Heat (1995) - The Importance of Family

in the West men are men get up to learn about the present you must first study the past and it's evident that writer director Michael Mann is a student of the game westerns detectives gangsters and action genre films define the nucleus of man's arsenal but what does man say about men Michaels 95 crime drama entry heat has several classical genre elements whilst at the same time flips the tropes that genres are known for author and critic Robert Washoe studied Western and gangster films stating that the gangster is intelligent [Music] why's remember Jimmy McIlwain on a yacht used to say you want to be making moves on the street have no attachments allow nothing to be in your life that you cannot walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner crude [Music] goal-oriented and lonely and the Western hero has similarities of loneliness however he is more tranquilo because for him life is unavoidably serious not from the disproportion zuv his own temperament the Westerner is also a gentleman whilst the two top Billings in heat are lonely man flips the trope and makes the Western hero in this case Al Pacino's Vincent Hanna in an agitated state taking everything with utmost sincerity this is my operation I have tactical command that supersedes your rank they will walk away and you will let them he is constantly on the move looking for action you don't live with me you live among the remains of dead people it's also noted that Bob De Niro's gangster role of Neil McCauley can display gentlemanly traits in some instances by treating women with respect I didn't mean to be rude I didn't recognize you I work in metals I'm a Salesman my name's Neil or stating two individuals at the establishment that he's robbing to remain calm because he's not going to hurt them war sho also states that the gangster is loud and noisy but man again flips it and makes the Westerner the boisterous one if anything man's men are something from a Howard Hawks pitcher which according to Pierre Wallen are an exclusive self-sufficient all-male group which are used to being constantly in danger and live outside of society Wallen adds that Hawks men pride themselves on professionalism giving no praise and if somebody doesn't get the job done well it just wasn't good enough that's why he got it people were with you my friend Mike you know the risk you'd have to be there talking points people die on this spend it every day we going to do grief that I knew them he's not here anymore something interesting Warren points out is individualism trying to ruin close-knit established groups like in Rio Bravo red line 7,000 pretty good your first time out victories up up some money to why did you make this slowdown and I guess that because you want youth it in make Marsh slow down you get to be Marsh you can swap until then you listen or only Angels have wings your name's not McPherson it's Gil Gavin you're not so bad on names after all Killick album you heard him that Kilgallen that's right well what about it he's not the first guy that's come down here under a different name no but I guess he's the first pilot who ever bailed out of his plane and let his mechanic crash man has similarities in heat with waingro disrupting the first heist and then playing a major factor when it comes to the film's plotting and whilst man has the exact cut out for Neil McCauley and his crew in terms of exclusivity in execution man has Neil and his squad in the most dense population in the state's Los Angeles but author Thomas Schatz reflects on something striking about individualism each character is a representation of his worldview attitudes and societal role and his individualism is celebrated each showing their value with their relationship to the community you're a good gunner you wouldn't have the rating you've got we need you just like we need the whole gang it takes all of us to make the ship function now get this into your head we all belong to this airplane every man has got to rely on every other man to do the right thing at the right time you've got to play ball with us and play the game or I'm have to get rid of genuine hockey you want to get out of this crew that's what you want me to do isn't it sir not necessarily you mean you take all that stuff I've been handing it we all make mistakes I'm beginning to realize that myself sir I wanted to tell you that dog over to the nurse marine and get back here to check those guns give them a good going-over yes when it comes to Western and gangster pictures the Westerner is an agent of civilization and represents order against savagery and since the gangster has aligned himself with crime his downfall is because of this he had a predetermined conflict with the community well-being and according to war show when the gangster is killed his whole life is shown to be a mistake [Music] so what traits make up these individuals to form their identities to fill societal roles and what is a trait JP Guilford said that a trait is any distinguishable relatively enduring way in which an individual differs from another so before looking at differences let's look at similarities between Vincent and Neal both men have a code a higher standard of professionalism when it comes to their careers that's why they're so good at what they do both men previously served in the military the information of Vincent is in the file that Nate owns graduate school marine corps and Neal sports an eerily comparable USMC tattoo this will explain the expert marksmanship of the two and a similar imagery to military briefings they have at their jobs Neal is so dedicated to his MO that he's willing to