Aaron Krygier

James Caan on the mental state of the protagonist in Michael Mann's "Thief" (1981) & the reason why he couldn't stand the movie when he saw it: "He (Frank) learned to exist in jail. After he achieved the mental attitude that he didn't care about anything, they left him alone. Because if you're going to mess with him, he was willing to go the distance. The way I work, I like to be emotionally available, but this guy is available to nothing. Pretty soon I would find myself getting angry, my personal problems - with my son, with my ex-wife, whatever - would be magnified, because this guy was in existential pain for such a long time. For three months, I was a lunatic, I had migraines 24 hours a day, I lost about 20 pounds. And then when I looked at the movie, I couldn't stand it. My eyes were like two pieces of glass. They scared me. I said, 'That guy's a ki!!er.' '' ("At the movies by Chris Chase; For 'Thief' role, James Caan got first-hand data", The New York Times, 1981.) P.S: On this day, 45 years ago, "Thief" (1981) was released in the USA & Canada.