HEAT:
THE MOVIE vs. THE SCRIPT
BY VALTEAMO
Introduction: What's in a name?
HEAT. Why "HEAT"?! As Shakespeare wrote "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (3) However, Shakespeare never wrote or saw a movie. A film's title is the marketing centerpiece that positions the audience, preparing it for the experience ahead. Screenwriters, therefore, cannot indulge in literary, nontitle titles. To title means to name. An effective title points to something solid that is actually in the story-character, setting, theme, or genre. The best titles often name several or all elements at once. HEAT describes and names the theme and the genre. Heat, the theme-cops chasing robbers; Heat, the genre-action/crime drama. A title, of course, isn't the only marketing consideration. HEAT is a good title. HEAT, starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, is a terrific title, the stars themselves generate "heat!"
Story, story, tell me a story!
Story is not only our most prolific art form but rivals all activities - work, play, eating, exercise - for our waking hours. We tell and take in stories as much as we sleep and even then we dream. Why? Why is so much of our life spent inside stories? Movies are a visual medium that dramatize a basic storyline; they deal in pictures, images, bits and pieces of film. A screenplay (or script) is a story told with pictures, in dialogue and description, and placed within the context of dramatic structure. A screenplay is like a noun - it's about a 'person,' or persons in a 'place' or places, doing his or her or their 'thing'. The person is the character and doing his or her thing is the action. The art of story may be the dominant cultural force in the world; and the art of movies is the dominant medium of this grand enterprise. The world audience is devoted and thirsting for a story.
HEAT: Comparing the movie to the script
OPENING SCENE: Cedars-Sinai
The Movie: A monolithic structure is in the foreground and Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) arrives by train. He's wearing overalls and he walks past a statue of the Pieta in front of the hospital. He enters the hospital and passes a crowded corridor, walks on and exits through the Emergency Exit Doors. Neil then climbs into a Goodhew Ambulance.
The Script: There is a monolithic structure in the foreground but Neil arrives by bus. He's carrying a paper bag and wearing white pants like a hospital attendant. As he enters the hospital, he pulls a white intern's coat from the paper bag. Neil examines four ambulances outside, climbs into one and drives off. Doubt is supposedly cast by the reader as to whether he's stolen the ambulance: "Maybe he's stolen it. We don't know." (2)
Comments: Both the movie and the script establish L.A. as a techno-industrial society with their emphasis on the monolithic structure in the foreground. However, the script states "alienating foregrounds." Neil leaves the alienating foregrounds to arrive at the hospital. The script implies that L.A. is an alienating place that produces sickness and that Neil may be a part of or be affected by L.A.'s alienation and sickness. In the movie, we see Neil and his physical characteristics. In the script, Neil is described in detail - physically and emotionally: "an ice-cold professional-very big, very tough. At 42, his short black hair is graying. Neil's voice is street, but his language is precise like an engineer's. He's very careful and very good. His lifestyle is obsessively functional." (2) Moreover, Neil's backstory is also told. "He spent eight years in McNeil and three in San Quentin. He got out and hit the street in 1987. Four of the McNeil years were spent in the hole. Neil runs a professional crew that pulls down high-line, high-number scores and does it any way the score has to be taken down: if on the prowl (a burglary), that's fine; if they have to go in strong (armed), that's fine too. And if you get in their way, that's got to be your problem. There's no steady woman or any encumbrance. Neil McCauley keeps it so there's nothing he couldn't walk from in 30 seconds flat."
Whew! A bit of backstory - the set of significant events that occurred in the character's past - may be necessary. However, a brilliant script will find ways to reveal the backstory through revelations in the script via dialogue and/or action. Also, a good script will 'show' through dialogue and action the emotional make-up of the characters. Here, it's as if Michael Mann, in his screenwriter role, doesn't think the reader will reach these conclusions from reading the script - therefore, he tells all in too much description and exposition. Finally, since we read all of this exposition before we read about Neil climbing into one of the four ambulances, how can Mann write: "Maybe he's stolen it. We don't know." Duh?! Of course, Neil has stolen it - hasn't Mann told us that this guy is an icy-cold ruthless thief, heading a professional crew?! The reader's question is not whether Neil's stolen the ambulance but, rather, what further theft he'll commit with the stolen ambulance! Moreover, there is one funny bit of business in the movie that isn't in the script: the ambulance that Neil climbs into is named "Goodhew Ambulance" ...goodhew...good 'hue'...LOL. This is hysterical because Neil's hue is definitely not good - it is very dark indeed! This is an example of symbolism masquerading as a sight gag by means of a homophone (hew/hue).
