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If war 'dreams of itself', so too does cinema

Michael Mann directs a panoply of American life through the lens of film noir. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti is almost like a second director and writer; there's hardly a scene in HEAT that couldn't hang in a gallery. It is as expansive in its dramatic scope as the series that didn't made the cut (L.A. Takedown).  Heat comprises of picture-perfect shots that meld lighting and camera and filmreel so well that it is literally state-of-the-art; and that's purely from a technical standpoint.  The movie is filmed with splendid artistry: examine at the segue between the camera panning to thee prozac bottle and Diana Venora's character Justine taking from it in the next shot. Acting, writing, and cinematic affect are compact: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/heat-1995/id1028001760?fbclid=IwAR3yPB72RO7eFtH71a9VKRn6TY8VvTuyKTYUumimaPZv2Me_N_2LbwVggfE The close-up camerawork portrays the inner-world of Justine; perhaps no other shot in cinema could better adequ...
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The 'Gangster' in Cinema

One of the most technically-challenging long-shots in cinema is in Goodfellas (1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhX89LiOGbI&feature=youtu.be&t=71&fbclid=IwAR0zn7GdO1B5Pq-VtJ-wqi0Hoi2EYHOT912AzUd6Zlme5BSwnRQnJkQH-rY Why did Scorcese deem such a challenging shot necessary?Gangster cinema, like The Great Gatsby, is a dark take on the American Dream. Ambiguous heroes ruthlessly pursue their own advancement. Though, Perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece articulates America's fascination with the criminal best.  '[P]ersonality is an unbroken series of successful gestures', F. Scott Fitzgerald writes as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. Perhaps the entire shot, which ends with a close-up of a corpse's freezing face, represents the character's life, from start to finish, following the gangster's way of life- one in which an 'unbroken series of gestures'  is the cornerstone of longevity and success. Style becomes substance for both ...
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