Rob the bank.
It is a plot that will never go out of style in a movie.
If you want to choose the best film history of robbing a bank, it is nine times out of ten it is "Hot Day Afternoon".
Director Sidney Lumet, "Twelve Angry Men" is his first masterpiece.
On Douban, "Hot Day Afternoon" is his second-highest-rated directorial work, with a high score of 8.7.
It is possible to be an underrated director of historical status, and one of the important reasons is that there was a Kubrick at the same time.
Starring Al Pacino and John Kaiser, as well as the gun-holding style on many posters, is inevitably misleading.
No way, the two movies in the "Godfather" series in 1972 and 1974 were on fire, bringing the gangster crime theme, and there was a gun and a box office;
Al Pacino, who plays the second generation of godfathers, and John Kaiser, who plays the second brother Fredo, are all popular, find them to star, and the investment will not be worried.
"Hot Afternoon" was released in 1975, and the publicity was justifiable.
But in fact, only two shots were fired in the entire film.
The story is rooted in the background of the late Vietnam War in the early 1970s, telling the story of three young Americans who rob a bank, and there are various accidents in the middle of the way, which eventually evolves into a protracted confrontation between police and bandits.
The screenplay that won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay is not purely fictional, but comes from a bank robbery that sensationalized the United States.
The director also specially found the prototype of the protagonist, paid a licensing fee of 7500 yuan, and promised a 1% dividend in the film profits.
The prototype was renamed Sonny in the movie, and he probably never dreamed that the film company would give him more money than he could grab in the bank.
Sidney Lumet opens with a seemingly unskilled set of street shots, accompanied by a piece of music that shows the lives of american people on the streets of the United States at that time.
One of the functions of this is to explain the background of the story, and it can be seen that although the Vietnam War was not over at that time, it seemed that there was nothing on the American mainland, and how to live the day had to be lived.
The subtle effect is to imply that this is a story from reality, that the music is not over, and that the protagonist is already in the scene.
The implication is that they, like everyone else, are just the little people in the multitude of beings.
Al Pacino's second-generation godfather image is deeply rooted in people's hearts, to the explosive black boss in "Scarface" in the 80s, the brave policeman in "The Line of Fire" in the 90s, and the union president in "The Irishman" in the 21st century, he left the impression on most people that whether it is a good guy or a bad guy, he is that kind of big brother figure.
Sonny, played by him in "Hot Afternoon", is a completely small person.
There is no particular talent, and the mixed society is very mediocre, so when Sonny needs a huge amount of money, he can only want to rob the bank.
Usually, bank robbery has to go through a sophisticated plan, and the Joker in Batman: The Dark Knight has made a wonderful demonstration.
But that's really just a cinematic effect.
The reality is that Sonny has no big plans at all, and he and his two accomplices are just one person with a gun and choose to act when the bank is about to close.
This kind of self-confidence is based on his experience working in the bank for a while and knowing what the general alarm system is like.
Indeed, he relied on experience to successfully prevent bank employees from triggering the alarm system.
But it is also clever to be mistaken by cleverness.
He thought that by burning the bank's records, he could escape the police.
Who knows the smoke of burning paper, but it attracted the attention of an enthusiastic passerby.
The manager said he was going to send passers-by away, and the clip was very chicken in the middle of their conversation, cutting back to Sonny's point of view, indicating that the glass door was soundproof.
On the surface, the manager seemed obedient and did not tell passers-by that he had been robbed. But it was so, feeling that there was no need to cut to Sonny's camera, the manager had every reason to whisper in the conversation, "We were hijacked, call the police." ”。 And the last thing passers-by said was, "OK."
The police do not know Sonny's identity, and can be sure that they are not accomplices who have run halfway through to inform.
That can only be a passerby calling the police.
If the passerby can guess that someone is robbing inside without the manager leaking the secret, then the passerby is also too godly.
So the biggest possibility is that the manager took the opportunity to give a hint, and the passerby then called the police, clearly stating that if someone was kidnapped, the police would mobilize so many police forces so quickly to surround them.
Imagine if passers-by just rely on their own judgment to call the police that someone robbed a bank and took hostages, what if the judgment was wrong? He is responsible. It is said that if you report false police in the United States, it is against the law and even go to jail. Only when the manager gives a clear hint, he has a reason to call the police.
Sonny was initially suspicious of the manager, who said he wasn't paid enough to be a hero.
But then he revealed that he had two children, which also meant he couldn't afford to lose his job.
If Sonny had really taken the money away so smoothly, and the manager had done nothing, I am afraid that the job would be difficult to keep. This definitely has the motivation to prompt passers-by to call the police.
This can only be one of the interpretations, and whether it is correct or not is a matter of opinion.
Importantly, this blank space is a highlight of Hot Afternoon.
