It’s cool to me that some of these more proto-ambient Krautrockers did film scores - makes me want to watch some of the movies that Can did the soundtracks for. The obvious example is the shootout at the end, but the scene when he’s taken in to the police station (and when it first shows the big safe they’ve got to crack later on just before) is another great example. A good score is necessary to any good film, obviously, but their music is so uniquely otherworldly that it brings a very specific kind of urgency to some of the most important scenes. So many scenes were elevated to heights they couldn’t have reached had they not been accompanied by the synth riffs of Tangerine Dream. Their score is, arguably, as crucial to the film as is Caan’s acting and Mann’s writing and direction.
Though I’ve heard very little about this movie anyways (surprisingly), the Tangerine Dream score is something that’s not even mentioned in the description of the Criterion release. It’s a character-driven film in the most literal sense, which is why James Caan’s performance is so crucial.
We’re given so much time just with Frank and his wife, Frank and Jim Belushi, Frank and the gangsters he gets involved with, that when the crime scenes do happen we’re absolutely invested.
The fact that about 1/4th of the film contains classic crime scenes (thievery, robbery, THE USUAL) undoubtedly accounts for the intimacy at the heart of Thief. Its sum and parts are equally great James Caan’s brutal yet sensitive performance as Frank, Mann’s ability to shoot Chicago at night in a way that predicted (or more likely, influenced) so many neon-drenched nighttime cityscape crime dramas to come, Tangerine Dream’s flawless score, etc. Michael Mann’s Thief is, across the board, a perfect crime movie.