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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Based on the book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by Brock Yates, Ferrari is the film about the Italian car manufacturer during a moment in time when his company is facing bankruptcy while mourning the loss of his son and his wife discovering about an affair that yielded another son with an upcoming race being a make-or-break moment for the company. Directed by Michael Mann and screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin, the film is about a year in Ferrari’s life as he deals with the chaos around him as well as a crumbling marriage as well as trying to save something he had built a decade ago with Adam Driver playing the role of Enzo Ferrari. Also starring Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey. Ferrari is a rapturous and gripping film by Michael Mann.
Set in the summer of 1957, the film revolves around a crucial period in the life of Italian car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari as he deals with his company going into bankruptcy with a race set to start as he also deals with trying to shield his wife over the fact that he has another child in his relationship with his mistress. It is a film that plays into a man who is trying to maintain some control in his life even though his relationship with his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) is crumbling even though she continues to handle the business end of their company where she would make a discovery about certain finances that have been kept from her. All this plays during a time where Ferrari and his team are trying to refine and perfect their Formula One car for the upcoming Mille Miglia race with the rival company Maserati trying to steal all the attention from Ferrari. The film’s screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin, with additional work by Michael Mann and David Rayfiel, is straightforward in its narrative as it focuses on this summer of 1957 as it had been a decade since the founding of the company but also one year since the death of Enzo and Laura’s son Dino.
Throughout the film, Ferrari focuses on perfecting his car while he spends time with Laura for business as well as his mistress Lina Lida (Shailene Woodley) and their son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese) who lives in another house away from the city of Modena. The arrival of Spanish racer Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone) would give Ferrari some new blood for his racing team that includes the veteran Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey) and the British racer Peter Collins (Jack O’Connell) though Ferrari is uneasy over the fact that de Portago is dating actress Linda Christian (Sarah Gadon) as he believes that drivers accompanied by women are cursed. The film’s script also play into the drama in a brief flashback montage of Ferrari’s life with Laura early on with their son Dino but also how Ferrari saw Lina just in the aftermath of World War II as he met her during that time. It would play into this drama that would occur where Ferrari considers doing a partnership with either Fiat or Ford to resolve any of the financial matters while also making a deal with Laura over its future.
Mann’s direction is stylish in the way he opens the film with black-and-white stock footage with a young Ferrari driving his car in the race as it plays into a man who was a decent racer but knew a lot about cars. Shot on various locations in the city of Modena and Brescia as well as additional shots in Rome and parts of Northern Italy. Mann creates a film that plays into this crucial period just more than a decade after World War II ended as Ferrari is part of the reason for the post-war economic boom. Yet, Mann would infuse a lot of unique visuals to play into the drama as well as these intense moments during the driving scenes where Mann’s usage of the close-ups and the small details to locations and how fast a car was back in 1957 showcase a lot into what Ferrari wants as well as wanting to push the envelope of what can be done in racing. While there are some wide shots of the various locations including the scale of the races including Mille Miglia. Mann would emphasize close-ups and medium shots to play into the drama and the suspense in the film as it relates to Ferrari’s personal life such as Laura driving up to the home where Lida lives in as well as an opera scene that leads to a montage of flashbacks.
The racing scenes has Mann at his most meticulous where he plays into what the mechanics, engineers, and others do to ensure that not only the car works but also to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Even as the film’s third act that revolves around the Mille Miglia where Mann also goes into detail of the race itself as it is this open-road endurance race that goes on for a thousand miles throughout Italy. There is a key sequence in the film that does play into what happened at the race where it would have Ferrari face a lot of things over what had happened. It adds to the drama of a man that is trying to save his company where it would be Laura who would decide about what to do for the company but also in his personal life as it relates to Lida and Piero. Overall, Mann crafts an exhilarating and somber film about a period in the life of one of the greatest car manufacturers of the 20th Century.
Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of natural lighting for many of the daytime exterior scenes as well as some unique lighting schemes and textures for the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Pietro Scalia does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts as well as some montages and allowing shots to linger to create some rhythmic cuts to add some intensity to the drama. Production designer Maria Djurkovic, with set decorator Sophie Phillips and supervising art director Stephan O. Gessler, does amazing work with the look of the home where the Ferraris live in as well as the villa that Lida and Piero live in and the raceway and factory that Ferrari works at. Costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits that Ferrari wears as well as the stylish dresses that the women wear at that time.
