The Auteurs # 73: Michael Mann (Part 1)

 

Among the key filmmakers who would emerge in the final years of New Hollywood and then be a key figure in the world of crime films and television into the 21st Century, Michael Mann is a filmmaker who has a unique visual style but also an approach that is gritty and intense. Even as he would often make films that often push the edge of what could be told visually while also exploring stories of men who are often in a place where they have no control as well as showing their obsessions of being in control or to reach a goal. While much of his work is based on crime and suspense, Mann has also flirted with other genres to reveal so much more to him as he’s about story and characters rather than sticking to one genre and a medium as he also is known for his work in television such as developing the hit 1980s show Miami Vice. Most recently, Mann has also become a novelist writing a sequel to his 1995 film Heat which will become his next feature film.

Part 1 (1943-1999)

Born on February 3, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, Michael Kenneth Mann was the son of Jack and Esther Mann as his father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who went to America in 1922 a decade after Mann’s grandparents had fled Russia. Jack Mann fought in World War II and, like his father before him, saw the horrors of war as the young Mann would find support from his family in his interest in film. Yet, Mann’s environment in Chicago would also take notice of the crime underworld that had occurred in the decades before which also played into Mann’s interest in crime and suspense. Notably as he reads about the stories of gangsters running wild during the days of Prohibition with Chicago being a prominent backdrop where Mann would learn more about these stories from people in the city.

After graduating from Roald Amundsen High School in the early 1960s, the same school that had another famous alumnus in Bob Fosse, Mann attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study literature. Still, Mann’s interest in film would grow as he graduated in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree as he would then attend the London Film School in London where he would discover more about cinema. Notably a different array of films from all over the world including the films of Sergei Eisenstein, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Stanley Kubrick, and Jean-Pierre Melville. In 1967, Mann would graduate with a master’s degree from the school as he would spend much of his time in Britain directing commercials as well as a few documentary shorts including shooting footage of the events of May of 1968 in Paris for a short film called Insurrection that would appear on a new program for NBC in the U.S. Mann would re-cut his short and would re-title it as Jaunpuri where it premiered at the 1970s Cannes Film Festival where it would win the festival’s jury prize in its short film section.

Jaunpuri would be among one of two early short films of Mann that are not available publicly as only two copies were made with one owned by Mann and other belonging to the American Film Institute. The other short Mann made in the early 1970s was a road documentary called 17 Days Down the Line that starred Marvin Kupfer as it would be this short film where a man travels from the American east coast to the west coast in 17 days. Mann would make the film around the time his first marriage had ended while he would meet a woman named Summer whom he would marry in 1974 as they would have a family including his daughter Ami Canaan Mann who would later become a filmmaker for both film and television in the 2000s and beyond. It would be around this time that Mann’s career would start to rise in meeting TV writer Robert Lewin who would teach Mann how to write scripts as Mann would write for TV shows such as Starsky & Hutch and the pilot for a show called Vega$ that he would create but clashes with the network and the pilot’s director Richard Lang forced him to leave the show.

While writing for the TV series Police Story in 1976 in its third season with a few more in its next two seasons, Mann would take part in a re-writing an adaptation of Edward Bunker’s novel No Beast So Fierce into a film project that would later become Straight Time by Ulu Grosbard with a script written by Bunker, Jeffrey Boam, and Alvin Sargent starring Dustin Hoffman. Mann would not receive credit for his work yet the research from Bunker’s book would allow him to create a project that would become his first feature film.

The Jericho Mile

Despite not receiving credit for re-writing Straight Time, Mann was able to get his foot in the door as he was selected to make a TV movie for ABC in Swan Song starring David Soul about a skier, but the project was delayed due to Soul recuperating from a spinal injury. Due to the research, he had used for the script to Straight Time, Mann would get a script by Patrick J. Nolan about a prisoner serving a life sentence yet gets attention for his running as he gets the chance to get a spot at the upcoming 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Mann would collaborate with Nolan in creating a new script that would also play into prison politics within different race factions. With the support of producer Tim Zinnemann, who was also the producer for Straight Time, Mann would be given a $60,000 budget to make the TV film as Mann would shoot the film on location at Folsom Prison.

