A beautiful evocation of Hollywood's heyday and the intricacies of Citizen Kane.
Mank
Grade: A-
Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Screenplay: Jack Fincher
Cast: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables)
Length: 2h 11m
Rating: R
By John DeSando
“You cannot capture a man's entire life in two hours. All you can hope is to leave the impression of one.” Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman)
David Fincher’s Mank, about the Oscar-winning co-author of Citizen Kane, Herman Mankiewicz, is less about his entire life and more about the characters involved in the Orson Welles firmament as they in one way or another contribute to the romantic story of Kane’s genesis and the world of ‘30’s and ‘40’s Hollywood.
How writer Mank maneuvers in the movie jungle to produce the greatest filmscript of all time is the subject, and Mank is almost sober enough to convince us of his brilliance with words both written and verbal. Powerful people with whom he has to deal are MGM head Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard), newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance), and producer Irving Thalberg, (Ferdinand Kingsley), to name only a few.
Some might say too many important figures with too little screen time but enough for Mank’s verbal excellence and inebriation for us to get why the controversy and brilliance.
The most important puzzle of all is how much Mank and Welles each contributed to the Oscar-winning screenplay. Fincher’s take is that Welles did little if any writing but had a contract with Mank to give Welles co-writing honors. Although actual authorship proportions seem unknowable, Fincher draws a world where, despite the intrigue, such a masterpiece could have happened.
At several points, Fincher uses Wellesean techniques like deep focus and hollow sound to echo Citizen Kane itself. Almost distracting, the stylistic flourishes give Fincher the period feel as well as the reflection of Welles’s genius.
Trish Summerville’s costumes, Erik Messerschmidt’s Cinematography, and Donald Graham Burt’s production design make Mank not so much an Oscar winner as a satisfying trip back in time to when Hollywood was dominated by genius, not digits. Mank should be seen by those who want to know the intricate design of Citizen Kane and the historic importance of Hollywood to cinema.
On Netflix
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