Hair & makeup designer Aldo Signoretti does terrific work with the look of the characters from the hairstyle of Ferrari including how he and his wife looked more than a decade ago along with the look of Taruffi with his white-haired look. Special effects supervisor Uli Nefzer and visual effects supervisor David Sewell do superb work with the visual effects from the opening shots of the film to the car crash scenes in the film. Sound editors Tony Lamberti and Bernard Weisner, along with sound designer David Werntz, do incredible work with the sound in the way an engine sounds up close and from afar as well as the way crowds are heard and other sparse sounds as it is a major highlight of the film. The film’s music by Daniel Pemberton is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral bombast along with some somber themes to play into the drama with the rest of its soundtrack featuring the Italian pop music of the time as well as opera music and other score pieces from Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke.
The casting by Francine Maisler is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Benedetto Benedetti as the Ferraris’ late son Dino, Gabriel Noto and Edoardo Beraldi as the younger versions of Dino from the flashbacks, Daniela Piperno as Ferrari’s mother who doesn’t like Laura, Jonathan Burteaux as King Hussein of Jordan who is at the Ferrari offices to buy a car, Ben Collins and Wyatt Carnell as a couple of Ferrari team drivers in Stirling Moss and Wolfgang von Trips respectively, Tommaso Basili as Fiat’s head Gianni Agnelli, Marino Franchitti as a Ferrari driver in Eugenio Castellotti, Valentina Belle as Castellotti’s girlfriend Cecilia Manzini, Giuseppe Bonifati as an executive at Ferrari, Domenico Fortunato as Maserati owner Adolfo Orsi, Lino Musella as car designer Sergio Scaglietti, Michele Savoia as engine designer Carlo Chiti, and Giuseppe Festinese as Ferrari and Lina Lida’s son Piero who begins to understand his identity while also interested in his father’s work as he would eventually become the vice chairman of Ferrari.
Sarah Gadon is fantastic in a small role as the actress Linda Christian who is also de Portago’s girlfriend at the time where she helps bring in some publicity but also a moment that would be remembered in infamy. Jack O’Connell is excellent as Peter Collins as the British driver who works for Ferrari as he is a skilled driver that prefers to keep his own personal life at a distance during racing season. Patrick Dempsey is brilliant as Piero Taruffi as a veteran driver who knows about what to do while also is an eccentric that likes to smoke while driving as Dempsey brings a lot of charm despite the awful hairdo he had to sport. Gabriel Leone is amazing as Alfonso de Portago as a Spanish driver who would join Ferrari as he is someone that knows how to beat the drivers at Maserati while is also determined to prove his worth despite having Christian around him. Shailene Woodley is incredible as Lina Lardi as Ferrari’s mistress whom he had met back in World War II as she is also the mother of their son Piero as she is concerned with her son being called Ferrari while also making sure that Enzo remains grounded despite not having met Laura.
Penelope Cruz is tremendous as Laura Ferrari as Enzo’s wife and business partner as she is a woman that manages and oversees all the business and financial transactions for the company while becomes unhinged over discovering some transactions she did not know about as it would lead to her discovery of Lina and Piero. Cruz’s performance is full of fire as a woman still consumed with grief over the loss of her son as it is a performance of immense intensity while also trying to figure out how to save the company where she would make a deal that would save the company but with a condition as it relates to her own life. Finally, there’s Adam Driver in a phenomenal performance as Enzo Ferrari as the car manufacturer who is dealing with a lot in his life while still reeling from the loss of his eldest son Dino a year ago as well as losing his own company. Driver’s performance displays a lot of nuances of a man that is trying to devote time to his other son but also his business as it is one of his finest performances of his career so far.
Ferrari is a sensational by Michael Mann that features great performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. Along with its ensemble supporting cast, intoxicating visuals, immense sound work, and study of a man facing grief and impending loss of everything. It is a film that does not play by the rules of the bio-pic while also being a study of a man trying to maintain some control despite his back against the wall as he tries to salvage all that he has left. In the end, Ferrari is a spectacular film by Michael Mann.