Whether Or not Sonny chooses to give up and then betrays Sal, an accomplice played by John Kaiser, also has a lot of room for interpretation.
Sonny's archetypal character gave an "official interpretation" after the film's release, saying he had no betrayal. However, he also said this to show his morality, not to betray his friends.
And the movie doesn't have to be based entirely on reality, in extreme circumstances, what people can't do.
The protagonist is forced into a dead end that cannot be turned back.
This is the key point that "Hot Day Afternoon" can be gripping.
But the gripping way can be said to be unique.
So much so that such a pure crime film can be classified into the category of black comedy.
The script has a very careful design in terms of narrative.
Sonny's motive for the robbery is initially hidden, and to the midpoint, or midpoint scene, is used as a reversal burst. Therefore, it is recommended not to read any plot summary before reading the film, maybe there is a sonny motive written.
Before the reversal, the absurdity of the whole incident was highlighted.
It's no exaggeration to say that starting with Al Pacino staggering out his gun, it's really possible to laugh all the way to the big reversal in the middle.
The degree of hilarity is not inferior to any pure comedy film.
It's not surprising to laugh until you cramp.
The arrival of the police brings Sonny and Sal to a rocker.
Funny, the kidnapped clerk actually questioned them.
How did you do it, did you rob the bank without a plan?
Obviously, the robbers are strong and the hostages are weak, but they are like adults criticizing children.
Well, the hostages were criticizing the robbers.
After the police appeared, the real drama began to play.
Based on the peculiarities of American society at that time, because Sonny took hostages, the police did not dare to act rashly. This gave Sonny the opportunity to perform.
After Sonny mentioned the Attica incident, the mood of the onlookers was ignited.
The police are even more afraid to come hard, for fear of causing a storm of public opinion, and the leader is responsible for the incident.
The Attica incident was a prison riot that occurred in 1971, and the US police took drastic measures to suppress it, resulting in many innocent prisoners being killed, and more importantly, the prisoners were mostly black and the police were mostly white, which touched a pain point in American society.
The American people, like floyd's kneeling killings in recent years, have caused a huge storm. In this kind of environment, if the police hurt the innocent again, it will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire of the whole society.
The most important thing is that the media came to the scene and broadcast the robbery live. The police want to shoot Sonny directly, and they have to worry about whether too violent will affect the children in front of the TV.
The hostages and the media became Sonny's absolute talisman.
He could walk out of the bank door unarmed and quarrel with the police.
The police were clearly close at hand to catch the criminal, but there was nothing they could do.
Since the founding of the United States, there has been a tradition of rebellion against authority. After watching Sonny confront the police who represented authority, and because Attica created public opinion, Sonny also won the applause of the crowd and was praised as a hero alive.
This probably only happens in the United States.
Ironically, there was a passerby who was unhappy with Sonny who couldn't help but rush over and beat Sonny, and the police actually pulled away passers-by and broke the siege for Sonny.
Yes, the police broke the siege for the criminal, arrested the passer-by who beat the criminal into the police car, and then gave the criminal a Band-Aid to treat the wound.
What is even more ridiculous is that the kidnapped staff sister can obviously go out, and Sonny did not stop it, but she asked to return to the bank to continue to be a hostage.
The police looked like they were about to rescue a hostage, but the hostage refused to rescue him.
There are many similar absurdities.
Amazingly, Sidney Lumet is really not making comedy, he doesn't use any comedic techniques to express it. There is no funny soundtrack, and there are no lines dedicated to creating humor.
Al Pacino's performance is definitely not a comedy either, he merely presents the robbery, which is indeed beyond Sonny's ability.
It's all just about filming the thing itself.
Comedy has never been a tactic.
And the core of comedy is always tragedy.
After the reversal, the audience will have a certain sympathy for the character of Sonny.
His bad situation begins to be magnified, and the tragic colors are not released until the second half.
How hilarious the first half is, how miserable the second half is. The sharp contrast creates a strong impact.
Especially in the part where Sonny writes his suicide note, there is nothing more desperate than facing death.
Sonny did it wrong, and he needs to pay for his mistake.
"Hot Day Afternoon" gave him the image of a victim of the Vietnam War, and the fact that he didn't hurt anyone earned him some dignity.
It's no wonder that the character archetype, after watching the film, was satisfied with the film as a whole and expressed admiration for Al Pacino's performance. However, he offered opinions on the authenticity of the story, such as that he and his wife had long been divorced in reality, rather than still entangled in the movie.
This farce must have ended in failure, or the FBI could have disbanded on the spot.
But because of the movie, he may not be a total defeat.
He didn't grab a penny from the bank, but he relied on this experience to provide Hollywood with material. The proceeds eventually helped him achieve his original goal of robbing the bank.