- Pacino’s performance as Vincent Hanna features some wildly unpredictable moments
- Michael Mann’s follow up novel, Heat 2, also clears up a lot about Hanna’s character
- Pacino has said he would use de-aging technology to appear in the film adapatation of Heat 2, which serves as both a prequel and sequel to the first film
Michael Mann’s epic, 1995 neo noir crime thriller Heat not only gave us the first on-screen pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro (the pair never shared screen time in Godfather II), but it also delivered one of the most remarkable performances of Pacino’s 55 year career.
The 84-year-old, who shot to prominence in the 1970’s with a deluge of iconic roles that immortalised the New York native as one of the most important actors of all time, made his name with an almost unparalled finesse of understated, meticulous delivery that could flare into furious anger at a second’s notice. Between the first two Godfathers, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarecrow and …And Justice For All, Pacino’s often imitated acting style flourished as one of the most unique to ever grace the silver screen.
By 1995, Pacino’s performances had begun to enlarge, with more flambuoyance and unpredictability layered onto his portrayals, such as his Oscar winning turn as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. But it was the role of Detective Vincent Hanna in Michael Mann’s Heat, in which the unhinged side of Pacino’s methods really burst into colour.
In multiple interrogation scenes, Hanna almost spontaneously combusts with furious, foul mouthed tirades that terrify those at who they are aimed (Hank Azaria is almost reduced to tears in one scene). It is an unpredictably ferocious and, at times, hilarious three-hour thrillride with the LAPD homicide detective.
But in his new memoir, Sonny Boy, Pacino remembers how Mann cut a scene from the film that explained why Hanna was portayed in such a way.
Pacino writes, “Hanna had problems as a human being, problems in his life. He was volatile and edgy and apt to go crazy. He was also chipping cocaine, and I sort of based my entire character on that.
“We shot a scene where I went into a club, and you actually saw my character taking a hit of coke before he enters. For some reason, Michael kept that scene out of the film.”
The 84-year-old actor believes Mann’s decision to edit the scene out may have left audiences thinking his performance was ‘extravagant’.
“If the audience had seen a moment or two when Hanna took a hit, I think they would have been better prepared to see what I did.
“But even without it, the intensity of his life – how Hanna worked in his profession, the way he dealt with things – allowed him this freedom to apply that kind of energy. It was almost a technique that he used as a detective, and it worked for him.”
Hanna’s cocaine use is more prevalent in the 2022 novel Heat 2, which Mann co-wrote with Meg Gardiner. The novel acts as both a prequel and sequel to the 1995 original, following Hanna during his days in Chicago and then again in LA five years after the events of Heat.
Heat 2 is currently in the process of being adapted into a feature film, Mann has confirmed, with Adam Driver and Austin Butler rumoured to be attached, although no casting announcements have been officially made as of yet. The director has also revealed that the follow-up will shoot on-location in Paraguay, Mexicali, Chicago, LA and Batam.