Written and directed by Gaspar Noe, Lux Aeterna is an experimental 51-minute film in which two actresses taking part in a film about witches where things get too real. The film is an unconventional film about a film that is being made about witches where everything goes wrong Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Beatrice Dalle, Abbey Lee Kershaw, and Karl Glusman. Lux Aeterna is a chaotic and eerie film by Gaspar Noe.
The film is about actress Beatrice Dalle trying to make a film about witches starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as she is trying to deal with the chaos in the production while she converses with Gainsbourg about witches. It is a film with a simple premise but there is not much plot as it plays into a production going into total chaos with an ending that is just insane in terms of its visuals. Noe’s script would feature text and quotes from filmmakers Carl Theodor Dreyer, Luis Bunuel, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder as it plays into the idea of film as art and their approach to telling the stories about witchcraft. Noe’s script also plays into Dalle and Gainsbourg’s friendship as it opens with them having a conversation while there are those who want to make sure that Dalle gets ousted from the film as it does play into elements of misogyny from her producer and a cinematographer. Even those acting with Gainsbourg are troubled by the production with Abbey Lee Kershaw feeling exploited by men who want to see her nude while another actor in Karl Glusman tries to get actors to onboard for his own project.
Noe’s direction is stylish where it opens with footage of Dreyer’s 1943 film Day of Wrath as it plays into the idea of witchcraft with text from Dreyer about what film should be as a form of art. It then cuts to a scene where it is shot in split-screen where Dalle and Gainsbourg are having a conversation as it is shot inside a studio set with hand-held cameras following the former as she walks through the sets that included a hand-held camcorder where a young man follows her every move. Notably as it plays into a producer trying to do whatever he can to see her fuck up as it is her own film. While Noe does use some wide shots including for the film’s climax, much of Noe’s direction emphasizes on close-up and medium shots with the hand-held cameras often moving around as tracking shots. Noe also plays to this element of chaos where everything does feel intrusive such as scenes of models including Kershaw getting dressed while they are in the nude as there’s a couple of men outside of the window getting a peep which upsets Kershaw.
The film’s climax relates to a scene that Dalle is trying to create which involves three witches being burned at the stake with Gainsbourg and Kershaw playing the witches. Noe would create this sense of tension that would emerge, and it is where the film’s final 10 minutes would be this moment that is terrifying. Before the film even begins, Noe would post a warning for people with epilepsy relating to what they will see as these final ten minutes are something that people with epilepsy should not watch. What happens is total chaos through flickering colors and images that is intense in its overall presentation. Even as its aftermath has this element of dark humor as it relates to a quote from one of the directors that Noe cites for this film. Overall, Noe crafts a disturbing yet entrancing film about two actresses trying to make a film about witchcraft and witch burnings.
Cinematographer Benoit Debie does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its array of lighting and flickering lights as it adds to the film’s visual look including some natural interior setting for the scenes at a fireplace where Dalle and Gainsbourg are conversing. Editor Jerome Pesnel does excellent work with the editing as it has some straightforward cuts to play into the suspense along with some jump-cuts for a few bits. Set decorator Samantha Benne does amazing work with the look of the sets in all its artificiality to create the mood of a film set. Sound editor Ken Yasumoto does superb work with the sound in playing up the atmosphere of the set where voices can be heard from afar as well as some of the overlapping dialogue. Music supervisors Steve Bouyer and Pascal Mayer do terrific work in creating film soundtrack that features a lot of music played on locations including classical and electronic music.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast include some notable small roles and appearances from Maxime Ruiz as the cinematographer who hates Dalle, Yannick Bono as the producer who is hoping to sabotage Dalle, Mica Arganarz as a stand-in for Gainsbourg, Felix Maritaud as an actor on set, Karl Glusman as himself trying to pitch a project for anyone interested, Clara 3000 as another actress on set, and Abbey Lee Kershaw as herself as someone starring in the film while also dealing with men leering at her when she’s nude. The performances of Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg as fictional versions of themselves are incredible with Dalle as an actress trying to make her first film as a director as she becomes overwhelmed with people trying to sabotage her as well as get her own ideas for her first directorial film. Gainsbourg is the more reserved of the two as someone trying to get ready for the role while also dealing with the chaos on set as well as her family life outside the set.
