Thieves like us

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Movie
German title Thieves like us
Original title Thieves like us
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Robert Altman
script Calder Willingham ,
Joan Tewkesbury ,
Robert Altman
production Jerry Bick
camera Jean Boffety
cut Lou Lombardo
occupation

Thieves Like Us (Engl. Title Thieves like us ) is an American gangster drama from 1974, directed by Robert Altman , which tells the story of a bank robber trio. The film is based on the work Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson .

action

The USA in the early 1930s, the age of the Great Depression : The plot begins with the hobbling T-Dup and the half-Indian Mobley enjoying privileges in prison. During a fishing trip they flee and are picked up in his taxi by their accomplice Bowie, who has already fled, and a taxi driver named "Chazbow". The trio ambushes the taxi driver, threatens him with a revolver and forces him to help them escape. In a forest, however, they have a flat tire and are forced to continue on foot. The three fugitives spend the night in an abandoned church in a wooded area, but flee in the morning when they think they can hear noises and go to see Mobley's relatives. There Bowie met his future girlfriend Keechie.

In order to survive, the three convicts begin bank robberies, the first target being the Mississippi National Bank. Hours later, T-Dup can hear the news about the robbery on the radio. Their second destination is the Canton Exchange Bank, where they loot $ 100,000. Since the wanted situation is too precarious for them, they decide to go into hiding with T-Dup's sister-in-law, Mattie. Lula, who later became T-Dup's wife, lives in the house of T-Dup's brother. She is much younger and calls T-Dup uncle. There they are planning their next foray, which this time will take place in Yazoo City. On a night drive by Mobley and Bowie, Bowie causes an accident due to excessive speed and disregard of the right of way in which he and the woman whose car he rams are injured. Mobley pulls Bowie out of the wreck and brings him to his car. There he is confronted by two plainclothes policemen who have just come to the scene of the accident and prevented from driving away. Without further ado, Mobley shoots the police officers and then flees to his relatives with Bowie in the back seat, where they hide Bowie in an abandoned house. Mobley escapes.

The next morning, Keechie finds Bowie and takes care of him, the two get closer. Bowie and Keechie decide to settle in a quiet, secluded house by a lake, but Bowie has yet to conduct one final foray into Yazoo City. In Yazoo City, Bowie meets T-Dup, who has meanwhile married Lula, and Mobley again. Lula leaves the trio and goes to a hotel. During the robbery on the Yazoo City Bank everything went according to plan, but when a banker tried to grab something under the table, the trio shot him.

T-Dup decides to retire in New Orleans. On the way to Keechie, Bowie overhears T-Dup shot and Mobley arrested on the radio. Arrived at Keechie's, they decide to go back to Mattie, who now runs a motel in Pickens, which was made possible by a financial injection from T-Dup. At first Mattie doesn't want to take them in, but chooses differently after Bowie reminds them that T-Dup said they are welcome anytime. Bowie decides to get Mobley out of jail in order to finally put her plan to flee to Mexico into practice. Bowie poses as the sheriff and with the help of a fake summons he is able to break into the prison.

Bowie consults the prison captain and asks him to speak to the prisoner Mobley. Since the captain does not want to run, the two drive in Bowie's car across the wide area to Mobley's group of prisoners. Mobley is asked to get into the car. On an unguarded stretch, Mobley takes Bowie's gun, lies down on the back seat so that he cannot be seen from the outside, and threatens the captain with it. So it is possible for them to escape. In a wooded area, Mobley is supposed to tie the prison captain to a tree, but shoots him. On the way the two start arguing and Bowie throws Mobley out of the car.

Meanwhile, Keechie is already worried about Bowie. Mattie calms her down and tells her to look forward to the child she's expecting. Looking out the window the next morning, she sees Bowie return and go into the bungalow-like house. Mattie then holds her and several armed men come out of their hiding place and open fire on the building Bowie is in. Mattie struggles to hold back the panicked Keechie. After the men have stopped the fire, they enter the house and carry Bowie's body wrapped in a carpet outside and leave him in the rain.

The film ends with Keechie waiting at the train station for a train to Fort Worth.

reception

At Rotten Tomatoes , the film is given a score of 8.2 / 10; 89% of the 19 reviews are positive.

Kino-zeit.de describes the film as “at first glance an irritatingly normal and beautifully filmed gangster film in which Robert Altman works out the darker side of the American dream based on the novel by Edward Anderson”.

The lexicon of international films judged the production to be a "rigorous portrait of a backyard America of the common people" and not a "nostalgic farewell to a beautiful and wicked epoch of US history".

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] (PDF of the FSK, 70kB)
  2. ↑ Thieves Like Us on Rotten Tomatoes , accessed December 21, 2014
  3. ↑ Thieves like us at kino-zeit.de, accessed on December 15, 2014
  4. ↑ Cameron. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 15, 2014 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used