I’m currently going through Michael Mann’s decent films with a friend who only knows the Miami Vice television show. Thus far, we’ve seen Heat and Collateral, both excellent, and I persuaded him to watch the Mann daddy, Manhunter on his own.

Not much to say on this 20th rewatching for me, save that Collateral certainly stands up to repeated viewings and the passage of time. In many ways it’s a companion piece to Heat, seeming to exist in a similar universe (the last scene location is the opening of 1995’s Heat). As with many Mann films, at least from his golden period (from 1981’s Thief to 2004’s Collateral), there is a strong focus on the professionalism, tradecraft, of the main characters. Cruise brings a special touch to his hitman Vincent: his professionalism often manifests as irritation – irritation at those who thwart or impede his work. Other actors tend to recycle certain mannerisms, e.g. DeNiro’s grimace, but Cruise perfected a look of annoyance for Vincent as he goes about his work. There’s a particularly amusing moment in the Korean club, where Cruise has to save Jamie Foxx’s taxi driver Max from some Mexican killers, and after shooting them stone dead he gives Max an irritated glare.

Coincidentally, Anonymous Conservative recently mentioned the film:

I do not know if this will work for everyone, but it will work for a few here. Think of this as an exercise in amping up your amygdala in a way that promotes K-type action. If work gets boring, and you feel yourself slowing down, take a look at this movie clip I stumbled across recently, from the movie Collateral.

The scene begins as Cruise enters the nightclub with Fox looking for the Asian gangleader who is his next target. Cruise then breaks off from Fox, enters the crowd, and begins his process. The artistes may notice the quality of a lightning fast mag change at the end just before the coup de grace, which I am pretty sure was a professional-shooter-double in a wig. If you practice, that is what you should be working for, and the sound of the mag drop, mag insertion, and slide release is flawless as a target to guide you toward that speed. The psychological effect of the clip seems to get better with a third and fourth watching. I find after watching it, I am more focused and work a lot faster and feel more motivated. 

Now some thoughts on the scene and why it does what it does. I think this scene has this effect, because it actually contrasts the ephemeral, transient, pointless nature of r with the permanent, exhilarating permanence and purpose of K – and your brain instinctually sees the contrast. All around Cruise are the mindless plebes, living in the moment, blissfully unaware of anything but waving their arms to music. On TV screens in the club, dreamy-eyed girls look like they are euphoric on drugs as they writhe to the music. In contrast, Cruise is oblivious to it and cuts a bloody swath through the crowd. He is actually making permanent changes to the world. Your mind sees that difference, even if you do not. And although he is technically on the side of darkness in the movie, for the moment Cruise just happens to be taking out the trash along the way, doing good, and you process that too. You’ll notice how the vibe dies when he shoots the cop at the end who tries to rescue Fox, and Cruise’s path diverges back to purely dark. I have taken to stopping the scene at its apex as he walks out after capping the gang leader, for maximum brain-hacking effect. All of that data about r and K, and good and evil, is being processed subconsciously in your mind, in an almost hypnotic effect, and the result is, when you come out of it, your mind will be calibrated with the difference between r and K, and it will be driven to act in a more focused K-fashion. I find it interesting how these changes happen in your brain, using media-inputs we are not even aware are having these effects as they happen. You can see how a studied understanding of the effect, mixed with a full control of our media, could alter the very nature of our society, and its destiny.