Lux Aeterna is a remarkable film by Gaspar Noe that features amazing leading performances from Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Along with its simple presentation, gorgeous photography, and sense of chaos as it relates to filmmaking and the idea of witchcraft. It is a film that is not for everyone other than anyone interested in the idea of what goes during a film shoot. Anyone who is epileptic however should not see this for the sake of their own health. In the end, Lux Aeterna is a marvelous film by Gaspar Noe.
Directed by Justine Triet and written by Triet and Arthur Harari, Sibyl is the story of a psychiatrist who is trying to get back into writing where she finds inspiration in her new patient in an up-and-coming actress where she finds herself drawn by this woman. The film is an exploration of a woman trying to observe a younger woman in her activities so she can create a story only for her study to become an obsession. Starring Virginie Efira, Adele Exarchopoulos, Gaspard Ulliel, Sandra Huller, Laure Calamy, Niels Schneider, Paul Hamy, and Arthur Harari. Sibyl is a compelling and riveting film from Justine Triet.
The film follows the titular psychiatrist (Virginie Efira) who has decided to end her practice to author a book while one of the few patients she has is an actress embroiled in an affair with her co-star where Sibyl becomes enamored with her to the point that the woman becomes an inspiration to her novel. It is a film that explores the life of a woman who is trying to restart her writing career as she ended her psychiatry practice while retaining a few patients including this up-and-coming actress who has found herself in an affair with her co-star just as she’s about to go to Italy to make a film that she’s starring in. The film’s screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari has an offbeat narrative as it relates to Sibyl who is trying to write a book yet she often looks back at elements of her own past including a tumultuous relationship with her former flame Gabriel (Niels Schneider) whom she hadn’t seen in years while she cares for their daughter Selma (Jeanne Arra-Bellanger) with her husband Etienne (Paul Hamy) whom she shares another daughter with him in Livia (Liv Harari).
The script plays into Sibyl’s own struggles in writing while thinking about her past as her meeting with the actress Margot Vasilis (Adele Exarchopoulos) would give her ideas with her book though her mentor/shrink Dr. Katz (Arthur Harari) feels that it is a bad idea as well as being unethical in her profession. Sibyl would get calls from Margot who starts to unravel emotionally and mentally where Sibyl reluctantly travels to the island of Stromboli to be onset to help Margot who is having an affair with co-star in Igor Maleski (Gaspard Ulliel) although he is married to the film’s director Mikaela “Mika” Sanders (Sandra Huller). Sibyl’s presence would only add more chaos to the production where Mika would unravel at one point where Sibyl ponders if she has gone too far in the lives of people while also dealing with those who are in her life such as her husband, children, and sister Edith (Laure Calamy).
Triet’s direction is stylish for not just its unconventional narrative but also in the fact that it is set in Paris with one key sequence set in the Italian volcano island of Stromboli and its nearby locations. Triet opens the film where Sibyl talks to a colleague about ending her practice at a sushi restaurant as it sets the stage for the messiness that is to occur in the film. While there are some wide shots that Triet uses to play into the locations, much of the Triet’s direction emphasizes on close-ups and medium shots as it plays into the way characters interact with one another including some of the flashbacks in Sibyl’s life. Notably in scenes where she is with Gabriel as they are life-long friends though their romantic and sexual relationship would eventually become troubled with Edith expressing concern since Sibyl does not say much about the death of their mother. Triet also creates these unique compositions that also has this sense of repetition in the way the actors are framed as it play into Sibyl’s own sense of isolation. Even as Triet highlight a woman becoming obsessed with her new patient as the only other patient she has is a child in Daniel (Adrien Bellemare) whom she plays board games with to get him to talk.
Triet would also play into the chaos that goes in the making of a film once Sibyl arrives to Italy where she is there to help Margot who has become depressed and despondent. Even to the point where she would only listen to Sibyl who would be on a set to direct Margot that only adds the turmoil in the production. The film’s third act does not just play into Sibyl going too far into her involvement during a film shoot where Mika unravels but also an aftermath that highlights Sibyl coming to terms with her presence in an already combustible situation. Notably as she returns to France where the past would return as her obsession in creating a book about Margot would also cost her own sanity and morality. Triet does maintain this tone that is messy in its offbeat narrative, yet it works to play into a woman who realized she had gone too far in her obsession. Overall, Triet crafts a gripping and rapturous film about a woman finding a muse for her novel only to be caught up in that woman’s life and her own tumultuous past.
