They have absolutely nothing to do with the movie or the outcome of the heist or the planning of the heist.
The have literally zero to do with anything that happens. Has Lumet ever commented on this? They don't do anything to stop the heist. They don't do anything after the heist.
It's just a random thing in the movie.
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Right, but if you were take out every single surveillance scene, just edit them all right out, the movie doesn't change one bit. It wouldn't change a thing.
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I thought exactly the same thing at first. Then I read some of the plot summaries on this site and the tapes made a lot more sense to me. Some people obviously paid a lot more attention during the movie than I did and I missed some things. Read the plot summaries and you will see what you missed.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7
I just watched this rather dated movie. The instant it was over, I had the same question. The taping was pointless, having nothing to do with any character or action.
Billy the Kid
All this sophisticated surveillence technology ultimately turning out to be useless & irrelevant is precisely the satirical point, considering that in the end, it is this boy with his old fashioned radio that makes the real difference.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Maybe if the authorities hadn't been so keen to catch people who take a little drugs, or who have unpopular political views or didn't have the balls to honestly convict murderous organised crime figures then the illicit surveillance could have been used to prevent the heist taking place at all. The Kid might still be alive. 200 cops wouldn't have been needed to take them down. Anderson wouldn't have been shot etc.
I think that's idea. Like in The Convesation. Surveillance often compromises those doing the surveillance as much as the subject.
@Twitzkrieg - Glasgow's FOREMOST authority
A little history is needed.
There are two stories here. One is the heist; the other is the surveillance tapes. That story is now dated because now most everyone takes for granted government and other agencies eaves dropping on people, legally or illegally.(Sadly I might add).
Back then it was fairly new, including the technology and quite controversial. It was abused back then too.
Spoiler:
The irony of all the taping was it couldn't be used as evidence. All the different agencies had to remain anonymous. I am hoping I really didn't have to explain that point.
Al, I'm afraid you did....
A better movie about your comments, Al, is The Conversation.
If I remember the book correctly, it puts the tapes in a better perspective, though.
Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...share
The tape stuff is there because this movie is based on a bestselling novel. The novel's angle was that it was all relayed via taped conversations and wire taps, etc. Hence, showing the tapes and agents recording the action is just staying true to the concept of the source novel.
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The tapes were being done before Anderson was released. It was not a movie about a burglary but a movie about secret surveillance.
They were secretly listening in on about 5 different criminals and Anderson had the bad luck to choose these people to help him with the heist!
Because the wiretaps were illegal, when the case against Anderson came to court (if it did) the tapes would be revealed! (The police discovered the recording device in the basement and would have brought it out in court as proof of Anderson planning the heist.)
But the govt or whoever ordered the tapes would have been up the creek and in trouble because there is no way they should have been taping Ingrid or Angelo or anyone without a court order.
See?
The robbery was a way to show Anderson getting taped illegally because the gov agencies were taping others illegally. The Narcotics commission was even taping the "kid" because he had gone to prison for that.
No way would the IRS have been taping Anderson right out of prison.
The heist was not the central theme.
Ingrid's rich boyfriend was also taping them, right? When he finally stops Ingrid's tryst with Anderson and demands she stay true to his money, the tapes are playing of Ingrid and Anderson when Anderson comes in.
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