CHRIS: R & C CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES
The Movie: Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) buys explosives under the company name "Jack's Demolition" and doesn't engage in a conversation with the clerk.
The Script: Chris does engage in small talk with the clerk-significantly he tells the clerk that he is "drillin' some post holes into concrete" and the clerk tells him "with that (tool case) you can ream solid steel." (2) Also, the exposition describes Chris as having a mongol haircut; being 29 years old from Austin, Texas; and "looking like a construction worker by day who might hit L.A.'s slams, jams, and raves." (2) The exposition also states that "Chris is also a highline pro: a boxman who knows five ways to open any safe made. He and Neill were cellmates in San Quentin from 1984 to 1987. Chris hit the streets in 1988. He's a hot dog and spends money as fast as he makes it."
Comments: The script makes the reader wonder why Chris is buying expensive tools that can ream solid steel if he's only drilling holes into concrete. In the movie, he buys explosives that will be used in the armored car heist. Strangely, the price of the script's tools and the movie's explosives is the same. It's also interesting that the exposition doesn't state that Chris is a gambler.
TOYS 'R' US STORE: CERRITO
This scene is in the script but not the movie. In this scene, Michael Cerrito (Tom Sizemore) is at a Toys 'R' Us Store where he admires and buys a large doll house for his two little daughters. He also buys four full-headed rubber masks-Clark Gable, a three-eyed Monster, a Beautiful Lady and Donald Duck...and it's not Halloween. The exposition states that Cerrito is 40, a Sicilian from Sunnyside who's "spent 15 years in Attica, Joliet, and Marion penitentiaries."(2) He's a "cowboy" who's been "off smack and anything else for five years" and is now clean and sober. It also states that Cerrito's the "nicest guy on the block and a loving father" but "if you get in his way, he'll kill you as soon as look at you." (2)
Comments: This scripted scene shows Cerrito, the loving father at Toys 'R' Us, contrasted with the information describing him as a ruthless killer in the backstory. Cerrito's a mass of contradictions!
JUSTINE and HANNA: CONDOMINIUM
The movie scene and the scripted scene are identical.
Comments: The script, by way of exposition, states that Justine (Diane Venora) is 29. It states that her daughter, Lauren (Natalie Portman), is 15!!! (Two versions of the script give these same ages for Justine and Lauren) Does this mean that Justine became a mother at 14 years of age? Or is it a typo? Interestingly, Vincent Hanna's (Al Pacino) age is not given in the script...nor is his backstory told to the reader yet. [In fact, Hanna's backstory will be revealed later via dialogue in a scene between Nate (Jon Voight) and Neil]. Does Lauren's being unable to find her barrettes mean that she's coming undone...and is she coming undone because of lack of a 'real' father...and is this some kind of foreshadowing?
WAINGRO GETS PICKED UP
The Movie: Cerrito picks up the chit-chatting Waingro and has to tell him to stop talking. We find out that Waingro is unknown to the members of Neil's crew - that he's been hired only for this job.
The Script: Waingro is picked up outside a men's room in MacArthur Park by Cerrito. He's never worked with Neil's crew. The backstory tells us that "he's a graduate of the gladiator academies-Chino and Tracey." The exposition states he's "27 and sports prison tattoos including an Aryan Brotherhood swastika covering his abdomen."
Comments: Waingro seems to come from nowhere and we have no idea why he was hired to work this specific job with Neil's crew. Did Neil hire him? And, if so, where did Neil meet Waingro?
TAKEDOWN of the ARMORED TRUCK
The Movie: All of the members of the crew wear hockey masks. Waingro shoots and kills the armored truck guard for not moving back and staring at him. Neil's radio car driver is named Trejo and he's Latino.
The Script: The crew wear the rubber 'Halloween' masks that Cerrito bought at the Toys 'R' Us Store: Cerrito is the three-eyed Monster; Neil is Donald Duck; Waingro is the Beautiful Lady; Chris wears a welder's helmet - no one wears the Clark Gable mask - why?! Waingro and the guard that he kills exchange dialogue that is concerned with masculinity issues. The guard is concerned with his masculine pride and Waingro thinks his own masculinity has been insulted by the guard. (Maybe the guard is prescient ... then, again, maybe it's that Beautiful Lady mask that Waingro is wearing-LOL). Chris doesn't shoot anyone - he doesn't fire his gun. Trejo is named Towner and is an African-American.