With a crew that included cinematographer Rexford L. Metz, editor Arthur Schmidt, art director Stephen Myles Berger, and music composer Jimmie Haskell, Mann would also utilize real prison inmates at Folsom State Prison to use as actors to give the film an extra ounce of realism with help from Eddie Bunker in sorting out whatever issues happening with real-life prison factions for the time. It would be a method that Mann would use prominently in all his films while he still also used real actors with Peter Strauss in the lead role of Larry Murphy and an ensemble cast that would include noted character actors in Geoffrey Lewis, Billy Green Bush, Ed Lauter, and Brian Dennehy. Mann also brought in former convict turned playwright Miguel Pinero to play the leader of the Latin gang faction as he was proven to be immensely popular with the inmates at Folsom where it helped make the production easier to deal with. Still, Mann wanted to tell a story about this man who is dealing with his actions and wants to do his time while he proves that he has what it takes to be in the Olympics.

Still, Mann does highlight that a place like Folsom State Prison could be considered a place of peace in comparison to the chaos in the real world where the film’s post-climax following Murphy’s trial run deals with the rigidness of bureaucracy in the International Olympic Committee. Even as it displays that the IOC cared more about their image than Murphy’s chances where its ending symbolizes Murphy taking control of his own time in his running where Mann creates this great final image of a stopwatch being thrown at a prison wall where it smashes to pieces. The film premiered on NBC on March 18, 1979, where it was ranked 7th that week in the Nielsen ratings against many regular shows airing at that time. The film would get a theatrical release in Britain followed by various film festival screenings in Europe where the film would receive good reviews. The film would receive three Emmy awards for its editing, teleplay, and an acting award to Peter Strauss while Mann would also receive an award from the Director’s Guild of America.

Thief

Mann’s success in television would give him some influence in getting projects made where he wanted to continue his venture into film as the research, he had made for his last film prompted him to do something more cinematic. Notably as he read Frank Homier’s memoir about his life as a thief that inspired him to write a new screenplay that would be about an ex-con safecracker who agrees to do one more job in a diamond heist only to realize that he cannot escape the criminal life. Through the research he had done in his previous film as well as his own experiences reading about Chicago’s history with crime to create something that is filled with a lot of diligence in how heists are created and the step-by-step work into breaking a safe. The script attracted the attention of actor James Caan who agreed to do research for Mann on the life of being a thief where Cann starred in the film with his brother Ronnie serving as a producer where he would share duties with Jerry Bruckheimer who had been rising the ranks in the film industry before he would become a key player in Hollywood with Don Simpson in the kind of films that would later define 1980s blockbuster cinema.

With Caan taking the lead role of Frank with Tuesday Weld as his love interest Jessie, Mann brought in Vic Ramos to manage the casting as it would include James Belushi as Frank’s partner Barry as it would be his film debut. The film would also feature several actors that Mann would continuously work with in the coming years that would include William Petersen, Dennis Farina, and Robert Prosky as the crime boss Leo that Mann based the character on real-life mob figures in Felix Alderisio and Leo Rugendorf and country music singer Willie Nelson as Frank's friend Okla. Production would be based in Chicago with additional locations in Los Angeles as he gained the services of cinematographer Donald E. Thorin, production designer Mel Bourne, and editor Dov Hoenig who would become a recurring collaborator for Mann. Mann also brought in former criminals as technical advisors to help bring in some authenticity in how criminals perform heists.

