Opinion The Louvre heist

The daylight robbery seems like something out of Hollywood. But life is often less complicated than fiction.

On the face of it, the “Louvre heist”, as it's being called on social media, is out of a film a la Ocean's Eleven.

October 22, 2025 07:55 AM IST First published on: Oct 22, 2025 at 07:55 AM IST

A cliché is a dead metaphor, an idiom or a phrase that has lost the impact it once had. Once in a while, though, there are acts so audacious that they can revive the meaning behind words. A team of four robbers — two who committed the act, the others who helped with the getaway — committed one of the most brazen acts of “daylight robbery” at the Louvre in Paris. For those who use the term casually while talking about ticket prices at the neighbourhood multiplex, the price of onions and, of course, income taxes, it’s a reminder of where the shock and awe of a metaphor turned literal.

At 9.30 am on Sunday, two men scaled a ladder mounted on a truck, and broke into the first floor of arguably the world’s most famous museum. Eight minutes later, they had made off, riding pillion on scooters, with nine precious objects including an emerald necklace, a sapphire necklace and a diadem worn by Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, who ruled France in the 19th century. The robbers and their accomplices are at large, and their success, at least for now, shows that life, at times stranger than fiction, can often be a lot less convoluted.

On the face of it, the “Louvre heist”, as it’s being called on social media, is out of a film a la Ocean’s Eleven. However, unlike a Hollywood caper, the daylight robbery relied not on cons, tricks and psychological games. It seems that looters figured out what politicians have long known: Shock and awe — the criminals broke through a window, smashed a display case, threatened security and ran away with their booty — is a simpler tactic. The crowd, more often than not, panics or just watches the show.