Skip to main content

Mank review with a little bit of spoilers

Image

“I know you” was Marion’s first words to Herman Mankiewicz, this was the same way I felt because I had seen Citizen Kane (1940) prior to viewing this, so most of the things in the movie looked and sounded familiar
 I strongly recommend seeing Citizen Kane before seeing this. Mank is a story of stories, but primarily it is about Herman’s journey in writing the first script draft of Citizen Kane after Orson Welles slashed the number of days he had to spend writing and everything that inspired the story. It is also a story about the complexity of Hollywood studios, the impact of the great depression on the infant film industry, filmmakers meddling with politics, the emergence of the Writer’s guild of America (WGA). While all these different stories progressed, the primary plot was still at full sail.
 The non-linearity of the movie was marvelously done, it leaves the audience panting to find out the WHY for some of the actions of the characters, most are rooted in as far back as 10 years. The movie consistently goes back and forth between the past and the present.
Gary Oldman’s excellent delivery coupled with Amanda Seyfield’s embodiment of her character made the movie a delight to see. When I got the news of David Fincher making a movie about the making of the movie Citizen Kane, I wondered if he had something up his sleeves because prior to this, his older movies such as Se7en, Gone girl, the classical Fight club amongst many others were all modern day movies and transcended the genre of thrillers and dark comedy, they were not biopics.  
 Asides the story of Herman Mankiewicz, anyone interested in the golden age of Hollywood would also find this movie as a delight. We witness one scene where the wittiness of a group of filmmakers is tested, they aced it as they come up with a mock Frankenstein script in a matter of minutes. We also see a bit of the rivalry between some of the early studios in Hollywood.
During Louis Meyer’s birthday party, the discussions veered towards the World War and we see Mank telling the group about Germany starting its first concentration camp, banning and burning of books which is seen in Taika Watiti’s 2019 movie, Jojo Rabbit. The group also talked about the banning of movies which Quentin Tarantino goes to great lengths to show in Inglorious basterds, in short Hollywood felt the absence of the German audience.  The next stop for the conversation was on the socialist ideology that Upton Sinclair preached, he also had his past as a writer for Hollywood. Sinclair is heavily opposed as his ideology and campaign promises revolved around socialism, Louis Meyer counters communism and socialism with “they both want something for nothing”. Louis Meyer and William Hearst go to great lengths to protect their capitalist dreams. When it was time for the election, MGM sponsors an anti-Sinclair movie which went ahead to influence the votes against him, the director of the movie after realizing his action makes a rash decision. It is important to note Mank forced the hands of MGM to conjure such deviousness.
We see Mank stepping on William Randolph and Louis Meyer’s toe as the script for Citizen Kane is a direct depiction of William’s life, this goes on to strain the relationship he has with Marion Davis and Charles Lederer. Hollywood which was much of a power tussle then sees William and Louis Meyer try to stop the production of the script, what was funny was they shamelessly trying to buy RKO radio out when they were still owing their staffs salaries of over 8 weeks, it just shows how corrupt they were.
 The script for Mank was written by late Jack Fincher, David’s Father in the 1990s. The story is one of addiction, relationships, intimacy, and betrayal. I find it problematic that all that Orson didn’t have enough screen time, I understand the movie is also not about him but Herman. Till date, the authorship and roles played in the creation of the masterpiece is still a bone of contention. Regardless, David Fincher did a Manknanimous work in bringing his father’s script to live.
Written By

Comments

Post a Comment

The Popular Posts

DOOM PATROL

Written By
   The second DC Universe Live Action show; Doom Patrol just premiered and I must say, it was a really interesting watch. Following the lives of the Doom Patrol, a team of very strange heroes who we first encounter during an episode of Titans, the show sheds more light on how they came to be the "freaks" that they are now through a brilliant narrator who ties into the episode and beautiful acting from every member of the cast.   If you saw them in Titans, you might have been pissed off by the actor who played Chief there. I thought he was horrible and the show recast him with a much better and intense actor who carries each scene he's in. With just the first episode, I was very impressed by how funny, serious and emotional it was. Unlike the show before it, Doom Patrol managed to start off on a high note with so many possibilities, it actually manage to do the whole team dynamic better than the Titan show.  I could actually feel the bond amongst each member ...
4 comments
Read more

First Listen: SZA - SOS

Written By
much like Kendrick Lamar with Mr Morale & The Big Steppers , SOS is several things. underwhelming being one. the twenty three song album is not what you expect of an artiste that's been away from the solo scene for five years. note: is it a bad album? no. so does it possess the dawg? sadly, no. SOS is that album with a poorly mixed intro, forgettable songs, i-will-need-more-listens, and (of course) a few songs that are actually GREAT ! we all know the theme of the album but one of the reason it fails might be because too much is happening. one minute it's rnb/soul, next minute it's (t)rap. i mean... F2F is rock ffs. there's also lyricsm that reminds us of kdot. coincidence? it's definitely not an album i'll be spinning often but hopefully a couple listens changes my opinion . & just so we're clear, CTRL is the better album and Phoebe Bridgers is amazing!
1 comment
Read more

Severance: An Unforgettable Thriller

Written By
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you didn't remember the stress of your workplace when you get home? From the mind of Dan Erickson, directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance offers an answer to the aforementioned question and pushes the limit by asking " when your consciousness is spilt into two, which one is the real you? " The series follows a severed employee at Lumon, Mark who has recently been promoted to the Head of Microdata and Refinement Department after the sudden resignation of his boss and the recruitment of a new employee, Helly Riggs. Plot Severance has a unique plot, while the execution of a series without a definite blueprint can prove difficult, it does not fall into this hole. The series answers (almost)all the questions it poses in the first few episodes but ends on a note that will leave you spiraling and brimming with inquisitiveness.  Characters For every character, we follow two distinct ...
1 comment
Read more

Why is J. Cole Underappreciated?

Written By
        If you're a big hop hop fan right now,there's one thing that is given any time top three of this generation are mentioned the names that pop into our head are; • J. Cole •Kendrick Lamar •Drake       I am 100% in support of the first two as easily the greatest rappers of this generation. I do not agree with Drake because he's not as good as he used to be, usually people would say "he's gone soft" but I say he's gone pop.    Now Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been well carried by the media and have been recognized with awards by the Grammy's but why hasn't J. Cole been recognized?. I am a massive J. Cole fan(he's my favorite artist) and I know he left the limelight to live a "realer" life with his family and the people he loves most and even with lack of publicity and promotion, he manages to still make double platinum albums and he doesn't compromise his artistry for pop songs like drake. So why hasn't he...
Post a Comment
Read more