“Collateral” A sensual night in LA captured in groundbreaking digital photography

*This article touches on the ending of the story, so we recommend watching the movie before reading it.

"Collateral" synopsis

Vincent is a ruthless professional assassin. He landed in LA after receiving orders from a drug organization. Max is an ordinary taxi driver. I live each day with my dreams for the future as my emotional support. One fateful night, Max accidentally picks up Vincent on his way to work. His job was to visit five locations in one night, shoot and kill five targets, and escape. Max gets caught up in Vincent's work. However, the relationship between the two eventually develops into a battle between men, with each other's fate and pride at stake...

Index

• The charm of “CITY OF NIGHT” where director Michael Mann’s outstanding sense shines
• “Night Fabric” created during the transition period of digital cinema
• Is the villain Tom Cruise based on Beat Takeshi from “GONIN”?

The charm of “CITY OF NIGHT” where director Michael Mann’s outstanding sense shines

A delusion of a plan. If you held a poll for director Michael Mann's favorite movies, what would the results be?

I think the one that will probably come out on top overall is definitely `` Heat '' (1995). The problem is second place and below. Including television series such as Detective Starsky & Hutch (1975-79/mainly involved in the screenplay) and Special Detective Miami Vice (1984-1989/executive producer), I think that during his long career, He has worked on a wide variety of subjects, and there are many excellent and honorable mention works. How one views the filmography of this talented entertainment craftsman seems to vary considerably depending on the audience's generation and tastes.

The author would like to recommend 2004's Collateral. At the time of its release, the film became a hot topic because Tom Cruise, who has a strong image of being a good guy, played a rare role as a villain, but above all, the depiction of the city at night is extremely sensual. The making-of title included on the DVD bonus disc is “CITY OF NIGHT,” but it could have been the title of the main story. Personally, I would like to place this above ``Heat'' as my favorite work, and if voting was limited to one piece, I would definitely vote for this one.

"Collateral" TM & (C) 2004 DREAMWORKS LLC AND PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION. TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2012 by Paramount Pictures. All rights Reserved.

The setting is Los Angeles. First, Tom Cruise, with silver hair and stubble, wearing sunglasses and a gray suit, lands at the airport. The character's name is Vincent. He is a top-notch professional assassin, but his true identity has not been revealed yet (by the way, the man passing the bag with him here is clearly Jason Statham. Cameo appearance = a small uncredited role, but he has the presence of a leading role. So I'm surprised).

Soon, Max (Jamie Foxx), a taxi driver from Yellow Cab, shows up. ``Collateral'' is the story of a single night that he experiences (in Michael Mann's own words, time progresses from ``6:04 p.m. to 4:20 the next morning''). It seems like a night cruise in LA where various lives intersect in a moving car, but a much different fate awaits him than his usual peaceful nights.

Just as the evening was approaching dusk, Max picked up a woman named Annie (Jada Pinkett-Smith), a female prosecutor. The two have a casual conversation and get into a good mood before heading downtown. As they enter the highway, Annie is drawn to the song playing on the car stereo and tells them to turn up the volume. " Hands of Time " is a famous soulful tune (from the 2002 album " LOVEBOX ") by the popular British unit Groove Armada, featuring black folk singer Richie Heavens (who passed away in 2013) on vocals.

"Collateral" TM & (C) 2004 DREAMWORKS LLC AND PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION. TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2012 by Paramount Pictures. All rights Reserved.

As you can see from this excellent song selection, the night that this work first presents has a mellow tone like smooth black skin, and it has the fluid beauty of a road movie, which sets it apart from ordinary film noir. It's a striking point. However, the next passenger on board is Vincent, and Max is subjected to a nightmarish "Collateral".

From there, we see the darkness of a back alley, two coyotes suddenly crossing in front of a taxi, a quiet subway, and the entire body of a multi-layered artificial city based on the transportation network - the disparity between rich and poor and the miscellaneous community. The writhing surface emerges in a fascinating labyrinth-like expression.

“Night Fabric” created during the transition period of digital cinema