Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Mank

Oh Fincher how I have missed you! This is a masterful piece of film by the master that is David Fincher. He hasn’t given us a film since Gone Girl which was released in 2014. I have missed him greatly and to see him return to the big screen with a story on the making of Citizen Kane was a perfect story for Fincher to return to the silver screen with.  Mank is a masterpiece of filmmaking that has a powerhouse performance by Gary Oldman at the centre of it giving what I think is one of his finest performances ever. Adding to the brilliance of Oldman’s portrayal of Mank is Amanda Seyfried who gives a scene stealing supporting turn in this film that is truly the best work she has ever done. Besides the terrific performances what makes this film so damn amazing is David Fincher takes his fathers incredible screenplay and shows the self destructive Mankiewicz who goes down a path of emotional hell that is heartbreaking but you can’t look away.For David Fincher to centre a film around the writing process of what is regarded as the greatest American film ever made Citizen Kane is no easy feat to do. He not only made it work with how he executed this telling of the events around the workings of Citizen Kane but it feels like a love letter to the era of old Hollywood and is neon drenched in the world that he sets it in from the amazing sound editing and cinematography to the way the film itself looks. Fincher comes back after a 6 year break with a phenomenal film that is one of the best films he has ever done as it is also one of his most bold, creative films he has ever done. You can feel the passion he has for this film through every frame and Mank deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible. 

Firstly, David Fincher has crafted a freaking epic! Fincher brings his fathers genius script to the big screen. You can feel the sheer passion from David as he brings such great detail to every bit of this story. He makes the sound of the film sound as it would if the film came out in the 1930’s or 1940’s so it feels very period to the time it Is set in. Not only did he fix the audio but he captures this film in black and white and makes you truly feel you have been transformed back to that time through great rich detail. Fincher dose not try to tackle all of Mankiewicz’s life in two hours he instead focuses in on a specific time in his life when he was writing what is considered the best film ever made Citizen Kane. He shows the entire writing process of how it was structured and done and how emotionally stressful it was on Herman J Mankiewicz. This film is unlike anything he has ever done as this is a slow paced film that focuses in on the self destructive story of the genius writer of Citizen Kane and I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing this story besides David Fincher. As he has a very specific style and that style oozes in each frame with great rich dialogue from his father and raw passion from David resulting in what I think is one of his finest works of film ever put to screen. 

Secondly,  The performances by everyone in this film is pitch perfect! Let’s start off with the performance that steals every frame of this film which is Gary Oldman. He takes on the role of Herman J. Mankiewicz  and shows so many sides of him and each one breaks your heart into peices. The film is constantly flipping from flashbacks to the year the story takes place in and what was great about doing that is that it fills in the cracks of Mankiewicz’s character and why he is the way he is by the time we see him writing Citizen Kane. Oldman is playing Herman J Mankiewicz at a time where he has been chewed up and spit out by Hollywood and is a raging alcoholic who won’t let anything stop him from destroying himself and impacting ones around him. He is constantly referred to as a court Jester which is in many ways a part of his persona he embraces and Oldman holds nothing back and shows the incredibly dark places that Mr Mankiewicz goes and when its grim Oldman has no problem showing the sad dark sides of the man he is playing. When he’s on one of his  alcoholic benders  moving through the room he may be intoxicated but says nothing but absolute truth to everyone in the room. Oldman is a tour de force in this film giving one of the best performances of his entire career. Then you have Amanda Seyfried who gives her best performance ever and I am not using that lightly. As she plays Marion Davies she brings this elegance but also bubbly take on the actress and when she is onscreen you cannot take your eyes off of her. She delivers her dialogue with a crackling command and Amanda brings great dramatic depth and bubbly fun to this complex person and knocks it out of the park. Everyone else in the film is fantastic from the likes of Lily Collins and Arilss Howard bring amazing performances that shouldn’t go unnoticed but it is the sheer raw performances of Oldman’s emotional madness and Amanda Seyfried’s bubbly innocence that make the film really stand out with its performances. Everyone was terrific in this film. 

Lastly, Mank is a genius piece of filmmaking on the highest level showing the creative process to what is considered the greatest American film ever made and the sheer hell emotionally that went on with its writer. David Fincher brings us back to the golden age of Hollywood and drenches the film in its setting by such rich detail and incredible performances at the centre of it. Gary Oldman who delivers a masterful performance of intense emotion and captures the method behind the madness of the great Herman J Mankiewicz. It is emotional, so well written and incredibly directed David Fincher commands the screen with an iron fist and he may have not given us a film for six years but if we had to wait six years for Mank this was well worth the wait as Mank is truly a beautiful homage to Hollywood and one of Fincher’s finest films ever. 

This film centres around the writing process of Citizen Kane and its Writer Herman J. Mankiewicz who spirals out of control dealing with addictions to alchol and the emotionally straining process of getting his next film written. 

