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EMMA HORNOR

AL

ON

E(N

OT

LO

NE

LY)

ISOLATION AND DUALITY IN MICHAEL MANN’S HEAT

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In his work, The Cinema of Michael Mann, Steven Rybin discusses Heat (Michael Mann, 1995) and the relationship between its two main characters, Detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and professional thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). Hanna commits himself to tracking McCauley down, and Rybin describes “the way the two individuals parallel and echo one another in the obsessive passion which

characterizes their approach to the work that they do” (Rybin 121). It is this connection, and further, its cinematic articulation that make Heat truly unique and exemplary, as Mann utilizes focus, composition, scene structure, and the recurring element of glass to explore the duality of the two main characters, and how they are at once isolated while also reflections of one another.

A LOS ANGELES

CRIME SAGA

The opening shot calls to mind the aesthetic of classical noir, while also establishing Los Angeles not only as a

setting, but a presence in the film.

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Heatʼs pervading sense of loneliness is created in part by expert manipulation of depth of field. As in classical noir, some shots in Heat use “deep focus and wide-angle lenses...which creates a closed, ʻunheedingʼ universe” (Spicer 47). However, in this case deep focus is taken to its extreme limits, dwarfing the characters so that they “wander within the emptiness of an alienated land” (Solomons 104). The wide-angle, deep focus shots throughout the film

depict vast Los Angeles cityscapes almost too rich with detail, making it purposely overwhelming for the viewer and characters alike. Perhaps the best example of this is when Neil, who is usually guarded and private, has a drink with a woman he just met. The two stand looking out over the nighttime city, their faces and the entire landscape beyond in startlingly sharp focus, creating a surreal image; in fact, the image is too good to be true. Rybin writes:

“DOES IT MAKE YOU LONELY?” ISOLATION THROUGH FOCUS

The L.A. cityscape photographed in deep focus almost seems to overwhelm the characters.

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In this way, the shift to deep focus in this scene marks not the fact that Neilʼs world is “opened” by the romantic encounter, but instead the overpowering nature of the city which will eventually swallow him up when he chooses meaningless violence over a serious relationship with Eady.

"Spinotti shot these scenes against a greenscreen in order ʻto maintain the sharpness and brilliance of the backgrounds...ʼ thus creating through technology a

dreamscape that does not actually exist, inflecting the charactersʼ conversation about their hopes and

aspirations with an air of impossibility that prefigures the death of De Niroʼs character at the end of the film”

(Rybin 115).

Neil and Eady share a romantic and strangely surreal moment; notice the city lights are

relatively crisp far into the distance.

- “DOES IT MAKE

YOU LONELY?”

- “I’M ALONE, I AM

NOT ‘LONELY.’”

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In contrast with this extreme use of deep focus, other sections of Heat are shot in shallow focus, compressing space and rendering certain objects fuzzy with the use of telephoto and high-speed lenses. Neil and Vincent are often isolated from their surroundings through this technique, as they are the only focused subjects in a haze of people, lights, or other backdrops around them. For instance, when Vincent arrives at a crime scene where Neil earlier robbed an armored truck, the city streets and other detectives are thrown out of focus while

Vincent surveys the area, conjecturing possible motives and looking for clues. His men rattle off suggestions, but as he is isolated from them through focus, it is clear that Vincent is single-minded and has his own ideas about the crime; furthermore, having witnessed the crime earlier in the film, the viewer knows Vincentʼs ideas are correct, proving him to be cleverer than his team. From this scene, the viewer knows that Vincent is in his own league, and thereby isolated from the rest.

(Left) Vincent photographed in

shallow depth of field ; (Below) the effect

of using a telephoto or high speed lens.

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Neil, too, is often shot in shallow focus, alienating him from his surroundings, as when he dines at a restaurant with his crew and their families and is the only one there alone. He looks around at the happy couples, fading into the background as they exchange kisses and laughter. During this

scene, his face is in focus, but is obstructed by the blurred images of a plant on the table and waiters walking by; at one point he is even “sandwiched” between the faces of an out-of-focus couple. In this way Neil is isolated physically, mentally, and visually.

(Above) Neil photographed in shallow

depth of field ; (Below) Shallow focus used to convey Neil’s

isolation during the restaurant scene.

(Above) Justine confronts Vincent after

he takes the call from work and leaves her at

the party.(Left) Glass is also

prominent throughout Vincent’s house, as in

the wall of glass bricks.

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Their isolation, as depicted through depth of field, leaves Neil and Vincent ultimately by themselves, as both men are too focused on their work to have room for anything or anyone else in their lives. Interestingly, this is represented visually in the film by repeated use of reflective surfaces, namely glass. In one scene,

Vincent is at a party with his wife, Justine. In a glass room above the nighttime city, they are dancing until he gets (yet another) call from work. Justine leans on him momentarily, but while Vincent takes the call, she walks offscreen. The remaining image is Vincent standing with only his reflection in the glass by his side.

