HEAT

This time we are going all the way back to 1995, when two of the most prestige actors collided in a single film. Mr. Al Pacino and Mr. Robert De Niro act together and were both the leading role of Mr. Michael Mann crime opera, Heat.

This movie is epic. It has all the great ingredients a perfect movie should have. It has a great story (based on true story and real people which is always great, cause what is better than real life), it possessed one of the greatest and innovative directors of all times, Mr. Mann. It has, like I mentioned before, two of my favorite actors alive or dead (by the way, I like Pacino even more). It has a cast that other studios, projects, directors or producers would kill for, starting with Val Kilmer (his best performance ever), Tom Sizemore (before he started hitting women), Natalie Portman (in one of her adolescent performing years), Asheley Judd, Amy Breeneman, Diane Venora and a lot more up to the man himself, Mr. John Voight.   

The Plot is very conventional. It’s a pursuit story of bad against evil. A robber and a cop. A chase. But what Mann did in this crime drama thriller is brilliant. He took a TV story with all its characters and gave life to them all. You are starting with your hero, a cop chasing bad guys and move into De Niro's character in and out, back and forth like a beautiful ballet dance. It is written and shot dazzlingly and although it is 170 minutes long, you can't take your eyes off of it. You are mesmerized to every scene, you are curious of every turn or choice one of them makes. You are rooting for the good guy and near the end you are so confused and involve in the villain life, you can't decide who to root for. This is the job of cinema Gods. Mann, Pacino, De Niro, all do their impeccable part of their lives (I know we are talking about the same guys who did so many iconic characters such as Vito Corleone himself, or his child, Michael Corleone and many more but…see the movie if you haven’t yet and let's talk again).

Pacino. The actor who capture my intersest and heart in cinema in the begin with. He actually becomes his character while you don’t forget you are seeing Al. you are craving for each scene he is in. the way he walks, the way he speaks, the way he reacts to his opposite in each footage. A master of the craft in its prime. You root for him in this picture not because he is the cop and basically the good guy. You will find that he is not the most pleasant, patient guy at all, but Al took it too all other level of performance that you cannot even blink between takes. One of his great performance indeed.

De Niro. My second favorite actor back in the day. I got to tell you that when someone had told him he can do comedies, that is basically the time I started feel bad that one of my icons is goofing around and I don’t like it one bit. We are talking about the raging bull for the love of god, we are talking about Scorsese favorite actor before Leonardo DiCaprio, Goodfellas- James Conway, Sam the fucking Ace Rothstein in Casino, Max Cady in Cape Fear and didn’t even got to Deer Hunter or fucking Taxi Driver. I think Heat is one of his latest work that I can idolize this actor's performance. After that it was Focker's and all kind of other crap minus some good performances such as in Ronin or Wag the Dog. De Niro's performance is great because of Al's and vice versa. they complete each other like no one has done before. De Niro's character is tormenting and you can see a focused, by the rule man who start slipping when he meets someone and let his feeling interrupt with his work. Beautiful evolve of his part.

The restaurant scene. This is the scene that took these big actors and put them in the same room, sharing a restaurant table in a lovely evening with people eating and chatting around them. It was so climaxing that you stop paying attention to the crowd and you can see only them. One camera is on Al behind De Niro's shoulder and one on De Niro behind ALs. One camera from the side, one camera from the other side all shooting together endless takes. The job was brilliantly done. It is one of the most incredible and memorable scene the cinema has to offer. A masterclass in acting, writing and directing.

The shootout scene. The shaky camera while running, the camera movement, down and behind Pacino while he ran and zoom in to a shot of him and his assault rifle, looking through his metal scope before taking a marksman shot to the head of the man holding a hostage little girl, simply WOW. Michael Mann in his finest hour. The beginning of the shootout start in a split of a second. I tried to time it once, to see how long it took Val Kilmer to spot the cops on the street while stepping out of the bank and start shooting. Less than a second.

I cannot wait for the upcoming movie that Scorsese is working on with these men, The Irishman, because the last time they team up in a movie wasn’t that great. Righteous Kill, they look tired and not in to it at all.

See you in the my next article

G.