HOOHAH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t worry, the post can\u2019t focus on any loud Pacino overacting moments, because they\u2019re not exactly minimalist. I do appreciate the intensity that he brings to the table nonetheless. As it is, Heat <\/em>remains the finest Pacino\/de Niro pairing of all time. The Irishman<\/em> doesn\u2019t quite do it, and Righteous Kill<\/em>? Well, I haven\u2019t forced myself to watch it yet, but from what I\u2019ve heard, it\u2019s not exactly a classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Speaking of classics though, let\u2019s talk Heat<\/em>, specifically its epic final scene. After their compelling cat and mouse chase, Pacino\u2019s dedicated cop Vincent Hanna is finally granted his desired showdown with de Niro\u2019s gangster Neil McCauley. Director Michael Mann has provided us with some genius dialogue throughout the film, but the closing sequence at the airport relies on tension through action, music and sound. The climactic showdown exhibits tests of stealth as the two try to take each other out in the dark, with Vincent ultimately conquering after a plane \u2013 the first loud sound we\u2019ve heard during a sequence with no spoken dialogue so far \u2013 flies past, and Pacino gets his man, shooting Neil several times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Vincent slowly walks towards his dying adversary, Moby\u2019s elegiac \u2018God Moving Over the Faces of the Waters\u2019 begins to play in the background\u2019. The artist has already featured on the soundtrack with his cover of Joy Division\u2019s \u2018New Dawn Fades\u2019, which plays in the toned-down car chase before Vincent has his iconic meeting with Neil in the caf\u00e9, but \u2018God Moving\u2019 far exceeds the former\u2019s quality with the majestic and gradual movement from its sombre, pared down arpeggios into triumphant orchestral bliss. Dialogue remains minimal, with Neil\u2019s brief, dying declaration that he told Vincent he\u2019d \u2018never go back\u2019 answered by an exhausted Vincent\u2019s simple, confirming \u2018Yeah\u2019. Music does most of the work here in evoking a relationship about two warring sides ultimately connected by respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During an making of interview about the song, Moby notes that he only came up with the title as he composed the song\u2019s powerful crescendo, which takes place just after the film\u2019s final image, a wide shot of a triumphant yet melancholy Vincent standing in the darkness in front of a dead Neil. Moby noted how he was \u2018so taken with the emotion of the song and I had this vision…[of] all of the pain that life involved, all of the joy that life involved\u2019, effectively summing up the conflicted emotions of Vincent\u2019s determined, lone figure standing next to his defeated prey. There\u2019s nothing quite like hearing this song from the film itself, as the cinematic version differs slightly from the original recording, which doesn\u2019t contain the emotional highpoint that hits as the credits roll. And that crescendo isn\u2019t one to be missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOOHAH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOOHAH. Don\u2019t worry, the post can\u2019t focus on any loud Pacino overacting moments, because they\u2019re not exactly minimalist. I do appreciate the intensity that he brings to the table nonetheless. As it is, Heat remains the finest Pacino\/de Niro pairing of all time. The Irishman doesn\u2019t quite do it, and Righteous Kill? Well, I haven\u2019t forced myself to watch it … <\/p>\n