Cinematographer Simon Beaufils does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its low-key approach to lighting for many of the film’s nighttime interior scenes as well as some natural lighting for the daytime interior/exterior scenes. Editor Laurent Senechal does excellent work with the editing in the usage of straight rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense as well as a few jump cuts to play into some of the film’s minimal humor. Production designer Toma Baqueni does amazing work with the look of Sibyl’s apartment that she lives with her family as well as her office where she meets with remaining patients she has and the villa she would stay in Italy. Costume designer Virginie Montel does fantastic work with the costumes with the women often wearing stylish clothing as well as some casual clothing while Igor would also wear some stylish and expensive clothing.
Makeup artist Sandra Campisi does terrific work with the makeup as it is minimal work into the look of the characters in the way they would appear in a film. Special effects supervisor Guy Monbillard and visual effects supervisor Hugues Namur do nice work with the film’s minimal effects for a few scenes at Stromboli as well as scenes of the film within a film. Sound editor Ingrid Simon does superb work with the sound in the way a location sounds up-close and from afar as well as the way music sounds during a film shoot. Music supervisor Thibault Deboaisne creates a fun music soundtrack that mixes all kinds of music in contributions from Nina Simone, the Raconteurs, Benoit Daniel, The Les Humphrie Singers, Roy Orbison, and some classical pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Vivaldi.
The casting by Cynthia Arra and Laure Ballarin is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Aurelien Bellanger as an editor for Sibyl’s book, Lorenzo Lefebvre as the assistant director Galotin, Jeanne Arra-Bellanger and Liv Harari as Sibyl’s daughters in Selma and Livia respectively, and Adrien Bellemare as a young patient of Sibyl in Daniel as a child who loves to play board games as a way to talk about his problems. Arthur Harari is superb as Sibyl’s psychiatrist/mentor Dr. Katz who believes that Sibyl is putting herself in danger in involving herself with Margot’s life. Paul Hamy is terrific as Sibyl’s husband Etienne as a house-husband who stays home to watch over the children while coping with her distant behavior. Laure Calamy is fantastic as Sibyl’s sister Edith who also helps Etienne in taking care of Sibyl’s kids as she is someone still coping with the death of their mother as well as her own issues towards Sibyl including her past relationship with Gabriel.
Niels Schneider is excellent as Sibyl’s former flame Gabriel as he is seen in flashbacks as someone who was passionately in love with her only to feel slighted over her choice of career over their happiness where he would not see her again for years. Sandra Huller is brilliant as Mika as a film director trying to make a film with her husband Igor and Margot as she deals with the chaos in shooting as well as Margot’s behavior as she would become unhinged by Sibyl’s presence leading to a breakdown during a shoot. Gaspard Ulliel is amazing as Igor as a film star whom Margot is sleeping with even though he is married to the film’s director they are working on as he is charming but also is willing to get his way where he would put Sibyl into a moral quandary.
Adele Exarchopoulos is incredible as Margot Vasilis as a young actress about to get her break as she finds herself in an affair with Igor that would result in a lot of complicated issues where Exarchopoulos displays a sense of despair and angst of a woman who needs help with her own issues. Finally, there’s Virginie Efira in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as a psychiatrist who decided to end her practice, save for a few clients, to return to writing where she finds inspiration through Margot although finds herself becoming more involved with Margot’s tumultuous life where she is also forced to deal with the chaos in her own past. Efira and Exarchopoulos are the major highlights of the film in terms of the way they deal with themselves as well as their need for each other with the latter being this force of nature in the film’s second half while the former maintains this strong front only to eventually unravel where the two together bring out the best in each other.
Sibyl is a sensational film by Justine Triet as it features great performances from both Virginie Efira and Adele Exarchopoulos. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, a wondrous music soundtrack, and its study of obsession and morality. It is a film that is not afraid to be flawed in its presentation of its characters as well as displaying what a woman will do to get inspiration for her novel only to realize own unethical decisions that would force her to deal with her own past. In the end, Sibyl is a phenomenal film by Justine Triet.
