82) Dog Day AfternoonDirector: Sidney LumetYear: 1975Plot Summary: On a hot summer afternoon, a Brooklyn bank is held up by the down-and-out Sonny and Sal, but they find that there's actually nothing much to steal as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Police Captain Moretti, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city's entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employees' safety.
Set over the course of one hot New York summers day and taking place in only five or six different locations with a small cast of characters, it's amazing to think that Dog Day Afternoon is able to say so much about 1970s America.
Sonny, played incredibly by Al Pacino in one of the finest roles of his career, is someone who bought into the American system totally; he's a practicing catholic who worked for Goldman in 1964 and fought for his country in the Vietnam. However, upon returning home from the war, like many people in this era, he found himself disillusioned by the country he once stood by. He came back to work on a petty wage as a bank teller, unable to readjust to life with his wife and children and finding the pressures of life far too great to deal with. From being the majority, he became the minority.
His repeated phrase, "I'm dying here", seems to not only speak of the fact he's running out of options when the police surround the bank, but also of his life in America which he expected more from.
However, Dog Day Afternoon isn't just a film about the disillusionment of those who returned from Vietnam, it's also a film about the death of the 1960s movement as America rolled over into a new decade. The movement aimed to challenge the establishment and Sonny seems to represent this in Dog Day Afternoon. He's as a man who is, in many ways, fighting against the system, who are, of course, the police and the FBI. They swarm around the bank in an attempt to silence Sonny, in both a metaphorical and literal way, the way that Vietnam protestors were silenced in the Kent State shootings in 1970.
During the movie, he is able to cause some kind of change through the hostages. Initially the bank is presented as the ultimate Conservative bastion where the tellers are all rigid, uptight, religious, and eager to correct Sonny's grammar and condone his foul language. This offers some kind of hope that the minority can make a difference.
The crowd, on the other hand, offers a negative critique of liberal revolutionaries. When Sonny is a political symbol, they embrace him and join him in jeering the police. They, essentially, make a hero of him. But as Sonny shifts into a social symbol, the true colors of the crowd come through as they mock him for his sexuality and they boo him for shunning his mother. Politically the crowd is liberal, but they still believe in certain values of heterosexual patriarchy and they still respect the family unit. Sonny can be a symbol for them when they think he's just a married man with kids, but when his life is revealed to be more complicated, they have trouble dealing with it. In the end, Sonny is only being cheered by a group of gay activists. There's no unity - only fractured America.
It's one of the most thematically complex movies I've ever encountered despite its simple premises and also features one of the most complex characters too. He starts off as a simple somewhat crazed bank robber, but over the course of the movie, we learn more and more about Sonny through his conversations with the police, hostages family and partners, drawing up a rich, sympathetic and three dimensional portrait of a troubled human being. Lumet's style perfectly complements this as he directs the film like two different men. The films half of Dog Day Afternoon has a frantic, kinetic, documentary style in which the camera zips up and down lines at the bank, paces around Pacino like a caged animal, and soars above the mess in a helicopter. The second half, however, is intimate as the camera slows down, everything becomes more close up and scenes begin to elongate.
Also worth a mention is the performance from John Cazale who is mind-blowing in just about everything he does and, certainly, the fact that Dog Day Afternoon was one of the first un-stereotypical, realistic portrayals of homosexuality in cinema. As someone constantly enraged by cliched gay characters, Dog Day Afternoon was a welcome breathe of fresh air.
Funny, tragic, action packed and also very intimate, Dog Day Afternoon is everything you could want from a movie and is one of the highlights of the 1970s.
5/5
3 comments:
My second favourite film. After it became my favourite early last year I wrote a long ass review but I can't seem to find it now but I have got the analysis portion so I'll show ya.
It is hilarious, even on the 15th viewing, hehe. You only find more in it each time you watch it. Glad you put it in at #25. Pacino definitely gives my all-time favourite performance.
