With his dark, unsettling and lurid films, path-breaking approach to filmmaking, unconventional subject matter, and the inability to mince words regarding his current views on the film industry, I have come to regard director David Fincher as someone possessing the ideology of a rock musician in the landscape of cinema.
The director channels these sensibilities and pushes the boundaries of his own directing career, with his latest Netflix offering, Mank.
Mank chronicles a period of ten years in the life of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, played by Gary Oldman, and the events that lead to the penning of Citizen Kane, regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.
As norm-defying Citizen Kane was, David Fincher himself tries to expand his own scope and brand of filmmaking, eschewing his trademark fast pace and thorough gloomy atmosphere in favor of a slow burn drama with spikes of dry humor, serving a film which isn’t a typical Fincher directorial.
Mank‘s screenplay, written by Fincher’s late father, Jack Fincher, expertly guides the viewer through the ten year time period, weaving in and out of the past and into the present.
The film however, at first glance, may be misleading and disorienting (and possibly, underwhelming) to viewers seeking a behind-the-scenes look at the infamous controversy surrounding the debate over the screenplay credit for Citizen Kane between Mankiewicz and director Orson Welles (a la The Social Network). Rather, the film looks at the events and inspiration that drove Mankiewicz to write Citizen Kane, a work which, in his own words, was “the best thing” the screenwriter had ever written.
The film boldly explores and critiques the shadowy and duplicitous nature of the Hollywood industry in the 1930s. The film’s showcase of producers participating in propaganda films to manipulate voters serves as a contemporary parallel to the media shaping it’s consumers’ views. These themes, represented in scenes and dialogues perfectly compliment David Fincher’s vision and ideology, and at times, feels as if he is directly speaking to the audience.
While it is certainly packed with themes, Mank is also chock-full of references and allusions ranging from literature to renowned and powerful Hollywood directors, producers and screenwriters, which might come at the cost of alienating the viewer.
Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz delivers another powerhouse performance as a troubled and alcoholic screenwriter who tries to battle the upper Hollywood elite, which lends a realistic touch and carries the film. Arliss Howard as producer Louis B. Mayer brings in a variety of emotions that leaves you in shock and contemplating about the very nature of show business. Amanda Seyfried, on the other hand, turns in a surprising, charming and subtle performance.
The film does a wonderful job of emulating and evoking the look and aesthetics of Hollywood in the 1930s, through it’s meticulous costume, set and production design, that is beautifully captured in black-and-white film by cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt. Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, like their frequent collaborator, broaden their musical canvas, incorporating period authentic jazz and piano tunes, in place of their electronic and industrial sounds.
Overall, Mank is a film that is made for a particular and niche audience, and may or may not appeal to Fincher aficionados, and might be disappointing and alienating to other viewers. It, however, cannot be denied that Mank is a love letter to a bygone era of old school Hollywood, and a perfectly executed film that is a proud entry in David Fincher’s filmography.
Texts of A Pop Culture Buff 