Well, things have gotten a little crazy here recently in Atlanta as a hurricane flew over the city as I remember waking up at around seven in the morning this past Thursday to open the gate as my niece and nephew weren’t going to therapy that day as they had just returned from a brief vacation at the Hilton Head with their parents. It was raining hard, and the wind was intense as I opened the gate as it was pouring and then the power went out for a few hours. The kids arrived an hour later once the power got back on, but it was intense I have experienced the tornadoes nearby and bad thunderstorms but nothing like this. It is never a dull moment when it comes to things like this though this month was overwhelming as the aftermath of COVID the month before and longtime family friends visiting and staying over the house for a few weeks did make me feel low. It got crazy at times although they were helpful to my mother and updating some things that she needed at home including a brand-new dishwasher, a new iPhone, and a few things in the house that needed to be fixed.
Part of these feelings of ennui and sadness is part of why I do not go out very much than I used to as it is also a lack of enthusiasm. It is part of why I have not put out a lot of things on this blog though I still have been working on my Auteurs piece on Michael Mann as the first part of the essay is finished with the second part currently in the works. At least I have that going as it has given me something to do other than play video games for a bit. Still, I try to do anything I can to be active than once again fall into another state of depression. I am not happy that I still have not done any serious work on my book project though I do not want to force it. Even as I chose to not watch Lost in Translation again which I often do every September 21st as I am unhappy with the Blu-Ray I purchased last year and really upset that the 4K Blu-Ray that was supposed to come out last year is still not out.
In the month of September 2024, I saw a total of 27 films in 12 first-timers and 5 re-watches with two first-timers being a film directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge. One of the highlights of the month is my Blind Spot film in The Roaring Twenties. Here are the top 10 first-timers that I saw for September 2024:
A short by Rachel Walden that I saw on MUBI is about a man who takes his son to a fair in New Jersey where they steal a bunny rabbit and plan to take him home. Along the way, mischief would often occur as it is this somber film about a father and son in which the latter watches the actions of his father who engages in reckless behavior while they are trying to get home. Even as the boy is hoping to have this bunny rabbit they stole as a new pet. It is a film that is straightforward in its presentation other than it is shot on 16mm film which adds a unique quality to its presentation. It is worth seeking out.
Billy’s Balloon
One of four short films by Don Hertzfeldt that I saw can be described as a fucked-up sequel to The Red Balloon. It is really a boy and his balloon with the balloon acting in what he does to the boy. Yet, the balloon is not alone where other balloons decide to do something to these little shits. It all goes back to that one moment in The Red Balloon. Can you blame these balloons for getting angry?
Lily & Jim
The second of four shorts by Don Hertzfeldt that I saw is about the many anxieties of going on a blind date. If there is one thing that Hertzfeldt understands about people is that they are a mess. Meeting someone new and not sure what to say or what to do has a lot of truths into the dangers of blind dates. This is told with great humor and wit as it is one of the reasons why I am glad to be an introvert. It is scary out there.
Everything Will Be OK
The third Hertzfeldt short that I saw is a seventeen-minute short film that is about existentialism where a man thinks about his life and the many difficulties that occur. It is a film that plays into a lot of these anxieties and what happens after someone dies? Do they get reincarnated or be shot into outer space? It is a surreal film that is filled with wondrous imagery as well as a lot of ideas about existence. It is so far the best thing I have seen from Hertzfeldt so far.
Watching Grass Grow
The fourth and final short film by Hertzfeldt that I saw is the one film of that is not an animated film but rather a 12-minute avant-garde experimental short film in which he is creating one of his short films in 2005’s The Meaning of Life through time-lapse footage in three years. It is something that fans of Hertzfeldt should see as it highlights the creative process and how hard he works into drawing many frames for a short film with his hand. This is what artists do and Hertzfeldt is truly an artist who does suffer for his art, but it is often followed by great reward.
