Sarah Polley on Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON | From Studio 9

Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley joined us in Studio 9 to breakdown the Sidney Lumet's revelatory approach he has with his characters and the efficiency of the perfect shot in DOG DAY AFTERNOON.

Reuniting Sydney Lumet and Al Pacino, the duo’s second great NYC true-crime movie of the 1970s was even more spectacularly successful than their previous hit SERPICO. Pacino and John Cazale play sadsacks Sonny and Sal, whose fumbled attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank leads to a hostage situation when the building is surrounded by cops. Over the course of the long, hot day, the standoff becomes a three-ring media circus as the hostages and their captors develop a strange affection for each other, Sonny is elevated to the status of underdog hero (thanks to his defiant, cop-baiting chant of “Attica! Attica!”), and the motive for his bungled robbery is revealed. For all the internal and external conflicts playing out in gritty old 1975, Dog Day Afternoon is remarkably empathetic and arguably progressive on specific social issues for its day; even one now-archaic casting decision yields a groundbreaking and boldly sensitive supporting performance from Chris Sarandon (which earned him an Oscar nomination). “One of Sidney Lumet’s best jobs of directing and one of Al Pacino’s best performances come together in a populist thriller with lots of New York juice.… an astonishing fusion of suspense and character” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).

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