Much of Mann’s direction and approach to the visuals would often have him shooting scenes at night to play into the sense of atmosphere with Thorin’s camera work adding some unique lighting as it would be a style that would define a look for the 1980s. It would also be a style that Mann would often utilize for the entirety of his work in the years to come. Even as his approach to suspense would add to his continuous exploration of men trying to maintain some control in their lives only to encounter something that they have no control of. It would be something that the character of Frank would endure once he realizes his life has no control as it plays into a level of violence that is intense but with an element of realism. For the film’s music, Mann wanted Chicago-based blues for the film but realized that it would not be enough since that is the music that only Frank listens to where Mann needed another style of music that would play into the drama and suspense. He would hire the German electronic group Tangerine Dream, who had previously did score music for William Friedkin’s 1977 film Sorcerer, as they would create sound textures and moods that gave Mann what he wanted.

The film premiered in the U.S. in March of 1981 through United Artists where the film did modestly at the box office making $4.3 million against its $5.5 million budget in the U.S. yet it would gross over $11.5 million following its European premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that May in competition for the Palme d’Or. Though the film did not receive any accolades other than an undeserving nomination from the Razzies for Worst Musical Score. It would gain considerable praise in the years to come as it would help solidify Mann as a filmmaker to watch out for.

The Keep

After gaining some clout with Thief and through his work with television, Mann was able to get funding for his next project with the help of producers Gene Kirkwood and Howard M. Koch Jr. in an adaptation of F. Paul Wilson’s novel The Keep about a group of Nazi soldiers who go to a fortress in Romania where an unknown entity is about to break out and wreaking havoc on everyone. While horror was a genre Mann is unfamiliar with, he decided to take the chance since the film is set during World War II, and it would be something different. With editor Dov Hoenig and Tangerine Dream taking part on the project as well as Robert Prosky in a role as the Romanian priest Father Mihail Fonescu. Mann would also gain the services of Alex Thomson who had just received acclaimed for his work in John Boorman’s Excalibur as well as shooting Nicolas Roeg’s 1983 film Eureka. Another key figure Mann would get for the film’s visual effects in Wally Veevers who had also worked on Excalibur as well as doing lots of special effects for films like Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Strangelove.

With a cast that would include Scott Glenn, Ian McKellan, Gabriel Byrne, Jorgen Prochnow, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Alberta Watson, shooting began in the fall of 1982 in Wales as well as some interior scenes shot at Shepperton Studios in London with a secondary crew shooting some scenes in Spain as Nazi-occupied Greece. The shooting that was meant for 13 weeks expanded to 22 due to the Welsh weather as Mann and Thomson shot a lot of footage as well as material that Veevers would need for the visual effects. Despite some of the bad weather, the shoot was pleasant as Mann received the services of historian Andrew Mollo as a consultant in wanting to maintain an authentic look of the Nazi uniforms where Prochnow and Byrne played Nazi leaders who go into conflict with each other with the former realizing that the monster they’re dealing with a reflection of the Nazi ideology that he would renounce.

After some reshoots were completed in early 1983, the film’s post-production began but the sudden death of Wally Veevers put everything on hold as special effects supervisor Nick Allder, effects designer Nick Maley, and visual effects supervisor Robin Browne into a tough position with Mann having to be more involved with the visual effects. Mann’s original ending for the film, involving a climatic fight between Scott Glenn’s character Glaeken Trismegestus and the monster had to be simplified as the budget had escalated into $6 million which made the executives at Paramount Pictures unhappy. Mann would finish the film with a running time of 220-minutes which made Paramount unhappy as Mann did agree to cut the film into a length of two hours with the film’s original release date of June 13, 1983, pushed to December where test screenings followed. The test screenings were disastrous, forcing executives at Paramount to take over and re-cut the film themselves against Mann’s wishes as he was pushed out of the film as it was re-cut again into its final 96-minute film version.

Released on December 16, 1983, in a limited theatrical release, the film bombed at the box office grossing only $4.2 million against its $6 million budget with reviews being lukewarm with critics taking shot at the film’s confusing story, sound mixing, and visual effects. Mann was hardened by the experience of the film although the film would gain a cult following with some wanting Mann to go back to the film and release his version. In the years since its release, Mann in interviews had stated he had no interest in reconstructing his original version as fans still want a director’s cut of the film as of 2024 with a petition created in 2022 made for that version to be released.

