In 1995, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro squared off for the first time on-screen in Michael Mann’s Heat. Nearly 30 years later, Mann has debunked one of the most popular rumors about Heat’s iconic coffee shop scene.
What Did Michael Mann Say About Heat’s Coffee Shop Scene?
In the scene, Pacino’s Vincent Hanna and De Niro’s Neil McCauley meet for coffee and discuss their parallel lives. While talking about their fractured personal lives, Hanna and McCauley appreciate each other’s commitment and honesty despite openly admitting they would kill the other person if necessary.
The coffee shop scene is one of the lasting memories of Heat because it marked the first time the two iconic characters shared a scene, but because of how it’s shot with the two actors facing each other, the scene inspired a popular internet rumor that Pacino and De Niro were not in the same room. The theory suggests Mann shot each actor separately and edited it to make it look like they were together.
While speaking with Collider to promote Ferrari, Mann stated this meeting between Pacino and De Niro was “an event that really occurred in real life.” As for the scene in question, Mann put an end to the theory once and for all by mapping out the logistics of how it was shot.
“What it was, there’s actually three cameras and what you’re wearing on your chest is what the third camera was shooting, which is the profile two-shot,” Mann said, “but I never used it because every time I went to that shot it removed us and made us observers of the two men instead of being empathetically, subjectively inside that dialogue. So, I always only use the two overs because everything we did was simultaneous. I had two cameras set up just out of reach, just out of sight of each other, shooting that scene.”
Mann’s latest film, Ferrari, opens in theaters on December 25.
