Breathtaking Italian Job

Anyone who has ever visited Venice, Italy will be fascinated by the opening scenes of The Italian Job (starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, and Edward Norton). The movie hit the big screen in 2003 and delivered on its promise of being a refreshing caper movie. It works wonderfully well in terms of storyline, casting, locales, and action.

While the movie’s action moves from Italy after the first 15-20 minutes, it’s the Venice setting at the outset which so thorughly engages the attention of a person who has lived, traveled, and/or studied in Italy. F. Gary Gray (the director) spends time showing gorgeous panoramic shots of the unique Italian city (where canals serve as the major transportation thoroughfares).

Unlike many other films with Venice settings, his locales are brightly lit and vibrant. Even the interior shots in palazzi are brightly lit. All too often in the past, moviemakers working in Venice, focused on presenting gloomy and dreary images of the city. Gray is having none of that.

His Venice is an extremely appealing place, with its waterways filled not only with gondolas but various other types of vehicles moving along the canals. In fact, one of the key aspects of the movie’s opening scenes is a full throttle speedboat chase through a series of canals. What a thrill viewers get watching it! In some ways, it prompts thoughts of the terrific car chase sequence in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt . As we all know, that movie set the standard for car chase scenes in movies and that standard prevails to this very day.

While The Italian Job won’t enjoy similar standing in the annals of film history, it merits plaudits for beautifully showcasing Venice.