I really admired how this movie was shot, with really good framing of dusty Spanish roads and scenery, of Madrid, of villages and out-of-the-way stopovers. I traveled through rural Spain myself in the mid-1970s and this was a happy reacquaintance. It's worth seeing the movie just for that, and one of the reasons I give it a good score. The description of the police here is also authentic to the day. The script is often sparse and it needs actors such as John Hurt to carry the piece. There's a good soundscape. The plot is OK but requires an act of faith. One of the gangsters is young and unstable for example, and the whole concept is so fraught with likely disaster one wonders if such an enterprise was really logical. There are touches of genuine reality though that raise the work up a little, such as the victim's philosophy of life, the unusual chance meeting with an Australian character, and the performance and story that goes with the leading girl. I had to dock the movie a point for its title, which is misleading. This is a movie about criminals, but not a hit as such. This is quality drama for its day and a delight to see the younger versions of actors that would go on to do great things.
Review of The Hit