sacrifice anything the semiotic s-- of home-decor suggests the items what we put in our living spaces reflect our identities so what's in Neil's house nothing no couches barely any plates no family no wife no kids what do you think he has inside his chest he always sports a scorned look on his face and barely smiles he only does so when in the presence of another's family everything falls second in line to his job Neil's loneliness is exemplified in his habits for example his relationship Neil and Edie had this great back-and-forth where at first Neil is disinterested because of his coat he's guarded indescribable for a police description and place everything low-key so he doesn't leave a trace like opening a door with an elbow he breaks his morals by being interested in Edie and hooks up with her in a one-night stand before leaving when he leaves her a glass of water what does he do so he doesn't leave a fingerprint he minimizes risk Neil is so detached that police have intel on everyone in his crew except him first time we're seeing and what is a habit exactly philosopher and literary critic two vests and Totoro extracting three basic symbols from Boccaccio's Decameron stories the narrative noun subjects characters narrative objectives traits or situations a narrative predicates actions aka habits performed a trait is a system or collection of habits with habits being repeated actions for example if somebody washes their hands constantly doesn't touch anything without gloves these are systemic habits of a trait which is tumor phobia and heat a habit Vincent has is that he's always pursuing his trait is that he's relentless there are eleven traditional masculine men traits according to a study done by Indiana University Bloomington 10 which Neal displays there is the desire to win gotta take care of the need for emotional control risk-taking violence dominance sexual promiscuity self-reliance primacy of work power over women clean up clean up in pursuit of status what are you doing what do you mean forget the money what am i doing I'm talking to an empty telephone according to the study traditionally masculine men are more likely to have psychological problems like depression and are less likely to seek help I'm only an AARP study from 2010 says that one in three Americans age 45 and up are chronically lonely while similar and traits and habits man shows us a trait Vincent has that Neal does not in which makes Vincent victorious in the end the ability to let go both men demonstrate sheer tenacity and drive but Vincent does one thing that Neal never does he takes a break he accepted a notion that he did not win he did not bring Neal to justice and instead of continuing this pursuit he goes home and he is rewarded for it he discovers his stepdaughter has attempted suicide and his newly rented hotel bathtub and rushes to save her if he chooses to stay another hour at work he does not rescue her this moment and trait also happens for the two characters of chris and charlene shiherlis charlene gives up her husband to spare a life in prison for him or worse and chris abides to her warning instead of stupidly going up to see her they both go their own way to save their son because if they didn't he would be stuck in an orphanage foot for life the final look on both of their faces shows the despair between the two a representation of all the bad decisions they've made making war show proud that the gangsters way was shown to be a mistake the man with a snake on his arm a cobra representing his impulsiveness in a lack of foresight gets snake bit you know I have this recurring dream after all recurring dreams are unchanged attitudes according to Tony crisp recurring dreams we'll continue to recur because the person dreaming has not changed Vincent tells Neel about the victims in history all dead from their killers he feels regret or remorse for not saving them in times they don't speak to one another they just exchanged looks Vincent instead of holding on to this let's go in the moment he goes home to his hotel and what does Neel share I have one where I'm drowning he claims he doesn't have enough time to do what he wants to do but that's untrue he had time was edy to leave this dream actually for shadows his death because kneel on the opposite of Vincent does not take a break and is bested because of it instead of him leaving with his future wife to a different country to live he chooses not to let go of the option of killing waingro and this code of professionalism as previously demonstrated this time his whole life has been disciplined to that moment but makes a judgment error and pays the price Vincent Chris Sharlene all mature and change for the better a transition from ignorance to knowledge after all Chapman has noted that traits a stable personal quality may disappear and be replaced by another later in the course of the story and these actions are allowable in the plot thanks to previously demonstrated habits probability according to Paul Goodman is the relationship of being after parts already presented and leading to other parts see more Chapman gives the example of Macbeth and the probability is high that he'll seek out the witches again after they successfully predicted his future in the beginning of the story novelist ianforster argues that the king died and then the Queen died is only a story the king died and then the Queen died of grief is a plot because it adds causation and what exactly is causation or causality Chapman says causality is based upon habits or actions of characters which are based upon traits causality is ever-present in man's films in the last of the Mohicans Magua insults Sachin