#7
Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon
1975
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Written by: Frank Pierson
Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper
Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, and Chris Sarandon
This has long been one of my favourite movies. Dog Day Afternoon is based on a true story about a Brooklyn bank robbery that was so unbelievable it sounded like it came from a movie. Naturally then, it was made into a movie. Two men rob a bank, well three initially. They are Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and his friend Sal (John Cazale). They cops come to the scene and it goes from a bank robbery to a hostage situation. As the movie proceeds it becomes more eccentric. It turns out that Sonny was robbing the bank mainly to get the funds to pay for his husband's (Chris Sarandon) sex change operation. This aspect is also handled in a very respectful way, which is rare for movies of this time period. Another thing I love about this movie. Anyway, from the beginning every thing goes wrong. The results are both comedic and tragicat the same time. This is one of those rare movies that can pull that off. It's always an incredible feeling to want to laugh and cry at the same time. It's the characters in this movie as well as the actors who portray them which make this possible. Take a look at the opening scene of the robbery and you'll see what I mean:
I laugh so hard at this scene, it's the tiny detail which make it work. The frustration Sonny shows at how difficult it is to get his gun out, him and Sal trying to find each other through the pillars in the bank, and Sonny's pleading at the failed bank robber Stevie to take the subway home and not the car. Great stuff. It's still hard to believe that this is based on a true story.
Al Pacino is often called the greatest actor of his generation (it's either him or De Niro anyway). I think this is him at his best too. Watching him really makes you wish he would stop making such crap and wish that he didn't ruin his vocal range with the cigarettes. He's so intense as Sonny and really has the character down perfectly. John Cazale is also amazing in his supporting role as the introvert, pitiful psychotic Sal. This following scene is one of the most famous from the movie and shows Sonny taunting the police officers trying to negotiate the hostages release. It shows just how great the acting is I think:
He certainly shouts 'Attica' a lot. For those of you who are unaware (I was before I saw this movie) 'Attica' was a prison where there was a riot in the early 70s. The prison was taken over by the prisoners who were demanding better living conditions and the removal of the cruel superintendent. In the end, the police were sent in with 39 causalities suffered in taking back the prison. Ten of these people were workers at the prison and other civilian employees. Sonny's yelling this to get the crowd on his side. He constantly warns in the movie that this could be another Attica. It works as you can see, he become a sort of hero to the crowd.
The reason that a bank robber so easily becomes a hero of this crowd speaks to the hard times. The United States was in the grips of a recession. This had largely been brought about by the Oil Crisis of 1973. What happened was the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) had placed an oil embargo on the US in response for their military support of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Basically they restricted output and raised prices. This sent shockwaves through the economy. Oil supplies shrank, transport was halted, products could not be manufactured, factories closed down, and people lost their jobs in massive numbers. The Stock Market collapsed later that same year. It was the official end of the post-WWII economic boom. Until that, the west had largely experience prolonged economic growth. We still see the effect of this today in our government policies.
Sonny was a victim of this recession. He explains in the movie his trouble at finding a job with decent pay. Most likely, those in the crowd and watching on TV are experiencing the exact same thing. There is massive discontent with the economy on the brink of near collapse. Sonny exploits this anti-establishment feeling perfectly.
There is even more to this previous scene. The last shot shows a point of view from a TV News helicopter. This type of occurrence was being broadcast a massive scale. At the time the media was becoming far more pervasive. This is shown humorlessly in this next scene:
I love how excited Sonny gets seeing himself on TV. The fact is that people were watching a lot more news, and were being fed more information. The media could even somehow obtain that close-up shot of Sonny in the bank. Information like this would not have been known to the wider public eighty years prior to this. Yet people were aware of the bank robbery and Sonny. The tragedy at Attica was well known and became a rallying point for the crowd in the earlier scene. And just as likely, the effects of the recession and its causes were being shown every night on the news. Information is power. And this story takes place way back in 1973. Advances in communications technology allows us to now receive information from all over the world. The movie forecasts the role that access to information would play in future social movements as it is now. Sonny got the crowd going and it's now possible to do this on a much wider scale.
