Robert de Niro and Al Pacino sat face to face for the first time in 25 years



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It was introduced 25 years ago Face to face (Heat), which is not only memorable for Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s joint first scene: this 170-minute crime flick, with several characters (and an excellent actor) is the best picture from director Michael Mann, four times nominee Oscar, which in turn inexplicably did not even garner an Oscar nomination in its day, though it is now rightly considered one of the best Hollywood films of the 1990s.

The plot seems common enough: a foolproof scent detective, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), is chasing a flamethrower criminal, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), who is carrying out valiant robberies in Los Angeles. In fact, few more authentic and realistic crime movies have been made: Based on a story already true, Pacino’s character is modeled after Detective Chuck Adamson, who caught a grandiose thief named McCauley in 1960s Chicago under circumstances Similar. By the way, after his retirement, Chuck Adamson found himself as a screenwriter and television producer, he became Crime story and author of episodes of Michael Mann’s cult series, Miami Vicefor (and as a consultant for Face to face he also worked on his staff).

Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer in the movieSource: Christophel Collection via AFP

There has been, according to Adamson at least, perhaps the best, albeit almost unbelievable, scene in the movie, in which Hanna, who was already watching at the time, invites McCauley out for coffee and, like almost old friends, to have an honest conversation (their penultimate meeting actually). it was a fatal fire duel). They start to like each other: they have chosen a different profession, but they both understand one thing and have no idea what to do. This was Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s first joint scene – they were already in a joint movie, but The Godfather II. on the occasion their characters never met. Everything has a meaning because a Face to face specifically an actor-centric crime movie, and maybe there isn’t even such a drama-centric movie in the genre. In 170 minutes there are hardly any action scenes, only two robberies and a couple of armed confrontations between characters.

Al Pacino as Robert De NiroSource: Christophel Collection via AFP

Michael Mann also recounts the very complex and twisted thread of crime (more precisely: robbery, that is, thief) slowly, moderately and in detail, but with his film he focuses much more on the human side of his characters, more precisely on how being a gangster and detective destroy privacy. This is also indicated by the original title, the Hot, which literally means heat, and in jargon, the police, or when the ground gets hot under the feet of criminals. McCauley’s creed refers to this: “Don’t get attached to anything or anyone you can’t leave there in half a minute when the ground gets hot under your feet.” It also adds tension to the story that all the members of De Niro’s gang (Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo) are either related or married, and lone wolf McCauley has just gotten into a relationship, which will eventually have a high chance of Leave it behind, if you can. will be in it. Not much better, of course, is Detective Al Pacino, whose third marriage is ruined in the movie.

Al PacinoSource: Christophel Collection via AFP

The film inexplicably didn’t even get an Oscar nomination, though it was a true blockbuster even in supporting roles with memorable actors like Oscar winner Jon Voight (Midnight cowboy, killer tour), perhaps the best Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Forever Batman), newcomers Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman, rock star Henry Rollins, popular actor Danny Trejo or even Jeremy Piven and Hank Azaria, who appear in the smaller roles. Unlike the Oscars, success was not far behind, the film regained its $ 60 million budget, and its impact on pop culture is almost immeasurable: inspired by popular popularity Christopher Nolan bat Manthe realism of his films, a Grand Theft Autoconsole games (with this Face full of scars and the Miami Vice even actual robberies and their media coverage.

Val Kilmer and Ashley JuddSource: Christophel Collection via AFP

Michael Mann’s secret can also be gleaned from the film, in which he also sought to reveal what kind of personality is suitable to stand out as a thief or pandur. Obsessed, maximalist, alcoholic, monomaniac, as can be Michael Mann himself looking at his filmography. The scriptwriter-director-producer is a tireless narrator of the criminal genre: his name is associated with Miami Vice (or his less successful movie remake), he already made a movie about a master thief in 1981 Thief (in Hungarian baptism: The streets of violence), even the Face to face also tested his serial killer extension The human hunter Hannibal in his film Lecter, and has since appeared with gangster thrillers such as Collateral – The promise of death, a Enemies and the Black hat. A Face to face It is also the result of decades of work: Mann wrote the first version of the script in 1979 and later envisioned it as a television series, but the NBC channel unpacked it (the pilot LA Takedown debuted as a TV movie in 1989 and in Hungary due to the strange “translation” of the VHS distribution Made in LA aka), so he later made a movie and the story proved his resilience.



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