Friday, August 26, 2011

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

This infamous movie Dog Day Afternoon got released on 1975, directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men fame) with my favorite Al Pacino in lead..



Bank robbery plot described in this movie was entirely true and happened in early 70-s, on a hot summer day (that is what the title means).. You might have seen many "Robbery-Hostages-Situation" sort of movies.. DDA is also the same sort of, but i liked it more.. From the very beginning, DDA takes an hysterical tone & most of the dialogues are almost like shouted.. (Especially that "ATTICA!!!").. Yes, Its a Roller-coaster emotional ride..



Firstly i have to say - You can see Al Pacino at his best in DDA.. Yes, DDA is purely a One-Man Show in which Al Pacino carries the whole movie..
Till yesterday it was Scarface, my most favorite Al Pacino's movie.. After Scarface I use to see Al Pacino as "Tony Montana" (role played by Al Pacino)..Now thats been added with this Dog Day Afternoon's "Sonny".. Yes, He had me believing that he was actually the real Sonny.. You can really see the stress that he was feeling through out the whole movie..

Moments i loved for Al Pacino:
1) The way Al Pacino dictates his last will and testament after he almost knows that he's definitely gonna die or put away on bars for a really long time..
2) Famous "ATTICA!!" scene with the dialogue - "Kiss Me.. When i'm being f**ked, I like to get kissed on the mouth"..
3) Telephony conversation between Al Pacino & his gay guy friend (sort of eunuch?)



On the top it was Sidney Lumet.. I loved the way how he notched up the homosexual sub-plot in DDA which gives more effect on the whole story.. (Yes, Al Pacino raid the bank only to fund his homosexual lover's sex change operation.).. He made this movie not only as a Thriller, but also touches the social elements - How Sonny is being drowned by the expectations of wife, lover, children, friends/attitude of the mob to the whole situation/70-s Gay community in America etc.,

Final Kick:
As per me, DDA is a good piece from the golden age of American cinema - the '70's.. Even though its aged - Al Pacino, Sidney Lumet & all of the diverse characters will keep you engaged for 2 hours..

Related Links:
Day Day Afternoon @ IMDB
John Stanley Wojtowicz & his Bank robbery attempt  @ Wiki


Trailer:



Cheers!!

5 comments:

Manki said...

Thanks for the movie recommendation. Will watch it someday. (Try Carliyo's Way too, if you haven't already.)

பிரசன்னா கண்ணன் said...

Yes Manki, Both "Carliyo's Way" & "Serpico" are in my watch list... Will see that & give a review too..

Manki said...

The movie is kick-ass!

"Don't fucking con me."
"Why would I do that? I am in trouble enough as it is!"

(By the way, that movie is Carlito's Way, I made a typo in my previous comment.)

@ Prem said...

I watched this movie over the last lazy weekend and believe me , this movie was awesome.A sure shot movie to be watched...

பிரசன்னா கண்ணன் said...

Thank you Premji for your responce .. :-)