calling him unwise if he did not Sachin might not have traded Duncan for Cora as a sacrifice as you can see it in his eyes that his taste for magua's choice of words the habit of cerritos usage of slick and turn gets himself and his crew burned by using it during a heist having a witness nearby hear it reported to the police in turn having the police round up informants but then tell them info on people who frequent the word slick and dialects that's what he calls people who slick churritos the reason the crew has heat which was slanted the wine got to transmitters he then pays the piper by losing his life in the end because he was dumb enough to know that he had cops on him and didn't deviate from his current lifestyle of crime oh you know for me the action is the juice he had the choice just like Neil and just like Chris and chose wrong Roger Van Zandt subplot drives and directs the entire narrative in the opening Neil swipes Rogers bonds and Neil tries assassinating waingro which fails an intern waingro goes to Van Zant which nearly costs Neil's whole crew their lives the Don and Lily subplot however is the backbone of the entire picture it represents how jobs can destroy relationships and our families nearly everyone in heat has a spouse or lover and nearly all of them suffer loss in some form from something as big as wives losing their husbands and husbands losing their wives this is my friend Raj - as little as a young girl murdered because she chose the life of a prostitute and wasn't at home with her mom instead that night the characters and heat have wrong value placement like taking a material possession and leaving rather than amending the relationship with their spouse there are ironic moments with Neil where he is aware of the importance of family by standing up against Charlene's affair and commemorating Edie's background type family I can tell ya right but he's not aware enough to change as a person man shows us communication is the key to a successful relationship I guess the earth shattered he shows us the duality of our work family versus our home family and which one is more important take off your shirt musicals according to Thomas Schatz the principal characters compromise their individuality and their eventual romantic embrace and demonstrate their willingness to be integrated into the social community man's men instead choose individuality which breaks them when Lily sees dawn on the TV you could already peek at the sadness on her face from a rough day but when she witnesses the news her lips start to quiver you could tell she really cared for him it's no coincidence that man has Albert hooked up vented to talk to his brother Richard for Intel Richard and the two young g's are left harmless throughout the rest of the picture because they are family robert Warshaw writes that the western hero is not compelled to seek love and we constantly see him in situations where love is at best an irrelevance and the gangster heroes reject others violently or draw them violently to them this sets up the climactic showdown at LAX between Vincent and Neil you Vincent Hannah hunts down his prey and Neil McCauley is aggressive and makes the first move Neil unbeknown Lee casts his shadow which alerts a Vincent and Vincent guns him down according to Tony crisp shadows are replaced or unaccepted aspects of one's personality like say the inability to let go the shadow is the soul of the person the definition it can represent the past such as relationships or experiences or could be a sign of the future with upcoming events as illustrated in the exact moment of Neal's downfall the story ends in the darkness of an exterior runway with planes taking off as Neal's soul exits his body but new Jets will arrive symbolizing Vincent's job because there will always be criminals to chase the two men hold hands who found love in one another because of the shared passion of their industries Michael Mann shows and says to us that jobs are not the most important aspect of life family is but what does it matter if in the West men are men [Music] thank you for watching another episode of cinema series I'm your host and writer and editor and producer Matthew you can follow me at Michael Mann man on Facebook Twitter Instagram I almost forgot any more you can give this video a thumbs up down below as well as subscribe if you aren't already subscribed in the description there is a PayPal tip jar which not too many people have done but I haven't gotten paid in like 3-4 months so you don't have to do it it's not pressure this also an Amazon store one person's bought something I just have him down there just for shits and giggles essentially but uh yeah and the most important thing is to share this video with a friend like I said the past arrival analysis information spreading is the most important thing in this life and if you have a friend that is a film fan or the old film analysis or they love Michael Mann or they love heat or western films for Johnny films like gangsters and they really appreciate something like this they're old school Howard Hawks fans or whatnot you can send this link yeah that's all I got for you today hope you enjoyed the vid see in the next one bye good luck and congratulations on choosing responding

Channel: Matthew Danczak

Views: 30,008

Rating: 4.9237437 out of 5

Keywords: heat, heat movie, analysis, heat analysis, heat 1995, heat 1995 movie analysis, film, movie, heat film, heat film analysis, heat movie analysis, michael mann, study, howard hawks, western, films, genre, psycho analysis

Id: nX_-mKpQ64o

Length: 22min 41sec (1361 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2019