Comments: By jettisoning the "Halloween' masks and replacing them with hockey masks, the effect is to make all of the crew look more sinister. It also establishes a certain interchangeability among the crew during the takedown - except for Waingro. Waingro is a plot device masquerading as a character. He is a magician's sleight of hand. Waingro exists in all his monstrosity simply to make Neil and the rest of his gang look less criminal ... less like the killers that they all become. We, the viewers, are fooled into looking at Waingro and thinking: 'he's the REAL criminal' !! We juxtapose Waingro with Neil's crew and suddenly they don't seem like criminals. Waingro comes out of nowhere like some ancient plague...or at least like some disease or fungus...picked up outside a bathroom. Waingro is the badman as bogeyman. His dehumanization allows Neil and his crew to appear more humanized-more like one of us and, therefore, deserving of the audience's empathy. Waingro does not succeed as a character because characters operate from an inner-self, which is created by the writer - characters should not act solely from the writer's need to have a convenient device.
SHIHERLIS APARTMENT: CHARLENE and CHRIS
The Movie: Charlene (Ashley Judd) and Chris argue because she's upset that Chris doesn't bring home enough of the money that he scores. Chris is a gambler.
The Script: Chris and Charlene argue about money that Chris gambles away but Charlene is upset because Chris was supposed to use the money to eventually open a club. Charlene is a former showgirl. We also find out that Chris and Neil met in prison and Charlene resents the closeness of their relationship. Chris also shoves Charlene up against a wall during the argument. The exposition states that Charlene is 26 and has black hair. "The apartment is heavy on computer games, video gear, appliances and children's furniture." (2)
Comments: Chris is physically threatening in the script. Val Kilmer described Chris as "an organized psychotic." (4) Charlene is given motivation beyond "not enough steaks in the fridge" (1) in regards to the money. The scene in the script shows the conflict and potential violence in the Shiherlis marriage. Val Kilmer made these comments about Chris and Charlene's relationship: " What's that horrible joke? Why are 28 percent of married women beaten in the U.S.? Because they won't listen. It's like that." (4)
CERRITO'S BUNGALOW
This scene appears only in the script. The scene exists to show the contrast between the dysfunctional Shiherlis (and Hanna) family and the happy Cerrito family. We 'see' his loving and happy wife, Elaine, and his happy little daughters, Anita (7 years old) and Linda (9 years old).
We see Cerrito holding his daughters...of course, in a later scene in the script (and the movie), we'll see Cerrito hold a little girl his daughters' age ... as a decoy to prevent himself from being shot during the bank hold-up ... and we'll remember this previous scene!
NEIL and EADY
The Movie: Eady (Amy Brenneman) has a Southern accent, is Scots-Irish descent and her family immigrated to Appalachia in the late 1700s. She is a graphic designer.
The Script: Eady (full name Eady Tse) is "28, 5'8", Chinese with long black hair to her waist. She speaks English in American vernacular with only the slightest trace of an accent." (2) Eady likes selling and studying fine art books and particularly likes Delacroix's charcoal sketches and Asian art. There is a scene at Eady's house in which Eady and Neil look at some mezzotint plates by Japanese painters. These paintings evoke a feeling called "sabi." Eady tells Neil that the painters "believed there were eight scenes of transcendental loneliness. They painted them over and over again. One is a flock of geese hovering over a field. There's always mist. It's painted just as the leader touches down." (2)
Comments: There was no plausible dramatic reason for the Eady character to be changed from Chinese to Caucasian. One feels this change had nothing to do with storytelling, but, instead was based on the dearth of Asian or Asian-American actresses with SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) memberships in 1994. Of course today, perhaps, Ming-Na Wen, Gong Li, or even Lucy Liu could have played the role. Additionally, a Chinese Eady gives the character a more profound motivation for not easily acquiescing to Neil's demands to accompany him to New Zealand as there is a later scene in which we find out that Eady's parents had tried to force her into a traditional arranged marriage. Also, Eady's discussion of the painting is pivotal as it describes Neil's own transcendental loneliness and artistically foreshadows Neil's airport death scene.
EADY'S BEDROOM: NEIL'S HAND
The Movie and the Script: Neil enters the sleeping Eady's bedroom carrying a glass of water wrapped in a paper napkin that he leaves on her bedside table.
Comments: We see Neil becoming emotionally involved while at the same time seeing his methodical discipline. Neil has the glass wrapped in a napkin so that his fingers won't leave fingerprints on the glass. Neil doesn't trust Eady yet.
