Dog Day Afternoon

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2017)

After text assuring you that this is in fact "based on a true story", the opening montage of "Dog Day Afternoon", comprised of footage of real Brooklyn inhabitants and locations, displays exactly what the title describes: a regular, hot summer day as everyone goes about their daily routine. Elton John's "Amoreena" is the only song that plays during the entire film, and it is played over this montage of Brooklyn to set a casual tone that is upset by the sudden enacting of a bank robbery. At first it is startling as Sal pulls his gun out on the manager of the bank and Sonny frantically lines everyone up on the wall, threatening them with his rifle, but soon enough it isn't hard to tell he didn't plan much out, as one of the members of his gang of three quickly runs off afraid, leaving just Sonny and Sal. Then, mostly through his own ineptitude, Sonny accidentally attracts the attention of a man across the street and soon enough the police are surrounding the bank, along with a crowd of bored bystanders that watch the event as if it were entertainment meant for them.
Soon the media gets a hold of this story and people begin treating Sonny like a celebrity and everything he says is given more importance, with people either viewing him as a people's champion or an evil villain, shifting their perception of him to fit their view of the world, idolizing him even when he doesn't want it. But by bringing us inside the bank, this film allows us to see Sonny and Sal as the scared, desperate, genuine human beings they were. We learn that despite the extreme measures these people are ultimately trying to help who they think needs it, even insinuating both Sal and Sonny may be suffering from their experience in the war. That doesn't make them good people, but the fact that their robbing a bank also doesn't make them bad people, and it is so much easier to sympathize with Sonny due to Al Pacino's fantastic performance, showcasing all of Sonny's fear, doubt, anxiety, and hope during this ordeal. John Cazale brings a surprising amount of deadpan humor to Sal while never feeling like it is betraying the realism of the film. For that matter, all of the performances in this film pull you deeper into it, to the point where you can almost forget your watching a movie and not the real people involved in this event.
Despite taking place almost entirely in one location, the film is far more visually interesting than many films that I have seen that take place in a plethora of places. Lumet rarely resorts to the standard and boring shot/reverse shot when shooting conversations, often keeping the camera mobile (even if its subtle movement), blocking the scenes to show the relationship between characters at that moment, and occasionally having multiple stories being told on screen at once.
Yet, although the film never feels overtly cinematic, in the end I began to root for Sonny and Sal, and began to build expectations based on my sympathy for this character, but, just like those who saw him on their television at home, we forgot that this was a true story and not happening as a fantasy, and once he leaves the cameras, the reality of the situation hits him and us rather suddenly.