PatWahlquist
Supporting Actor
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Dog Day Afternoon (Blu-Ray)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Rated: R
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
HD Encoding: 1080p
HD Video Codec: VC-1
Audio: Dolby Digital: English 1.0, Spanish 1.0, French 1.0
Subtitles: English; Spanish; French; English SDH
Time: 124 minutes
Disc Format: 1 SS BD
Case Style: Keep case
Theatrical Release Date: 1975
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 10, 2007
There is a point about two thirds of the way through Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, where Sonny (Al Pacino), having just spoken to his male lover and his wife in back to back phone calls, has just had it. He and his friend Sal’s (John Cazale) attempt to hold up a small, Brooklyn bank has gone horribly wrong from the very start. As each moment passes, the cops, the feds and Sonny’s miserable life are closing in on him. What makes this moment special is in a brief couple seconds of a nearly twenty minute sequence, Pacino is able, with a face and semi-crossed stare of exasperation, sum up his entire character and the themes of the movie. Sonny yearns for a different life with his male lover Leon (Chris Sarandon) and he is willing to go to the felonious lengths of bank robbery to get the $2700 necessary for Leon’s sex change. Sonny’s wife cannot understand why he’s doing this and she figures he must have some mental problem as she has provided a beautiful life and children for him. Of course, that comes with some weight, both physically and mentally, of her constant nagging and yelling at Sonny. And nothing will go right.
As quick as the caper begins, it begins to go wrong: their third partner quits and runs out, the bank manager is indifferent to their threats, there is very little money left in the bank and the tellers are more than ready to jump into the Stockholm Syndrome. Sonny’s crimes quickly become the fodder of the afternoon and evening news, and he is thrust into the media spotlight, granting phone interviews through the plate glass windows. He also makes several appearances to the teeming crowds and cops to state his demands and see what’s going on. While doing so, the crowd empowers him as a modern day Robin Hood as he makes the bold and historical chant “Attica! Attica!” He inadvertently asserts himself as the leader of a crowd still reeling from the injustices of a brutal society running rampant and unchecked in America’s prisons. Sonny tries and tries again to lay out an escape for him, Leon and whoever else wants to go; he never seems to realize everyone but he knows what will happen in the end.
Scriptwriter Frank Pierson and Lumet take some incredibly touchy subjects such as the fresh scars of Attica and the emerging gay culture to spice up an already stunning bank heist picture. Pacino and the rest of the cast infuse so much into their characters you are continually presented with unexpected nuances in them and how they react to one another and their evolving situations. I was shocked to see how quick the tellers gravitated towards Sonny (not Sal so much, and certainly no slight to Cazale) and they only seem to help him and his ill conceived plot. Sarandon’s Leon becomes a fully realized person and the film makers are to be commended for not bowing to the stereotypes of the day in his depiction. There is also a small thread of black comedy running through this picture and everyone has the good instinct to act on it at just the right moment.
Video:
Note: I am watching this title using a Marantz VP 12-S4 DLP projector, which has a native resolution of 720p. I am using a Sony Playstation 3 for a player and utilizing the HDMI capabilities of both units.
The picture is in VC-1, encoded at 1080p and it is framed at 1.85:1. Video noise becomes apparent but not overbearing and in this case it contributes to the steaminess of the surroundings. The color palate is somewhat muted, again to enhance the heat of the summer season, but they are natural to the scenes. Black levels are excellent and show good shadow detail and separation between the colors (such as the floral prints on Sonny’s mother’s house coat). Unfortunately they do seem to crush in on the shadows later in the picture. Lumet even makes a comment about how the prints look on home video, but unfortunately he does not tell us what he thinks of this transfer. Detail and sharpness are good but they get obscured due to the age of the print itself. I recently saw the picture on SD-DVD and it is not a drastic improvement in quality.
Audio:
I watched the movie with the Dolby Digital 1.0 track engaged. I would like to thank a higher power that we have these high definition audio codecs to present this MONO, DOLBY DIGITAL tracks in our home theaters. Before I get flamed by everyone, I just found some humor in the fact I’m watching a high definition picture with mono sound! Anyway, the soundtrack is fine for what it is presenting a clear and debris-free presentation that is representative of the original theatrical presentation. And that’s just how it should be!
Bonus Material:
With the advent of Blu-Ray, we are faced with several different audio and video codecs being used on each disc. Due to this, I have begun adding the encoding details as part of the explanation of bonus features when applicable and relevant. For this release, the extras are in MPEG-2 encoding unless otherwise noted.
The special features on this disc are the same ones on the SD-DVD.
Commentary by Director Sidney Lumet: Lumet stays pretty vocal throughout the track and he covers most of what was said in the following docs.
The Making of Dog Day Afternoon: This part contains four parts anywhere from 11:00 to 22:00 each. The parts included are: The Story, Casting the Controversy, Recreating the Facts, After the Filming. This is a fine documentary all of the primaries contribute, including Lumet, Pierson, Producer Martin Bregman, Pacino, Sarandon and Lance Henrickson. Everyone provides good background on the picture and the shoot and its lasting impact. It is historically interesting to see where Pacino was at this stage in his career and how he had the ability to influence the picture.
Lumet: Film Maker (10:00): A vintage short highlighting Lumet and the film. This is an interesting relic of a different time in Hollywood, when we had to get these shorts with authoritarian narration to meet the directors. I’d much rather have this piece than the fluff we see on Entertainment Tonight any day.
Theatrical Trailer
Conclusions:
A classic 70’s picture that explores the taboos of the day, Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon maintains resonance 30 plus years later. The extras are a good addition to a picture that does not need any enhancement. This new Blu Ray is not a stellar improvement over its predecessor, but it remains the preferred way to watch the picture.