GLASS & REFLECTION

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Neil, too, is surrounded by glass as he maintains his solitary, detached life, even in light of his time with Eady. After a heist job, Neil returns to an empty house with a wall of glass facing the ocean. He rests his gun on a glass

table in the foreground, which picks up the reflection so there are “two” guns. Neil then walks over to the window and watches the sea, framed by the vertical lines in the window which only further serve to enclose him. As seen here,

even with his riches from successful heists, Neil has nothing in his life, not even furniture in his house. The glass reflection reminds the viewer that there is only Neil and his gun, or his work, and nothing more.

In Neil’s house, the shot begins at the tableand tilts up to the window (below)

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The scene of Neil returning home was inspired by the Alex Colville painting Pacific (1967)

(Solomons 105).

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Glass may reflect their own image back to them, but Neil and Vincent are also reflected in one another through cinematic means of framing, scene structure, and the use of light and shadow. Beyond similarities in their narrative stories, each man is visually rendered, in filmic terms, as the reflection or twin of the other. This is first established when Vincent does surveillance coverage of Neil and his crew on a job. Hiding in a van near the site, Vincent watches a monitor and waits for the right moment to send out a SWAT team. Suddenly, someone makes a noise

in the van. Neil immediately looks directly at the camera Vincent is watching, and seems to be staring right at him. In a shot/reverse shot sequence, Vincent and Neil are both centered in the frame, occupying the same space onscreen, seen from the same angle. Neil is a black and white negative image on the monitor, while Vincent is in normal color; this connotes their opposition and duality. However, the fact that they occupy the same space establishes their reflectivity. From this point on, the two are direct opponents and counterparts.

“ALL I AM IS WHAT I’M GOING AFTER.” REFLECTION AND DUALITY

(Next page) Vincent and Neil “looking” at one another while occupying the same

cinematic space in the screen.

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Neil and Vincentʼs parallel nature develops further when they meet face to face and discuss how each will not hesitate to take down the other should the situation arise. As they talk and realize their similarities, the camera likewise acts as a mirror and shows the two in shot/reverse shot structure for the duration of the scene. The first few shots are in deep focus so that

their surroundings are distinct, but as they talk, the shots become tighter and use shallow depth of field to eliminate the elements around them. Each man is seen in an over-the-shoulder shot, with only his face in focus. This draws the viewer into their dynamic, and the parallel structure throughout highlights their reflective relationship.

(Below and next page) Vincent and Neil talking “like a couple of regular fellas” in shot/reverse shot structure.

“I DO WHAT I DO

BEST, I TAKE

SCORES. YOU DO

WHAT YOU DO

BEST, TRY TO

STOP GUYS LIKE

ME.”

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“THERE’S A FLIP-SIDE TO THAT COIN.”

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Still, despite all their similarities, the hardboiled detective and elusive thief cannot coexist in classical or neo-noir. In the final scene, Neil and Vincentʼs differences are literally rendered in terms of shadow and light as Vincent chases Neil into a field near an airport runway. In the night, they can barely see one another, but the pulsing runway lights create pools of light and shadow.

Vincent and Neil’s duality culminates in shadows and light, and is even implied in the checkered

pattern on the utility boxes.

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In an intense climax, Vincent steps out into the open. Neil emerges to take the shot, but because the runway lights come on, Vincent sees his shadow moving in the grass. Turning just in time, Vincent shoots Neil multiple times in the chest. In this way, Neil was the outlaw shadow of Vincent. As Neil lays dying, he reaches for Vincentʼs hand. In the final shot, the screen is cut in half vertically and horizontally with the two men in the center, calling to mind again their dual nature and equal significance.

“I TOLD YOU

I WAS NEVER

GOING BACK.”

(Next page) the final shot is shared equally by Vincent and Neil,

as the screen is divided both vertically and horizontally.

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As with this interplay of light and shadow, Heat alludes to the visual elements of classical noir while elegantly integrating new ideas into the framework of noir aesthetics, such as the atypical use of shallow focus. Further, not only does Heat expand the visual horizons of noir and neo-noir, but also pushes the boundaries of its narrative and thematic content, as it goes beyond

the classic story of “obsessed cop chasing faceless bad guy” and draws the viewer in with an intimate examination of two equal and fully-developed characters. Perhaps, then, this film can reassert the already loose definition of noir and inspire more creative ways of interpreting and making films to keep the noir style alive into the future.

Heat reinvents the noir while maintaing stylistic elements such as the nighttime city, low angle shots, diagonal lines, neon lights, city/industrial spaces, and vertical lines.

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Rybin, Steven. The Cinema of Michael Mann. Lexington Books, 2007. Google ebook.

http://books.google.com/books?id=_tlnKmsxKHsC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Solomons, Gabriel. World Film Locations: Los Angeles. Intellect Books, 2011. Google ebook.

http://books.google.com/books?id=OCQwIEjuNE0C&lpg=PP1&ots=pdRrDD7wXr&dq=heat

%20%22michael%20mann%22%201995%20%22film%20noir%22%20neo-

noir&lr&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q=heat%20&f=false

Spicer, Andrew. Film Noir. Essex: Pearson Educated Limited, 2002. Print.

BIBLIOGRAPHY