Manhunter

Following the horrible experience over the release of The Keep, Mann retreated to the world of television where he would become a showrunner for one of the 1980s most popular TV series in Miami Vice when it premiered in September of 1984. Another show Mann got involved in is Crime Story which he also had a hand in as an executive producer as he got Dennis Farina a lead role in the TV series even though it only lasted two seasons. Mann’s work as a producer would give him the chance to make another film as Italian film producer Dino de Laurentiis asked him to create an adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon. The film was meant to be directed by David Lynch who turned down the project following his own troubled experience with de Laurentiis in the 1984 film Dune. Mann agreed to take on the project while also agreeing to de Laurentiis’ request in giving the adaptation a new title.

Bringing in his collaborators in editor Dov Hoenig and production designer Mel Bourne, Mann received the services of cinematographer Dante Spinotti who would become another recurring collaborator along with casting director Bonnie Timmerman. Timmerman’s casting would be crucial as Mann brought in William Petersen for the lead role of retired FBI profiler Will Graham as well as Farina in the role of Graham’s friend/supervisor Jack Crawford and Stephen Lang from Crime Story as tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds. For the role of the killer known as the Tooth Fairy/Francis Dollarhyde, Tom Noonan was cast as the ensemble would also include Kim Griest as Graham’s wife and Joan Allen as Dollarhyde’s blind love interest Reba McClane who would work with the New York Institute for the Blind to play a blind woman. One key role in the film that is crucial to Harris’ novel and subsequent works is the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor as several actors including John Lithgow, Mandy Pantinkin, and Brian Dennehy auditioned though Dennehy told Mann to audition Scottish actor Brian Cox for the role as Mann ultimately casted Cox who would base his performance on Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel.

Shooting began in 1985 on various locations such Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington D.C., and areas in Alabama to give the film a sense of urgency into Will Graham’s pursuit of this mysterious killer. Even as Petersen spent some time with the Chicago Police Department to prepare for the role, Noonan would isolate himself throughout the production to make Dollarhyde a fearsome character. While Cox only appeared in three scenes in the film, Mann wanted to maintain this presence of Dr. Lecktor as the man that pushed Graham to the edge as there’s a simple scene where Graham is at a supermarket talking to his son about what happened to him while not revealing too much as it showcases the mental descent that Graham went through. Mann also wanted the film to have a unique look as a lot of it was shot at night when Spinotti created some unique visuals including the usage of blue lights to create a mood for the film.

For its soundtrack, Mann hired Michel Rubini and the group the Reds for the film’s score while its soundtrack would feature an array of music ranging from ambient, new wave, and rock music from Red 7, the Prime Movers, and Shreikback while Mann also go to use Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida for the film’s climax. Released on August 15, 1986, the film received mixed reviews from critics with some praising the visuals while some thought it was too stylish like Mann’s work on Miami Vice. Commercially, the film only grossed $8.6 million against its $14-$15 million budget as it was another commercial disappointment for Mann. Yet, the film’s reputation would grow following the release of Jonathan Demme’s 1991 adaptation of Harris’ novel The Silence of the Lambs that won Best Picture at Oscars as well as a Best Actor Oscar to Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. The film would be remade in its original title in 2002 by Brett Ratner to mixed reaction despite also being shot by Dante Spinotti as it only made Mann’s film be seen as a classic.

L.A. Takedown

Returning to television after another commercial flop, Mann would retrieve a script he had written in the late 1970s based on the works of former Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson whom Mann hired as a consultant in his TV projects. Mann offered the script to Walter Hill in the early 1980s who politely declined until NBC in the late 1980s wanted Mann to create a new TV pilot for a TV series. Mann would use this script about police detective and his conflict with a criminal who is trying to find a fellow robber who had been killing other people. Mann wanted to create something to something set in Los Angeles involving its robbery-homicide division, but NBC decided to not pick up the series when Mann decided to cast Scott Plank in the lead role of Sgt. Vincent Hanna though they would allow Mann to shoot the project as a TV film. With only 10 days in pre-production and a 19-day shooting schedule which was unusual for Mann, he would gather editor Dov Hoenig and casting director Bonnie Timmerman for the project while also hiring Ronald Victor Garcia to shoot the TV movie. For its cast, Mann and Timmerman would use actors who had been working on several of Mann’s TV shows including Plank and Alex McArthur as the professional criminal Patrick McLaren.

