Holy Year (1976)

Wonderful character development!

Purely Joyful Movie!

Good concept, poorly executed.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is a charming delightful comedy about 2 escaped convicts posing as Priests aboard a hi-jacked airliner.Now this is a 1976 film & plane hi-jacking's were more prevalent..What makes this film a must see is the cast.A few months after this was released the immortal actor Jean Gabin passed away. He was a major actor of French Cinema & stage for over 40 years. Check a few of his films out & you will see why he still is so remembered.Like Spencer Tracy of American film fame he was able to express every possible emotion.Jean-Claude Briely (also one of France's most beloved actors co-stars.The luminous, beautiful Danielle Darrieux is also featured., She just had her 92 nd birthday & is still active in film & Television, She only has been active since the early 1930's.What an actress, What a career.There are some production problems in the film, The acting by this fine cast & the clever plotting over come its faults.Ratings: *** (out of 4) 89 points (out of 100) IMDb 8 (out of 10)

Max (the fabulous Jean Gabin in his last film), 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?These old heist/escape films make crime seem fun. It becomes a cat and mouse game where each side tries to outwit the other and respects the brilliant moves each side makes. No one gets hurt, robbers have honor as do the police and all have a jolly time staying one step ahead of the other. Of course, this isn't true to life and we now have movies like Training Day and shows like The Shield where the bad guys are scum of the earth and the cops aren't much better, but the old good-time cop games are fun to watchThis movie is like day old funfetti cake. It is light, doesn't take itself seriously, sweet enough to satisfy a sweet tooth, but a little past its prime, not moist and tender, but still edible and enjoyable. It's fluff and it knows it, but still prides itself on being tasty. 6/10http://blog.myspace.com/locoformovies

Gabin appeared in more French masterpieces than any other actor I can think of.From the thirties' golden hour when Duvivier,Carné and Renoir made him the biggest star of all time in France to the underrated fifties where his career was still interesting and full of gems waiting to be rediscovered,what a career! From the beginning of the sixties onwards ,his -artistic- ambitions began to wane.There is not a single movie in the fifteen last years that deserves to be remembered whereas virtually all (or almost all) he made in the 1934-1939 era was prodigious ."L'année sainte" is a poor swansong ;barely entertaining ,it casts Gabin and Brialy as villains disguised as priests .Most of the action takes place on a plane where Gabin meets again "Duchesse" ,one of his former lovers.Danielle Darrieux's character is almost unbearable ,her trendy slang gets on your nerves even if ,like me,you appreciate the actress (still working as the wonderful "8 Femmes" testifies).But anyway ,farewell,Monsieur Gabin,and thank you for everything!

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