Product Description

Robert de Niro and Al Pacino have acted opposite each other once, and that was in Heat, Michael Mann's operatic 1995 heist thriller. De Niro is Neil McCauley, a skilled professional thief at the centre of a tight-knit criminal team; Pacino is Vincent Hanna, the haunted, driven cop determined to hunt him down. Boasting a series of meticulously orchestrated setpieces that underline Mann's sense of scale and architecture, Heat is also a rhapsody to Los Angeles as Hanna closes in on his prey. For Nick James, the pleasures and virtues of Heat are mixed and complex. Its precise compositions and minimalist style are entangled with a particular kind of extravagant bombast. And while its vision of male teamwork is richly compelling it comes close to glorifying machismo. But these complexities only add to the interest of this hugely ambitious and accomplished film, which confirmed Mann's place in the front rank of American film-makers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109621 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Nick James has written for The Guardian, The Observer and The London Review of Books and was for a time TV Editor at London's City Limits magazine. He has edited Sight and Sound since 1997.

Customer Reviews

A comprehensive guide to Mann's Classic
The only real "problem" I have with this book (and some of the others in the BFI classics series for that matter...) is that too much of the book is spent merely describing the events of the film.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I would imagine that anyone who is interested in a book like this is already VERY familar with the scenes of the movie itself, so personally I would prefer more emphasis on the MAKING of the film in question, rather than what actual happens in it!

That minor criticism aside, this is an excellent account by Nick James (Editor of "Sight and Sound") of Michael Mann's masterpiece from 1996. Rich in content and depth, this is currently the only book available about "Heat" and is also one of the few books out there which covers the work of Michael Mann at all (there is a brief overview of his career in this book, but this is kept short in order to concentrate on the "main event" : HEAT)

Although on the small size, the book is generously illustrated with clean crisp colour and black and white DVD grabs of key scenes from the film, as well as some other related imagery throughout. I would have preferred a better picture for the front cover though, but that is of little importance! :)

Mr. James is clearly a big fan of the film, but tries hard not to get too carried away with his praise for it, which is a good thing in my opinion. In addition to some interesting and information points about numerous aspects of the film, he also includes a short appendix and Mann's original blueprint for "HEAT" - "L.A. Takedown". However, considering the unusual nature of this project [it was a TV movie made by Mann before HEAT but with the exact same story] I personally think that more coverage of Takedown would be justified. Never mind.

Overall then, this is an essential purchase for fans of the film or admirers of Mann's work as a film-maker and perfectionist!

Recommended.
John Mounsey.