The ensemble would also include Michael Rooker, Daniel Baldwin, Ely Pouget, and Xander Berkeley in the role of the wildcard criminal Waingro. Production began in late 1988 where Mann would shoot on location in Los Angeles as he would use his limited schedule to maintain something that is like guerilla filmmaking as he had done previously for some scenes in Manhunter. Notably as it gave the film something that is not often seen in TV movies where Mann wanted to create something that is intense. Tim Truman would be on board to score the music as he would create an ambient score like the music that Mann had used in previous films while would gain access to an early mix of Billy Idol’s cover of the Doors song L.A. Woman. The TV film premiered in August of 1989 where it received some good reviews though some critics complained that it was too much like Miami Vice as it was style over substance. The film would gain some positive notices when it arrived in Europe a year later as Mann would take some time off to help develop the TV miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story in 1990.

The Last of the Mohicans

With the 80s ending with Mann having already achieved a lot in television though remained unfulfilled with his career in film having made several features that were not financially successful. Going back to a film he loved as a child in an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper novel The Last of the Mohicans from 1936 by George B. Seitz starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, and Henry Wilcoxon. Having bought the rights for the novel while also gaining access to the 1936 script written by John L. Balderston, Paul Perez, and Daniel Moore. It was a project that Mann had been developing since the late 1980s with co-writer Christopher Crowe as he brought to the project to then-20th Century Fox chairman Joe Roth about making a new film version of the story being that it would be the 12th time Cooper’s story had been adapted into film. Even through the many details about Cooper and material relating to that period of the French & Indian War in the mid-18th Century in North America where Mann wanted to get things right. Roth agreed to get the film greenlit as Mann was given a $24 million initial budget to get the film made.

For the lead role of Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe, Mann wanted British actor Daniel Day-Lewis for the role despite the studio’s belief that he is not a box office attraction, yet Mann would win that battle. With the help of his casting director Bonnie Timmerman, the ensemble would include Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro, British actress Jodhi May as her younger sister Alice, Steven Waddington as Major Duncan Heyward, Russell Means as Poe’s adopted father Chingachgook, Eric Schweig as Chingachgook’s son Uncas, Maurice Roeves as Colonel Munro, Patrice Chereau as General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, and Wes Studi as Magua. Wanting to maintain some authenticity, Mann would have actors do some boot camp training to get ready for the physical demands of the film while also wanting to shoot on location at the Adirondack Mountains at upstate New York though the locations did not have the right look forcing the production to shoot at the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.

The production began in the spring of 1991 though it was a difficult one due to Mann’s meticulous diligence while his original cinematographer in Douglas Milsome did not give Mann the look that he wanted as he was fired in favor of Dante Spinotti while also retaining Dov Hoenig to edit the film with Arthur Schmidt. Weather conditions, arguments with Union-based film crews, and other issues would plague the production as Mann would pull through not wanting to go over the same experiences he had with The Keep. Mann also amended the script as he would deviate from the source material while also doing more work to make Cora’s character much stronger which would please Stowe who had initial reservations in doing the film as well as how Cora was portrayed in Cooper’s book. After shooting finished in late 1991, Mann would work on the film with Hoenig and Schmidt while also going on another unusual route for the film’s music in hiring Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman to create an orchestral based score filled with bombastic percussions and woodwind as it marked a major change in Mann’s output.