Rated R : Some Language 

Gary Oldman : Oldman gives one of the greatest performances of his entire career! He plays Herman J Mankiewicz in a very dark part in his life. Now Herman J Mankiewicz was writing what is widely considered the greatest film ever put to the screen Citizen Kane. Even though he was writing what would be hailed as a cinematic masterpiece his life at that time was crumbling around him. He had a very intense addiction with Alcohol and was incredibly honest about the things he would discuss in private and in public and Oldman brings that person and shows each side of him. We see the sharp witty Herman J when he was a bit younger before the events of writing Kane and how respected he was in Hollywood and then we see the slow decline of his respect by his workers and by the industry as a whole. he is incredibly eccentric and original in the way he would draw people in by the way he spoke and carried himself in day to day life. That is what charmed people was his ability to form well thought and at times humorous sentences. People were drawn to how well spoken the man was and Oldman brings that charm we see early on with that twinkle in his eye. Then as the film progresses we see Herman become more and more cynical on the people and world around him. As he starts the writing process for Kane he can’t help but have people he knows be written into the film by sheer influence of his situation. Gary Oldman has a scene midway through the film where he pitches a story for a film and its a clear attack on everyone in that room. As yes he is intoxicated but is speaking absolute truth in his drunken speech and its raw, honest and so damn captivating as he slurs out damning truth that has you hooked the entire time. He plays a man who is destroying himself psychically and emotionally and he does nothing to stop the carnage within himself and Oldman shows the charismatic man in the office yes but with it comes the sadness of his life that is utterly heartbreaking. But It is Gary Oldman’s authentic and truly emotionally gutting performance that will grip you and break your heart as his best onscreen performance to me is Darkest Hour which earned him his first Oscar. That being said what he brings to this film is a damn close second because their is so much he brings to the role and so many layers that are shed throughout the two hour film. When he speaks you know he means every word that is spoken but he also uses that cunning fast wit to also get him out of tough situations he puts himself through as well and you can see the passion and emotion in Oldman’s eyes their is a sincerity to him that can’t be faked its genuine and real and the way he lights up the screen with his incredible onscreen presence cannot be overlooked for how incredible he is in this film as he goes through peaks and valleys emotionally and damn is it raw and its truly spectacular a performance that will have you truly mesmerized Gary Oldman is a revelation. 

Amanda Seyfried : Seyfried  gives the finest work of her career in this film! She has given great performances in the past in films like Chole, Mean Girls and Dear John but her work in Mank is truly outstanding. She plays Marion Davies this really well known Hollywood star who also is incredibly bubbly and very smart. She’s not onscreen for much but for the screen time she does have she is truly amazing to watch. As she never played Marion Davies as a once sided character she was a very complex person with many sides and she is smarter then people let on as their is a great scene midway through the film where she has this long walk with Mank and they discuss lots of things and we see her intellect and thoughts on many topics she dose not discuss with many others. It was a great insight into her mind and the way she carries herself too. She can be very bubbly and fun at times in her delivery and then she can also show a more serious side to her where you can see the intense emotion on her face without her having to say a word and you will see she means every ounce of what she is conveying onscreen. It is a performance that feels like she was straight from that era Amanda throws herself deep into this character and expresses the human and emotional depth of Marion Davies and how she was a person who wanted to be seen in lights but also be taken seriously and not just be put into films simply for her looks. Amanda Seyfried is truly dazzling in this supporting performance that is destined to get her an Oscar nomination and it should as she is truly incredible in this film giving what I think is the best work of her career. 

David Fincher : Give Fincher the best director Oscar for Mank! Fincher was disgustingly overlooked for his genius work on the Social Network which he should have won Best Director for many people share the same feelings on this as I do. He deserves his long overdue Oscar for Best Director for his brilliant work on Mank. You can feel the passion and incredible attention to detail by Fincher in every frame of this picture. He takes his fathers incredible explosive script that he wrote and brings it to great life. His father would be so proud of David as he makes the film not just black and white to match the period it is set in no he Also went to great lengths to make sure the film was exactly how a film of that era would have  been made. All the way down to the sound design as it sounds very echoey and different to how a film from today would sound. David went off the deep end in the best way possible for this project as he tells the story of the writing process of Citizen Kane and he jumps back and forth to flashbacks to fill in the cracks for some of the characters to give us a better understanding of their arc. It is a film that is I would say a better Love letter to Hollywood than Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. We see the respect of this man Herman J Mankiewicz get lost as the years pass by if it is  due to his treatment to his workers or his addictions that grapple on him and the demons that circle his brains  24/7.  It is a fateful telling of the work behind the scenes of the monumental film  Citizen Kane as well as a telling of a mans own journey of self destruction and the genius that he also was its a mix of so much and Fincher exactas all of it brilliantly. The splash of Style and amazing performances he gets from his actors is amazing. This is unlike anything he has ever done in the past and I am so glad to see him back and giving what is one of the best films he has ever done. It is dramatic, it is also funny at times and lastly it is a beautiful portrait into the brain of one of the most impactful screenwriters of all time. Fincher made this film feel and look like it could have  been released in 1942 and he truly blew me away with this film as it tackles very heavy topics and he never looks away from the darker moments he embraces them and shows it for how it was. David Fincher gives a masterfully directed film and no other filmmaker could have done this story better. David this is outstanding filmmaking at the highest level amazing direction by Fincher. 

The Score : Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross give a beautiful score that is one of the best composed scores they have ever done. They used only instruments that would of been used of that time to compose the film and wow is it a great piece of music. They have this soft angelic sound that is low and very gentle and expresses great tenderness within the simplest moments. Then within seconds can go very fast and make it very intense with the simple adjustment in sounds. They really helped express fantastic emotion in moments where their was no dialogue and its beautifully done by these two geniuses once again.