Michael Mann (director)

Michael Mann
Mann at the 2014 Comic-Con International.
Born	Michael Kenneth Mann February 5, 1943 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence	Los Angeles, California, U.S. Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Michael K. Mann
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Years active	1968–present
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Spouse(s)	Summer Mann (1974–present; 4 children)
Awards	BAFTA Award for Best Film 2005 The Aviator NBR Award for Best Director 2004 Collateral Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries 1990 Drug Wars: The Camarena Story Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special 1979 The Jericho Mile

Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.

For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including those at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cannes and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His major films include the period epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992), the drama The Insider (1999), the biopic Ali (2001), and the crime films Heat (1995) Collateral (2004) and Public Enemies (2009).

Total Film ranked Mann No. 28 on its list of the 100 Greatest Directors Ever,^[1] Sight and Sound ranked him No. 5 on their list of the 10 Best Directors of the Last 25 Years,^[2] and Entertainment Weekly ranked Mann No. 8 on their 25 Greatest Active Film Directors list.^[3]

Early life and education

Mann was born on February 5, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, of Jewish ancestry,^[4] the son of grocers Esther and Jack Mann.^[5][6]

He received a B.A. in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison^[7] where he developed interests in history, philosophy and architecture. It was at this time that he first saw Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and fell in love with movies. In a recent L.A. Weekly interview, he describes the film's impact on him: "It said to my whole generation of filmmakers that you could make an individual statement of high integrity and have that film be successfully seen by a mass audience all at the same time. In other words, you didn't have to be making Seven Brides for Seven Brothers if you wanted to work in the mainstream film industry, or be reduced to niche filmmaking if you wanted to be serious about cinema. So that's what Kubrick meant, aside from the fact that Strangelove was a revelation." His daughter Ami Canaan Mann is also a film director and producer.

Career

1960s–1970s

Mann later moved to London in the mid 1960s to go to graduate school in cinema. He went on to receive a graduate degree at the London Film School. He spent seven years in the United Kingdom going to film school and then working on commercials along with contemporaries Alan Parker, Ridley Scott and Adrian Lyne. In 1968, footage he shot of the Paris student revolt for a documentary, Insurrection, aired on NBC's First Tuesday news program and he developed his '68 experiences into the short film Jaunpuri which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1970.

Mann returned to United States after divorcing his first wife in 1971. He went on to direct a road trip documentary, 17 Days Down the Line. Three years later, Hawaii Five-O veteran Robert Lewin gave Mann a shot and a crash course on television writing and story structure. Mann wrote four episodes of Starsky and Hutch (three in the first series and one in the second ) and the pilot episode for Vega$. Around this time, he worked on a show called Police Story with cop-turned-novelist Joseph Wambaugh. Police Story concentrated on the detailed realism of a real cop's life and taught Mann that first-hand research was essential to bring authenticity to his work. His first feature movie was a television special called The Jericho Mile, which was released theatrically in Europe. It won the Emmy for best MOW in 1979 and the DGA Best Director award.

1980s

His television work also includes being the executive producer on Miami Vice and Crime Story. Contrary to popular belief, he was not the creator of these shows, but the executive producer and showrunner. They were produced by his production company and his cinematic influence is felt throughout each show in terms of casting and style. Mann is now known primarily as a feature film director. He has a distinctive style that is reflected in his works: his trademarks are intricate scene setups, during Miami Vice to such an extent that a whole scene was completely color-coordinated, from props to backgrounds to actors' wardrobes, as well as powerfully-lit night scenes and combining exterior filming in such a way that shots of completely unrelated filming locations can appear as being of the same building or landmark. In terms of sound, he is known for unusual scores, such as Tangerine Dream in Thief or the new-age score to Manhunter. Dante Spinotti is a frequent cinematographer of Mann's pictures.

Mann's first cinema feature as director was Thief (1981) starring James Caan. His next film The Keep (1983), a supernatural thriller set in Nazi-occupied Romania, was an uncharacteristic choice. Though it was a commercial flop, the film has since attained cult status amongst fans.