Despite some battles with Roth over the final cut as well as a budget that escalated into $40 million, the film was released in France in late August of 1992 followed by its U.S. release a month later. The film would prove to be a surprising success critically and commercially as it would gross more than $143 million at the box office, giving Mann his first major commercially successful film. The film would also garner several critical notices and accolades including 7 British Academy Award nominations where it would win awards for Spinotti’s cinematography and the make-up work of Peter Robb-King. The film would yield an Oscar win for its sound work to Chris Jenkins, Mark Hemphill, Mark Smith, and Simon Kaye. Since its release, Mann would recut the film by expanding it from its 112-minute theatrical release to 117 minutes for its initial DVD release in November of 1999 and then trim it to 114 minutes for its Blu-Ray release in 2010.

Heat

The success of The Last of the Mohicans gave Mann some newfound power in whatever project he wanted to do as plans to make a film about James Dean fell apart as he went back to the script for L.A. Takedown and revised it into something much bigger. Notably as he felt the original TV movie only had the potential in what he wanted to do as he realized that TV was not the right medium to tell this story. Even as he brought the project to producer Art Linson who would share production duties with Mann gathering the research he had in making L.A. Takedown as a lot of it was based on the real-life exploits of Neil McCauley who was a master criminal that also served time in Alcatraz as Mann would name that character as one of the protagonists while the detective character in Lieutenant Vincent Hanna was also based on a real-life detective in Chuck Adamson as Mann learned that both Adamson and McCauley had met one time for a cup of coffee before a major robbery in the 1960s where the two men faced off with McCauley killed in the robbery.

Realizing the limitations that he had to work with for L.A. Takedown, Mann was given much more for his new version of the story as he would also expand some of the storylines as well as a minor character from the TV movie who would a major supporting player for Neil McCauley in Chris Shiherlis as Mann and his casting director Bonnie Timmerman offered the part to Keanu Reeves. Reeves turned it down as he was doing Hamlet for the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Canada as the part would be given to Val Kilmer. For the roles of Lt. Hanna and McCauley, Robert de Niro was offered the role for the latter which he accepted as he showed the script to fellow actor Al Pacino who lobbied for the role of the former as Mann did the impossible in having both Pacino and de Niro in the same film acting together. The cast would also include Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo, Ashley Judd, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Mykelti T. Williamson, Wes Studi, Tom Noonan, and Xander Berkeley playing a different character instead of the rogue criminal Waingro which he had played in L.A. Takedown as that part was given to Kevin Gage.

Retaining Dante Spinotti for his cinematography as a Dov Hoenig to co-edit the film as it would be the last film him and Mann would work together as Hoenig was in his 60s as he would be aided by three other editors in Pasquale Buba, William Goldenberg, and Tom Rolf. Shooting began on location in Los Angeles in the summer of 1995 on a 107-day shoot which was preceded by de Niro, Kilmer, and Sizemore visiting Folsom Prison during pre-production to understand the intricacies of the criminal role. The shooting was intense as Mann avoided shooting everything on a soundstage and shoot on location with some of the interiors of the homes that the characters lived in designed by production designer Neil Spisak, set decorator Anne H. Ahrens, and art director Maggie Stone McShirley. Mann also emphasized on a guerilla style of filmmaking in his approach to shooting on location while also using multiple angles from afar and up-close to play into the drama and suspense.

After principal photography was completed, Mann, along with his editors and sound team consisting of sound editors Per Hallberg and Larry Kemp and sound designer Peter Michael Sullivan in wanting to create something realistic that plays into the suspense and drama. For the film’s music, Mann went to Elliot Goldenthal for the score as he mixed elements of ambient music with orchestral textures while Budd Carr would also give Mann a soundtrack filled with an array of music that fit in with the suspense and drama. Even as Mann would receive music from the U2/Brian Eno side project the Passengers as well as an instrumental cover of Joy Division’s New Dawn Fades by Moby who would also contribute another instrumental cut to the film.

