meaning Of The Italian Job’s Ending
Crime Doesn’t Pay
The real cliffhanger at the end ofThe Italian Jobis essentially the punchline of the movie . Every capital comedy likeThe Italian Jobis structured like an elaborated joke : the planning and carrying into action of the holdup are the apparatus , and the motorbus careening over the border of a drop-off is the punchline that pay it off . Rather than intending toconfuseThe Italian Job ’s hearing at the end , the movie ’s final scene could have a deeper import . The cliffhanger could be seen to convey the message that offense does n’t pay .
The Italian Jobis a parable about avarice .
The failure inThe Italian Jobruns deeper than many armed robbery - gone - awry movies . The heist succeeded : the crew acquired the amber , got the police off their tails , and escaped with the full freight . Then , Charlie and his crew find themselves in a unique predicament where they can save themselves but lose the atomic number 79 or seek to carry through it and terminate up plump to their deaths . In this sense , in the end , The Italian Jobis a parable about avarice .
Did The 2003 Remake Change The Ending?
The Remake Changed The Best Parts Of The Ending
In 2003 , F. Gary Gray took on the job of remakingThe Italian Job . While the ending result was a foxy and fun action motion picture with a howling cast , it could n’t touch the point of the original 1969 flick . The original was an action - clowning with high stakes . The remake was a straight action holdup moviethat was more likeThe Fast and the Furiousthan it was like any veridical comedy . star Mark Wahlberg , Charlize Theron , Jason Statham , and Edward Norton , this was a virginal - blooded military action flick .
That also means that the termination would never come near the grade of the original movie . While the genuine cliffhanger terminate remains a dear part of the original movie ’s traditional knowledge , the 2003 movie want to have a real action - jam climax to cope with its shiny , eminent - octane production economic value . Instead of the Cosa Nostra , the bad guys here were hoi polloi with a grudge to square up . Instead of a cliffhanger , the stickup goes off without a hitch , and the squad inThe Italian Jobremake spits up the gold , with the end read what they spent it on .
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Cast
The Italian Job follows Charlie Croker , freshly release from prison , as he takes over a daring heist in Turin , Italy . Utilizing Mini Coopers , Jaguars , and a bus , Charlie aims to outsmart the mafia , create a metropolis - all-inclusive disruption , and make away with a substantive gold haulage .
The Italian Job follows Charlie Croker, newly released from prison, as he takes over a daring heist in Turin, Italy. Utilizing Mini Coopers, Jaguars, and a bus, Charlie aims to outmaneuver the mafia, create a city-wide disruption, and make away with a substantial gold haul.
