Dog Day Afternoon -- The Final Scenes

I am a big fan of films made in the 1970s. Mostly because it was such a groundbreaking time both stylistically and in terms of subject matter. During the 1970s, nothing was off limits.

Today I watched one of my all-time favorites, Dog Day Afternoon. Directed by Syndey Lumet, the film recounts the true story of man who attempted to rob a bank in Brooklyn in 1972 in order to pay for his partner's sex change operation. Al Pacino stars as the lead character, Sonny -- a man that, despite an unfortunate series of events, is really no different than you or I. If you haven't seen Dog Day Afternoon, please stop reading this and go watch it now. Seriously!

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I would not consider this a spoiler because it is a true story after all. Plus, everyone has technically had 40 years to see it so hush.

Sonny Gets Arrested

For over fourteen hours, Sonny held several bank employees "hostage" while he attempted to negotiate with police for money, a car, and a plane. As I mentioned, the goal of the robbery was to pay for his wife's sex change operation. Unfortunately, to the dismay of Sonny, his newfound hostage friends, and the viewers, Leon decided to end the relationship during the stand off. From there, Sonny's plan began to unravel.

But the sequence was brilliant.

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Prior to the final scene, the entire film had taken place inside of the bank where Sonny and his friend, Sal, spent many hours with the hostages that they ultimately befriended. Up until now, the plan had been relatively successful (minus the breakup); no one had been hurt and the getaway car and plane seemed within their reach. We wanted him to succeed. Sure, what he did was wrong, but it was okay because he was doing it for the right reasons. Right?

The sequence begins with that shot of Sonny and then quickly cuts to shots of the hostages and police and back to him. When not on Sonny, the camera takes his point of view when filming the hostages being escorted away by the police or Sal being wheeled to the ambulance. The shots of Sonny are tight and close up. He is being arrested and sent to prison while the shots of the hostages are free to go, free to leave him behind even after all that went on hours before.

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And finally, the shot with everything Sonny needed to make the robbery successful: the car to take him to a plane, the plane to take him out of the country. The car or plane will never be useful to him, however, because he is on his way to prison for the next 20 years.

Sonny is devastated. The viewer is devastated.