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Homosexuality in 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975): televisual surfaces and a 'natural' man

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posted on 2023-06-09, 14:57 authored by Christopher BrownChristopher Brown
'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975) has indisputable significance as the first Hollywood film to feature a gay protagonist played by a major star, Al Pacino. In seeking to recreate the bank robbery upon which the film was based, director Sidney Lumet strove for a sense of liveness and immediacy resulting in a surface-obsessed aesthetic that owes a great deal to the forms of television and documentary. Lumet referred to this as his film’s ‘naturalistic’ style – but what does this actually mean, in the context of 1970s American film acting? The essay will assess Pacino’s star performance in relation to literary Naturalism’s preoccupation with thermodynamics and entropy, arguing that it is in this context that Dog Day Afternoon’s representation of homosexuality is best understood – and most significant.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Film Criticism

ISSN

0163-5069

Publisher

Michigan Publishing

Issue

1

Volume

37

Page range

35-54

Department affiliated with

  • Media and Film Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-09-07

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-09-07

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-09-06

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