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
Given the news that Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy aka P. Diddy aka Puffy aka Diddy aka Love is now in prison awaiting trial for years of sex and human trafficking, rape, abuse, and all sorts of devious shit. It is obvious that something about Poo Doody is going to come out and yet it is from of all places, TMZ. Shown on TUBI, this documentary talks about the rise and fall of Poo Doody and his many trials and tribulations as it never offers anything new other than tidbits from a few who had worked with him including former Bad Boy associate Mark Curry and former Danity Kane singer Aubrey O’Day as they at least get the chance to reveal what they had known. Unfortunately, the film also has a few who defend Poo Doody including Suge Knight of all people as that made it worse while there is also some race-baiting into how Poo Doody had been treated in comparison to the likes of Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein which is such bullshit. I know he is too old for someone like R. Kelly but with all that baby oil Poo Doody has. Maybe R. Kelly would finally have someone he can spoon with in his prison cell.
Hands of Stone
This film about the life of Roberto Duran could have been an interesting bio-pic although the 30 for 30 documentary series on Duran in No Mas remains the definitive story on Duran. It is a film that does not know what it wants to be as it wants to be a boxing film but also something dramatic with different storylines relating to Duran as well as his trainer Ray Arcel and American-Panamanian relations. Robert de Niro is excellent as Arcel as well as Ana de Armas as Duran’s wife Felicidad and Usher in a superb and charismatic performance as Sugar Ray Leonard as they are the people who keep the film from being a disaster. Edgar Ramirez’s performance as Roberto Duran is hampered by its script where he often acts a man-child as there are also some scenes that feel shoehorned for dramatic reason. It is a film that is by-the-numbers and does not do enough to make it interesting despite its ensemble cast.
Mr. McMahon
From Netflix is this six-part documentary on the life and career of WWE promoter Vince McMahon as it is an interesting film for anyone not familiar with pro wrestling or as Meekmahan calls it. Sports entertainment. There is no denying that if it were not for him, pro wrestling would not be in the mainstream, and I would not be watching pro wrestling if it were not for him. Yet, the man is a fucking scumbag as much of the film was made in 2021 just days before the sexual harassment lawsuits came in as Meekmahan talks about elements of his life though there are not fully discussed. It is a film that does allow many to say their piece as it does feature some legendary wrestlers but there is also one of Meekmahan’s bitches in Bruce Pritchard who will defend the man to the death as he is a fucking cocksucker. It is worth watching for anyone interested in WWE although wrestling fans will feel like there is more that barely scratches the surface.
Agatha All Along (season 1, episodes 1-3)
I admit, I am burned out on Marvel as I went into this show with not a lot of expectations and so far, 3 episodes in. It is pretty good so far as I am always won over by Kathryn Hahn who is great as Agatha Harkness while Joe Locke’s performance as the Teen is intriguing though it is possible that the character is Billy Maximoff aka Wiccan. There is a lot of adventure and some homage to television as the first episode is a homage of sorts to Mare of Eastwood while Big Little Lies and The White Lotus inspire the third episode. The ensemble that includes Patti Lupone, Ali Ahn, Sasheer Zamata, and Aubrey Plaza are excellent as far as there is a lot of intrigue into what is happening. I am just hoping it does not fall off and end up being a big disappointment like Secret Invasion was as I have no interest in revisiting that show.
That is all for September. Coming in October will be devoted to horror and suspense films as well as horror-comedy films given that Halloween season is upon us. I have films on Blu-Ray to watch as the next Blind Spot film will be Rebecca. The Auteurs essays on Michael Mann is coming with Ferrari being the one film I will watch next to complete the series as I will then get into David Lean next. I have no clue what films coming out theatrically I will watch as I have trouble keeping up with what is going to come out. Before I bid adieu, I must express my condolences on those who passed away this month as it includes some real larger-than-life figures that will be unmatched in people like Dame Maggie Smith, Dikembe Mutombo, James Earl Jones, and Kris Kristofferson as well as people like John Ashton, Cat Glover, Paul Cripple of Reagan Youth, jazz musician Benny Golson, Roger Palm who played drums for ABBA, Kathryn Crosby, Cleo Sylvestre, Nick Gravenites of the Electric Flag and Big Brother and the Holding Company, songwriter JD Souther, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Tito Jackson, Mary McFadden, Kenneth Cope, Chad McQueen aka Dutch, Frank Beverly, lyricist Will Jennings, Sergio Mendes, and just now, Pete Rose. This is thevoid99 signing off and Pete… this is for you…
