Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a thriller masterpiece.
Inspired by a criminal case dating from the 1960s, Michael Mann made a TV movie, entitled LA Takedown, in 1989. Six years later, he wrote and directed his own remake. Renamed Heat, it depicts the remote fight between Neil McCauley, a professional robber, and Vincent Hanna, a stubborn police lieutenant, until their final confrontation.
In the skin of the main characters, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, two sacred monsters of the cinema who had only crossed paths on The Godfather, 2nd part, clash here throughout the film, until their unforgettable meeting. . But, even if they finally give the reply, Michael Mann thwarts the expectations of the spectators by making sure that the two actors are not visible simultaneously on the screen.
Indeed, Heat also marks the apogee of the director’s style in urban thrillers. Nervous, dark, violent and hard-hitting, the film is a breathless game of cat and mouse, rich in secondary characters, punctuated by ultra-realistic dantesque scenes (let’s mention the famous shooting scene in the streets of Los Angeles, a implacable virtuosity), which marked a generation of spectators and which still influence the filmmakers who try their hand at this kind of exercise.
At its output, Heat was a commercial success, grossing $187 million worldwide, on a budget of $60 million. In France, it exceeds one million admissions.
With an average viewer rating of 4.3/5 on AlloCiné, Heat is now considered one of the best thrillers of all time.
Heat by Michael Mann with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer…
Tonight on Arte at 9 p.m.