Isolation and Desolation in Heat (1995)

Abstract

In Heat, the tension between the existential guiding ethic and social engagement progresses to a state of alienation beyond that of existential awareness, resulting in isolation for the film’s protagonists. Isolation is presented as a bleak state of emptiness, referred to in this chapter as desolation. Heat shares generic features with the last two films dis­cussed, combining the thief and the detective in parallel storylines that lead not to resolution but the most pessimistic conclusion of any Mann film. Like Will Graham, Vincent Hanna’s (Al Pacino) fundamental self is a protector. Also like Graham, Hanna manifests his self through a vital programme of law enforcement, so that the innocent will not be harmed, pursuing malefactors like Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). This is his existential guiding ethic, which he follows until the only connection he has is to his quarry. Neil has a fundamental self of being free from entrapment, and his vital programme of professional thievery manifests his self, much like Frank’s, until he experiences a specific form of social engagement which causes him to alter the programme. His new programme is to end his life of crime, so his existential guid­ing ethic alters only slightly, as his goal is always freedom. Like Hanna, however, Neil’s existential guiding ethic also results in his complete disengagement from others.