CHARLENE/NEIL: PHONE CONVERSATION
The Movie: Charlene tells Neil that her fight with Chris was typical "husband and wife stuff." (1) Chris is shown at Neil's sleeping in a fetal - like position but with his gun beside him.
The Script: After Charlene finishes her conversation with Neil, the script states: She hangs up and closes her eyes. She hates his guts." Chris is described as being hung over; his "shirt from last night is ripped and his lips cut. He looks like hell." (2)
Comments: In the movie, the viewer doesn't realize that Charlene hates Neil nor is it ever suggested by this scene. In the script, it is implied that Chris has been carousing, drinking and fighting.
MOTEL: CHARLENE and NEIL
The Movie: During Neil's confrontation with Charlene re: her cheating on Chris (with Marciano), Neil knocks the clothes hangers off the rack and Charlene backs up almost against the mirror.
The Script: Neil asks Charlene how connected is Marciano and whether Marciano told her he'd get her a spot in a Las Vegas show. Neil also tells Charlene that Chris has two big jobs back to back. Charlene hesitates in agreeing to give Chris one more chance and Neil "grabs the whole lower part of her face in one hand. His face is inches from hers." (2)
Comments: In the script, Charlene wants a way out of her marriage and figures that Marciano might be able to get her a job as a showgirl. She is using Marciano to obtain a measure of independence. We are never given any motivation for her affair with Marciano in the movie. Therefore, it appears that Marciano is simply going to be her hook up or meal ticket in place of Chris. Furthermore, the script shows Charlene once again being physically threatened by a man...first Chris, now Neil.
ANNIVERSARY DINNER-MEN'S ROOM
This scene is not in the movie. Neil, Cerrito, and Chris discuss the upcoming takedown of the Metals Building and the heist of the platinum using the water from the faucets to drown out their conversation. They also discuss the future killing of Van Zant.
Comments: A scene of male bonding, boys will be boys ... even when plotting robbery and murder.
RESTAURANT: HANNA and NEIL
The Movie: This scene is the same as the script except for Hanna and Neil talking about their respective dreams: Hanna's the big balloon people at the banquet with the big black eightball eyes; Neil's a dream of drowning.
Comments: This is movie 'heat.' This is the scene that the moviegoing audiences have been waiting for - Pacino and DeNiro together on screen! This scene shows the shared confession and bonding of the protagonist (Hanna) and the antagonist (Neil). It is the face-off that is the foreshadowing of the climax ... but, then, the audience knew from the beginning of the movie that a climax would have to include a face-off between these two characters.
THE BANK HOLD-UP
The Movie: Neil, Cerrito, and Chris shoot off so much ammunition it's as if World War Three is being played out in the streets of L.A.!
The Script: Chris follows Neil and is walking backwards covering the interior of the bank. Neil sees Hanna, Schwartz and Bosko and opens fire. Hanna and Schwartz return fire and Chris gets shot in the neck. Unlike the movie, Chris never fires his gun.
Comments: Chris didn't shoot any of the guards during the armored truck takedown in the script. And now, in the script, Chris doesn't fire his gun during the bank hold-up! So, is Chris a killer in the script? Yes, because Chris and Cerrito do kill the driver (working for Van Zant) who attempted to ambush Neil during the high-noon Drive-In shootout in both the movie and the script. However, that killing might be considered justifiable homicide or self-defense. Therefore, the scripted Chris is a robber, gambler, shoves his wife around but is not a killer. The movie Chris is a killer.
THE WAVE: CHRIS and CHARLENE
The Movie: Charlene waves Chris away from the police's trap by subtly moving her hand horizontally across the railing of the balcony.
The Script: "Her hand subtly waves him away, gestures towards the roof." (2) In the script, there are not only detectives in the apartment but policemen on the roof and the roofs of surrounding buildings equipped with AR-180 rifles with nite-site scopes.
Comments: This scene comes alive in the movie, not the script. This balcony scene between Charlene and Chris is like a silent movie version of an ersatz Romeo and Juliet..."parting is such sweet sorrow." (3) It is arguably the most memorable scene in the movie ... all the world loves lovers ... and these two people love one another. Moreover, this scene is a masterpiece of mute dialogue. We see a conversation between the facial expressions of two human beings who understand the movements of each other's faces better than each other's words ... and can perceive shades of meaning too subtle to be conveyed in words.