The film made its premiere on December 15, 1995, during an intense holiday film season against such popular family films at the time in Jumanji by Joe Johnston and Pixar’s first feature-length film in Toy Story. Despite its intense competition, the film managed to gross more than $64 million in the U.S. against its final $60 million budget with an overall worldwide of $187 million. While it did give Mann another commercial hit, the film was also praised by critics despite not receiving many awards and critics prizes other than two Saturn Award nominations for Best Action/Adventure film and Best Supporting Actor to Val Kilmer. The film would have a cultural impact on popular culture with video games such as Grand Theft Auto being inspired by the film’s action while Christopher Nolan would cite the film as a key influence for his approach to action and suspense for his Dark Knight trilogy.

The Insider

After a break between projects, Mann read an article from Vanity Fair by Marie Brenner about Dr. Jeffrey Wigand who worked as a science executive for Brown & Williamson who became a whistleblower over his discovery into the kind of chemicals they put in cigarettes that he believed is harmful to the public. Dr. Wigand would tell his story in 60 Minutes in 1996 despite the many battles that Dr. Wigand and CBS had to deal with as Mann thought it would be an interesting idea for his next film. While preparing research for the film, Mann also read Eric Roth’s script for The Good Shepherd about the founding of the CIA as he asked Roth to help him write a script on this project about Dr. Wigand. Roth agreed as he had just won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 1994 film Forrest Gump as he would also gather transcripts and material Mann needed for the film while Roth was also friends with then former 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman who produced the story about Dr. Wigand.

While Roth and Mann would also meet Dr. Wigand, their encounter with him was not what they expected since Dr. Wigand was under a confidentiality agreement that he could not break as well as the fact that Dr. Wigand was not as accessible towards them. Still, Roth and Mann wanted to present him in a fair way with the script as the latter was hoping to get Val Kilmer to play the role, yet it was producer Pieter Jan Brugge who suggested that Mann should get Australian actors Russell Crowe for the role after the buzz he had received for his work in Curtis Hanson’s adaptation of the James Ellroy novel L.A. Confidential. Crowe agreed to play Dr. Wigand even though he was in his early 30s and was too young to play Dr. Wigand yet did agree to do some extensive makeup and gain 35 pounds for the role. In the role of Lowell Bergman, Al Pacino agreed to work with Mann once again as he and Mann did considerable research into the world of journalism to gain some authenticity into what they needed to do.



With an ensemble that would include Debi Mazar, Michael Gambon, Colm Feore, Gina Gershon, Stephen Tobolowsky, Lindsay Crouse, Cliff Curtis, and Diane Venora who would play Dr. Wigand’s wife. For the role of 60 Minutes host Mike Wallace, Pacino suggested Christopher Plummer for the role as production began in late 1998/early 1999 with Dante Spinotti serving as the film’s cinematographer. Mann would shoot the film on multiple locations while he and his crew would also shoot the deposition scene on the actual court room in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The film’s initial budget at $68 million would balloon to $90 million due to Mann’s meticulous direction in wanting to maintain some realism in the film. Even as he would explore the corporate politics that nearly blocked this story from airing to the public as it would lead to Bergman’s departure from CBS after the story was finally aired in the mid-1990s. Mann also realized in his discoveries of what CBS went through in dealing with Brown & Williamson and other corporate entities as it played into a major change of what news had been in the 20th Century and what it would become in the next century.

The film premiered on November 5, 1999, by Touchstone Pictures, the film was released to rave reviews where Mann received the best reviews of his career as well as the film won 4 awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Film, Best Actor to Russell Crowe, Best Supporting Actor to Christopher Plummer, and Best Cinematography to Dante Spinotti. Despite the acclaim he would receive from critics and few other critics prizes, the film was not a financial success because it had a limited appeal during a season of blockbusters, family films, and other potential awards-bait films. Still, the film would receive seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Mann, Best Actor to Crowe, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. Although it was not a financial success, Mann was able to end his 20th Century on a creative and personal high while looking ahead to what is next in the new century.

(End of Part 1) – (Part 2)

© thevoid99 2024