Die sieben goldenen Männer

After I had watched "Ghostbusters 2" I asked myself: "What was that film, in which I have seen this before: Men, claiming to be construction workers, digging a hole in the middle of the street?" Well, this is it. It inspired the Société Générale robbery of 1976 and via it the films that are based on it, i.e. "Les Égouts du Paradis" and "The Great Riviera Bank Robbery" of '79.

Actually, it inspired all caper films that rely on brute force, all the way up to "Die Hard with a Vengeance".

So, a meager 4 (now hopefully 5) user reviews of this film on IMDb is a bit of a shame.

But enough of the credentials. "Seven Golden Men" is the daydream of every poor Italian construction worker of the '60s doing the dirty work for the rich northerners in Switzerland.

It's as simple as that. A true communist, "Stalin the bank robber" kind of film. Well... all things considered... yes, I stand by it.

Its humour hinges on the appearance of safety in the face of industrial machinery, the characters are either ridiculous caricatures or proletarian stand-ins (especially "the Portuguese").

That's what you get. Of course, there are some unexpected turns and such, but this really is a film for people, who've held a diamond-encrusted steel cutter already in their own hands - and for children, of course!