The Mechanic
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2008-07-07T01:53:11Z
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/* Plot summary */
{{Infobox_Film |
name =The Mechanic|
image =TheMechanicposter.jpg|
imdb_id =0068931|
writer =[[Lewis John Carlino]] |
starring =[[Charles Bronson]]<br>[[Jan-Michael Vincent]] |
director =[[Michael Winner]] |
producer = [[Robert Chartoff]]<br>[[Irwin Winkler]] |
distributor = [[United Artists]] |
released =[[November 17]], [[1972]] |
runtime = 100 min |
language =English|
budget =|
}}
'''''The Mechanic''''' is a [[1972]] [[action film|action]] [[thriller film]], [[film director|directed]] by [[Michael Winner]]. It stars [[Charles Bronson]] and [[Jan-Michael Vincent]].
The film is noted for its opening. There is no dialogue for the first 16 minutes of the film, as Arthur prepares for killing his current mark.
==Plot summary==
Arthur Bishop (played by Bronson) is a "mechanic" — a [[hit man]] who performs his jobs cleanly, without leaving a trace of his work. When he is assigned by his organization to kill one of the heads, "Big Harry" McKenna ([[Keenan Wynn]]), he does so with his usual sense of efficiency and detachment, shooting at Big Harry until he suffers a [[heart attack]] and dies.
In steps Big Harry's son, Steve (played by Vincent), approaches Arthur, from whom he wants to learn to become a "mechanic". Arthur takes him under his wing and teaches him some of the training he would need (learning to read lips from a distance, for example, or strengthening your fingers to allow for maximum use from them).
Ultimately, his apprenticeship complete, Steve shares a celebratory bottle of wine with Bishop, taking revenge for his father's death by poisoning the latter with a prepared glass treated with [[brucine]]. He leaves Bishop to die of what will appear to be a heart attack, unaware that Bishop has anticipated the betrayal. In his car Steve finds a note from Bishop saying that if he is reading it, Bishop is dead and that the car contains a bomb. It explodes, killing Steve.
==Existentialism==
The film can be described as [[existentialist]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genordell.com/stores/maison/existFF.htm|title=Existentialist Film Festival}}</ref> featuring characters who have chosen to ignore common rules and beliefs to live life on their own terms, often coming into absurd situations in part through their detachment. Upon being invited to a suicide, the main characters stand by and watch dispassionately, giving a girl estimates of the symptoms and time until death after she cuts her wrist, and eventually throwing her the keys to a vehicle and telling her where she can drive to get help. ("If you don't care about your life, why should I?", Steve says.) But paradoxically, even the killers need their own sense of social license, whether a paid contract from a shadowy organization or a traditional motivation for revenge.
==Main cast==
* [[Charles Bronson]] .... Arthur Bishop
* [[Jan-Michael Vincent]] .... Steve McKenna
* [[Keenan Wynn]] .... Harry McKenna ["Big Harry"]
* [[Jill Ireland]] .... The Girl
* [[Linda Ridgeway]] .... Louise
==Remake==
There is currently in production a remake of this movie. However, the story is vastly different from the original, set in a post [[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]] world. {{Fact|date=March 2007}}
==See also==
*[[1972 in film]]
==References==
<references />
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0068931|title=The Mechanic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechanic, The}}
[[Category:1972 films]]
[[Category:Action films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael Winner]]
[[fr:Le Flingueur]]
[[it:Professione assassino]]
[[no:Mekanikeren]]
[[ru:Механик (фильм)]]
[[fi:Mestaritappaja]]