L'aventure, c'est l'aventure (meaning "Adventure is Adventure") is a 1972 Italian-French comedy film, directed by Claude Lelouch, starring Lino Ventura, Jacques Brel, Charles Denner, Aldo Maccione and Johnny Hallyday.
Lino (Ventura), Jacques (Brel), Simon (Denner), Aldo (Maccione) and Charlot are mobsters who want to keep up with the times, so they decide to use politics in their criminal projects. They kidnap Johnny Hallyday as part of his promotional campaign. Then they go to South America to work for revolutionaries.
L'aventure, c'est l'aventure provides examples of:
- As Himself: Johnny Hallyday appears as himself. In order to promote his music, he organizes his own kidnapping.
- Banana Republic: The Latin American country where the mobsters work for the revolutionary forces. In this country, there is a constant fight between the revolutionary guerilla forces, the regular army and the US special forces.
- Bulungi: In the end, the mobsters flee to an unnamed fictional African country, where a military officer suggests them to participate in a coup.
- The Casino: When they are rich afer the hijacking, the mobsters spend some time in a casino.
- Chewbacca Defense: Used by the lawyer who defends the mobster. He does not deny that they have committed multiple crimes; he just claims that they were politically motivated, so that it is a political trial.
- Daydream Surprise: Suddenly, Lino acts as if he was Aldo's servant. Then it is revealed that it was a dream of Aldo, Lino's servant.
- Drives Like Crazy: Aldo when the mobsters escape from the court house. Lino repeatedly tells him that he does not have to drive so fast, because the escape is arranged by the government.
- Faked Kidnapping: In order to promote his music, Johnny Hallyday organizes his own kidnapping.
- False Flag Operation: The far right pays Simon to shoot at corporate executives (without killing them). The goal of the far right is that the far left is suspected of committing the crimes.
- Funny Foreigner: Invoked. As part of a plan to hijack a plane, Jacques pretends to be a stupid Belgian guy, with a funny accent. The actor, Jacques Brel, was Belgian and sometimes mocked for his accent.
- Honey Trap: The revolutionaries send attractive women on the mobsters' boat. The women seduce the mobsters and the revolutionaries can catch them.
- How We Got Here: The film starts with the trial of the mobster. Then the bulk of the film is a Flashback about their criminal careers. Then the film shows the end of the trial and the escape to Africa.
- Karma Houdini: The five mobsters are not punished for the crimes they committed. They lose all their money, but the government lets them flee safely to Africa.
- Lazy Alias: When they extort the insurance company, Lino and Charlot use Smith and Wesson as alias.
- Newscaster Cameo: The guy who announces on TV that Johnny Hallyday was kidnapped is Michel Drucker, a real-life TV host.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: The mobsters fight for the revolutionaries (they kidnap the Swiss ambassador), but they are only interested in money.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: This is how Jacques gets into the cockpit and hijacks the plane: he pretends to be a stupid Belgian guy.
- Only in It for the Money: The mobsters are only interested in making money. They help a revolutionary group, just because they think that it is an easy way to make money.
- Self-Deprecation: Jacques Brel was mocked by the French for his Belgian accent. At some point in this film, his character pretends to be a stupid Belgian man who has an over-the-top Belgian accent as part of a plan to hijack a plane.
- Stupid Crooks: None of the mobsters is very bright, as demonstrated by the scene where the five mobsters walk on the beach in a way that is supposed to charm the ladies. Charlot and Aldo are significantly more stupid than the others. For example, Aldo Drives Like Crazy to escape from the court house, even if the escape is arranged by the government.