But the fact remains that Dog Day Afternoon is also great just based on it's entertainment value. It's a great story, has great direction and incredible acting. It's funny and tragic. Without giving away too much I will just say that the ending is not consistent with the rest of the film's tone. Above all though, it's a movie that I think appeals to everyone. This is a movie that everyone will like.
I laugh so hard at this scene, it's the tiny detail which make it work. The frustration Sonny shows at how difficult it is to get his gun out, him and Sal trying to find each other through the pillars in the bank, and Sonny's pleading at the failed bank robber Stevie to take the subway home and not the car. Great stuff. It's still hard to believe that this is based on a true story.
Al Pacino is often called the greatest actor of his generation (it's either him or De Niro anyway). I think this is him at his best too. Watching him really makes you wish he would stop making such crap and wish that he didn't ruin his vocal range with the cigarettes. He's so intense as Sonny and really has the character down perfectly. John Cazale is also amazing in his supporting role as the introvert, pitiful psychotic Sal. This following scene is one of the most famous from the movie and shows Sonny taunting the police officers trying to negotiate the hostages release. It shows just how great the acting is I think:
He certainly shouts 'Attica' a lot. For those of you who are unaware (I was before I saw this movie) 'Attica' was a prison where there was a riot in the early 70s. The prison was taken over by the prisoners who were demanding better living conditions and the removal of the cruel superintendent. In the end, the police were sent in with 39 causalities suffered in taking back the prison. Ten of these people were workers at the prison and other civilian employees. Sonny's yelling this to get the crowd on his side. He constantly warns in the movie that this could be another Attica. It works as you can see, he become a sort of hero to the crowd.
The reason that a bank robber so easily becomes a hero of this crowd speaks to the hard times. The United States was in the grips of a recession. This had largely been brought about by the Oil Crisis of 1973. What happened was the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) had placed an oil embargo on the US in response for their military support of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Basically they restricted output and raised prices. This sent shockwaves through the economy. Oil supplies shrank, transport was halted, products could not be manufactured, factories closed down, and people lost their jobs in massive numbers. The Stock Market collapsed later that same year. It was the official end of the post-WWII economic boom. Until that, the west had largely experience prolonged economic growth. We still see the effect of this today in our government policies.
Sonny was a victim of this recession. He explains in the movie his trouble at finding a job with decent pay. Most likely, those in the crowd and watching on TV are experiencing the exact same thing. There is massive discontent with the economy on the brink of near collapse. Sonny exploits this anti-establishment feeling perfectly.
There is even more to this previous scene. The last shot shows a point of view from a TV News helicopter. This type of occurrence was being broadcast a massive scale. At the time the media was becoming far more pervasive. This is shown humorlessly in this next scene:
I love how excited Sonny gets seeing himself on TV. The fact is that people were watching a lot more news, and were being fed more information. The media could even somehow obtain that close-up shot of Sonny in the bank. Information like this would not have been known to the wider public eighty years prior to this. Yet people were aware of the bank robbery and Sonny. The tragedy at Attica was well known and became a rallying point for the crowd in the earlier scene. And just as likely, the effects of the recession and its causes were being shown every night on the news. Information is power. And this story takes place way back in 1973. Advances in communications technology allows us to now receive information from all over the world. The movie forecasts the role that access to information would play in future social movements as it is now. Sonny got the crowd going and it's now possible to do this on a much wider scale.
But the fact remains that Dog Day Afternoon is also great just based on it's entertainment value. It's a great story, has great direction and incredible acting. It's funny and tragic. Without giving away too much I will just say that the ending is not consistent with the rest of the film's tone. Above all though, it's a movie that I think appeals to everyone. This is a movie that everyone will like.
For capturing the hardship faced by many during the end of the post-war economic boom, and showing it as both humourless and tragic, Dog Day Afternoon is in my opinion the 7th greatest movie of the 1970s.
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