In Michael Mann‘s acclaimed film Heat, the diner scene stands out as a pinnacle of contemporary cinema. Despite initial enmity, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s characters discover unexpected common ground over coffee, revealing deeper connections.
The idea the Lieutenant, whose job was to arrest McCauley for his criminal activities, would sit down with him for a relaxed chat about life over coffee is impossible to fathom. It’s the pivotal scene that ties Heat together and allows you to see both characters in a nuanced light that pours scorn on the idea of individuals being split into camps of good and evil but merely people.
In an episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Michael Mann, who wrote and directed Heat, explained the character’s reasoning for meeting one another in such tranquil circumstances. It’s a puzzle fans have been trying to work out since the film’s release in 1995, and Mann’s explanation is more straightforward than many envisaged.
“They are so totally in character, and in that moment,” Mann explained in the scene. “If you imagine how distant they are from each other as opposites, and Pacino knows that there’s no point in maintaining his surveillance, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, tell me more about him’,” the director adds from the perspective of Hanna.
He continued: “So he does the outrageous thing and agrees to meet him. De Niro has the same motive, why does he go to get coffee with him? He goes to get something.” Mann adds, “He’s thinking to myself, I may get myself into a jam, and I’m jackpotted, then I’ll have a split second to intuitively decide whether to zig or zag, and I will get something from this meeting with the guy who’s after me, so both are thinking the same thing.”
Throughout the scene, the threat of imminent violence is lingering and brimming with tension. However, the meeting between Hanna and McCauley runs smoothly, which Mann puts down to the staggering similarities between their personalities.
He explained: “The way they see the world is the same, they both know that time is short, both are good existentialists in a funny way with a lower case ‘e’ that know what you build into it, that’s what it is. They are the only two people in the universe of the film who have the same perspective on life.”
Watch Heat on Netflix now.