In Chris' close-up, the movie has brought us a silent soliloquy in which Val Kilmer's face can speak with the subtlest shades of meaning without appearing unnatural and while arousing not only the empathy, but, also the sympathy of the viewers. It is a profound emotional experience - and like many such experiences, it can never really be expressed in words at all! We want Chris to get away; we want Chris to have the money; we want Chris to be reunited with his wife and son; again above all we want Chris to be happy. This is the scene that turns an antagonist Chris Shiherlis into a hero!
[Director's Note: VKN does not want to leave our readers with the impression that it is believed Chris Shiherlis is a hero in the traditional sense that he is someone to be admired and looked up to, as that is certainly not the case. While Chris' enduring love for his wife might make him a more sympathetic character to the audience, it doesn't exonerate him from his misdeeds. This is how our author, Valteamo, justifies her use of the term 'hero' in reference to Chris: "He's not truly heroic since he engages in law-breaking activities (whether or not he's a killer in the script). However, a lot of people who've seen HEAT, particularly men, seem to think Chris is a winner as he gets away, he has the money and possibly he'll hook up with his wife again - although that is not a major concern for them. For them getting away and having the money means that Chris got out on top. So, the common perception is that he wins and many see winners as heroes. Look at all of the sports stars who are called heroes. Kids even look up to them as heroes simply for winning games, regardless as to their personal lives (adulterers, abandoned children, drug use etc. - only murder seems to count against them). I don't think that Mann wanted to make Chris a hero but, he may be perceived as such a la Butch Cassidy ... the outlaw as hero."]
HANNA and LAUREN: SUICIDE ATTEMPT
The Movie: Hanna arrives home to discover that Lauren has attempted suicide by apparently slitting her wrists in the bathtub. He wraps her in a sheet and she is rushed to the hospital.
The Script: Lauren does get wrapped in a sheet and rushed to the hospital, but what precipitates this event is not a suicide attempt and in terms of Lauren's characterization is so aberrant and unexpected that one can only assume that Michael Mann wrote this scene for shock value alone.
Comments: Hanna carrying Lauren wrapped in a sheet is a reversal of the Pieta image seen in the beginning of the movie. The scripted scene is obscene and makes no psychological sense even for a psychotic Lauren to have perpetrated.
HANNA and JUSTINE: HOSPITAL
The Movie: Hanna tells Justine that "I'm not what you want." (1) Justine tells Hanna to call her here at the hospital.
The Script: Justine suggests that she and Hanna keep on trying to work on their marriage and Hanna agrees.
Comments: In the script more so than in the movie, the reader is left with the more definitive impression that Hanna and Justine will try to work to keep their marriage together.
AIRPORT RUNWAY APRON: NEIL and HANNA
The Movie: The tension is created by the sonic booms of jets, the use of light and shadow, and jump cut camera shots between Neil and Hanna. The scene is more like cat and mouse. Once shot, Neil states, "I told you I'm never going back," an echo of the restaurant scene. Neil raises his hand and Hanna takes his hand as Neil dies. Hanna continues to hold Neil's hand while looking out across the ocean of grass, lights, and blue night.References:The Script: As Neil runs across the runway, an L1011 jet fills the frame as it descends to the runway. "It wipes out the strobe racks in a chaotic blast of xenon." (2) This scene was foreshadowed in Eady's description of the sabi geese painting and the plane also foreshadows Neil's descent and his 'lights' going out. The face-off between Neil and Hanna reads like a shoot-out between gunfighters. Neil's last words spoken to Hanna are: "not half bad." Hanna responds: "pretty good your own self." Hanna holds Neil's hand and looks "into the west at the lines of blue runway lights like rivers." (2)
Comments: Of course, the movie scene is better. This scene needs sound, lights and music. Moby's "God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters" which underscores the death scene contains rippling musical notes, not unlike the sound of water, along with accompanying majesty. The song is an allusion to the verse in Genesis, the first book in the Bible. And, of course, God has moved over the waters ... out of chaos, there is now calm; out of conflict, has come peace; out of death has come regeneration, or, at least another chance … another start… a genesis.
- Heat. 1995.Michael Mann , director
- Michael Mann. Heat-The Screenplay.3/3/94
- William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, Act2, Scene2
- Entertainment Weekly.12/15/95
Resources:
- Heat. 1995.Michael Mann , director
- Michael Mann. Heat-The Screenplay.3/3/94
- William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, Act2, Scene2
- Entertainment Weekly.12/15/95
- Syd Field. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting.1994
- Moby.God Moving Over the Face of the Waters.Heat Soundtrack.1995