Holy Year (1976)
"L'année sainte" (original title)

Max, a master thief, is spending some time behind bars, having been captured by a determined and crafty police officer. He has hidden a sizable amount of gold in Italy and is patiently ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean Girault

Writers:

Louis-Emile Galey, Jacques Vilfrid

Stars:

Jean Gabin, Jean-Claude Brialy, Nicoletta Machiavelli

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Gabin	...	Max Lambert
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Pierre Bizet
Nicoletta Machiavelli	...	Carla, la terroriste
Henri Virlojeux	...	Commissaire Barbier (as Henri Virlogeux)
Jacques Marin	...	Moreau, le gardien de prison
Giampiero Albertini	...	Commissaire Mazzola
Paolo Giusti	...	Giuseppe, un pirate de l'air
Luciano Bartoli	...	Louftingue, un pirate de l'air
Tommy Duggan	...	Le mari de Christina
Stéphane Bouy	...	Le truand-chauffeur
Danielle Darrieux	...	Christina
Renato Romano	...	Boricelli
Maurice Teynac	...	Marcel Scandini
Umberto Raho	...	Le consul
Jenny Arasse	...	La religieuse

Storyline

Max, a master thief, is spending some time behind bars, having been captured by a determined and crafty police officer. He has hidden a sizable amount of gold in Italy and is patiently waiting to get out so he can retrieve it. His prison companion wants to get out now and get the gold. So they escape, dress as priests and fly off for Italy. Unfortunately, their plane is hijacked, but the terrorists are no match for Max who gets the better of them, but the delay in getting to Rome allows the police time to track him down. What will he do now?

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Plot Keywords:

police | priest | prison | escape | flight attendant | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

23 April 1976 (France)

Also Known As:

Pilgrimage to Rome

Company Credits

Production Co:

Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC), Tritone Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

User Reviews

Brilliant little gem of a movie.

The basic plot of the movie centres around a thief released from prison, who tries to return to his treasure cave. Dressed as priest, he boards a plane towards his destination. Unfortunately, the airliner he is on is hijacked, and after wasting half his life in prison, he does want to return to the thing he sacrificed so much for. So he gradually involves himself in the situation, with the aim of resolving it.

The movie does have a clever sense of humour and an exciting, refreshing story with several twists - it is much more realistic and more original than most movies involving hijackings, and also much more enjoyable. The sense of humour does relieve the dramatic events a bit, but the movie nevertheless remains thrilling. I highly recommend it to any aviation enthusiast, and in fact anyone who likes to see an original story in front of the background setting of a hijacking. 9/10