One of the three primary themes of Dog Day Afternoon is a study of criminal behaviour. Taking Sonny Wortzik (performed exquisitely by Al Pacino), the protagonist and lead character involved in the bank robbery of the plot, as the sole representation of the 'criminal' – the crime follows conventions that apply to reality more so than film in general; plan, operation, getaway – the film skips plan, heads straight for operation and gets stuck before getaway; with the events occurring unbeknownst to the characters' expectations, despite their ability. Sonny is not a cliché – a character motivated by greed and ruthless compassion but rather a man with an understanding of the system and his place in it – that being he needs to bark attention his way to be a part of it, or at least, get a share, if not fair. The main factor is how common morality affects the criminal sense of communication and compromise in order for a successful operation. This is demonstrated by the key art of intimidation they need to force upon the civilians in order to get what they want, except in this film, many issues interrupt their threatening attempts such as the hostages needing to go to the bathroom and Sonny with his accomplice Sal (played by an edgy John Cazale, an actor of which could be considered to have the greatest filmography of all-time) obliging to these miniscule demands. One of the first ideas presented are acts of bravery; contrasting the criminal with the hostage, during the first few moments of the robbery one of the accomplices (of which we never see again) chooses to coward out – in doing so, he appears to lose all rational thought and makes illogical decisions whilst the bank manager remains calm and follows procedure. By giving this initial impression, it enhances all the pressures that later take place. There's even an instance in which Sal sharply threatens the hostages and gets taken aback by their screams. Even though there is a prominence of the artillery in the film with both the criminals and police, rarely being a scene without one – two shots in total are fired; both having significant impact among everyone.
The iconic scene and most important quote in Dog Day Afternoon is Pacino screaming "Attica" in the street. This scene pretty much sums up everything the film stands for as Sonny riles up the crowd. But mostly a study of police reaction and action involving co-operation – as in Attica, of which was a real event, police killed 42 guilty and innocent people. Sonny understands their routine and how much they value a crime – and due to how much he knows, he refuses to trust them even more, especially the chance of unpredictability within their compromises – expertly contrasted with the compromises Sonny and Sal make with the hostages in the bank, concerning their safety. Blending the images with a montage of footage between the police and criminals, it's revealed that their motives are not too different, in an effort for credibility. There are two representative figures of the police; Moretti (Charles Durning) and Sheldon (James Broderick) – both of which use methods of intimidation much like Sonny and Sal; even coming to a point where Sonny recognizes the limits the police will go since the event has an audience he can abuse and alter their intentions; such as using no weapons to get some officers to move back. The entire power Sonny has gained is entirely blamed on the police – and this frustrates the police during their negotiation. It proposes the suggestion that irrational behaviour is only acceptable within the system, ignoring emotional disposition whilst doing everything to retain a sense, even if false, of professionalism and control.
Media plays the most important part as to why these events are significant – or enough to base a film on it. If it weren't for the media, these events would be irrelevant. The media completely invades the situation. In the second act, there's a subplot that centres completely on Sonny and his personal life – involving both his spouses; one a man and one a woman. This bisexuality allows the media to blow the discovery completely out of proportion, making the crime seem motivated by this preference – to the point where they claim that there are two homosexuals robbing the bank (Sal of course, resents this statement) which has the consequence of gaining a crowd of gay rights activists, almost with the idea that Sonny's criminal action is stimulated by this (as the chant "out of the closets and into the streets" comes from). The media considers these proceedings as nothing more than entertainment, without a care of whom or what gets hurt just as long as it gets ratings – even prompting Sonny to go ahead and kill the hostages. It's even demonstrated in how the paparazzi immediately and physically intervene, trying to grasp full on interviews as soon as possible. This is also expanded as to how the public – or the live audience – reacts to Sonny and his actions, celebrating and encouraging him, especially in a scene where he throws some money out to the crowd, almost completely making his bank robbery attempt seem utterly pointless. Also, aside from Sonny, every character that gets the slightest bit of attention gets a sense of euphoria and feels impressed with them for no real reason. And again, it's all the media's fault – and this applies to real-life situations as shown by how the news mentions negative stories far more regularly than positive ones; or at least, as the cliché suggests.
Ooo! A very interesting analysis there. Definitely took it from another angle than the sociological and political one I did above. :P Haha. But it just shows how much depth there is to this film.
I always considered it as "just a bank robbing film" until this time when it became clear that there's so much more to it than that. :) Again, the fact that I watched it again is thanks to your list of favourite films so... Cheers! :D
I'm glad you mentioned the media side to it because when I wrote this review and added the picture I saw the line about "12 hours later, it was the hottest thing on TV". And I wondered why they'd decided to include that. But, reading your review, it makes more sense. :)
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