Thief is Michael Mann’s first feature film. I’d heard it was also one of the first movies in which streets were watered down for night scenes, to make the tarmac glisten. Turns out that’s not true, but everything in this film shimmers.
Watch it for:
–It’s intensity
–The night scenes (most of the movie)
–Heartbreak all over the place
Here’s the full blurb on the back of the DVD:
The contemporary American auteur Michael Mann burst out of the gate, his bold artistic sensibility fully formed, with Thief, his debut feature. James Caan stars, in one of his most riveting performances, as a no-nonsense ex-con safe cracker planning to leave the criminal world behind after one final diamond heist, but discovering that escape is not as simple as he hoped. Finding hypnotic beauty in neon and rain-slick streets, sparks and steel, Thief effortlessly established the moody stylishness and tactile approach to action that would also define such later iconic entertainments from Mann as Miami Vice, Manhunter, and Heat.
Directed by MICHAEL MANN
Starring JAMES CAAN, TUESDAY WELD, ROBERT PROSKY, WILLIE NELSON
1981/ 124 Minutes/ English/ Color/ 1:85: 1
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