In 1986, Mann was the first to bring Thomas Harris's character of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to the screen with Manhunter, his adaptation of the novel Red Dragon, which starred Brian Cox as a more down-to-earth Hannibal. The story was remade less than 20 years after it came out by Brett Ratner because Anthony Hopkins reprisal of the role in Ridley Scott's Hannibal had made the character a highly lucrative property. In an interview on the Manhunter DVD, star William Petersen comments that because Mann is so focused on his creations, it takes several years for him to complete a film; Petersen believes that this is why Mann does not make films very often.^[8]

1990s

He gained widespread recognition in 1992 for his film adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's novel into the epic film Last of the Mohicans. His biggest critical successes in the 1990s began with the release of Heat in 1995 and The Insider in 1999. The films, which featured Al Pacino with Robert De Niro in Heat and Russell Crowe in The Insider, showcased Mann's cinematic style and adeptness at creating rich, complex storylines as well as directing actors. The Insider was nominated for seven Academy Awards as a result, including a nomination for Mann's direction.

2000s

With his next film Ali starring Will Smith in 2001, he started experimenting with digital cameras. The film helped catapult Will Smith to greater fame, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. For his crime film Collateral, which cast Tom Cruise against type by giving him the role of a hitman, Mann shot all of the exterior scenes digitally so that he could achieve more depth and detail during the night scenes while shooting most of the interiors on film stock. In 2004, Mann produced The Aviator, based on the life of Howard Hughes, which he had developed with Leonardo DiCaprio. The Aviator was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture but lost to Million Dollar Baby. After Collateral, Mann directed the film adaptation of Miami Vice which he also executive produced. It stars a completely new cast with Colin Farrell as Don Johnson's character Sonny Crockett, and Jamie Foxx filling Philip Michael Thomas' shoes.

Mann served as a producer and Peter Berg as director for The Kingdom and Hancock. Hancock stars Will Smith as a hard-drinking superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public and who begins to have a relationship with the wife (Charlize Theron) of a public relations expert (Jason Bateman), who is helping him to repair his image. Mann also makes a cameo appearance in the film as an executive. In the fall of 2007, Mann directed two commercials for Nike. The ad campaign "Leave Nothing" features football action scenes with current NFL players Shawne Merriman and Steven Jackson.^[9]

In 2009, Mann wrote and directed Public Enemies for Universal Pictures, about the Depression-era crime wave, based on Brian Burrough's nonfiction book, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. It starred Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.^[10] Depp played John Dillinger in the film, and Bale played Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent in charge of capturing Dillinger.

2010s

In January 2010 it was reported by Variety that Mann, alongside David Milch, would serve as co-executive producer of new TV series Luck. The series was an hour-long HBO production, and Mann directed the series' pilot.^[11] Although initially renewed for a second season after the airing of the pilot, it was eventually cancelled due to the death of three horses during production.

On February 14, 2013, it was announced that Mann had been developing an untitled thriller film with screenwriter Morgan Davis Foehl for over a year, for Legendary Pictures.^[12] In May 2013, Mann started filming the thriller, named Blackhat, in Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Jakarta.^[13] The film, starring Chris Hemsworth as a hacker who gets released from prison to pursue a cyberterrorist across the globe, was released on January 16, 2015.^[14] It was a critical and commercial disaster, although many critics included it in their year-end "best-of" lists.^[15]

In January 2015, it was reported in The New Yorker that Mann is developing a film about Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari.^[16]Christian Bale was originally cast to play the title character, but later dropped out citing health concerns over the weight gain required to play the role.^[17] Financing is coming from Vendian Entertainment in the US and China's Bliss Media.^[18] Distribution rights have already been purchased by Paramount for the US and Bliss Media for China.^[19]

Filming style

Mann's films often contain one to four deadpan male protagonists who are expert in some profession. Importantly, his films often involve a tragic rather than a happy ending, such as in Miami Vice, when of the two undercover police officers, one has his girlfriend (also an undercover officer) come out of a coma and the other tearfully separates from his romantic interest. Mann's films contain fast-paced, artful scenes that strongly depend on powerful music, where often two opposing sides intermix, such as undercover policework and undercover drug trafficking, so that it is hard to distinguish between the two. For example, in Heat, the police detective invites the criminal to meet for coffee, where they discuss their affairs like old business partners. Often it is hard to distinguish between opposing sides (police vs. criminals, etc.), where the actions, dress, and mannerisms of the characters are extremely similar. Also, Mann's work often involves landscapes and modes where the heroic protagonists occupy a somewhat secret world, away from ordinary concerns (law, life and death, money, daily-life survival duties, family duties, and so on), where the secret world may or may not coincide with ordinary reality. Protagonists often find impassioned romantic interests which are severed under tragic situations near the end of the film (Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies). Overall, Mann's films mix artistry (via music, stylishness and emotional intensity) with sexuality, strong violence, humorless noir-like stoicism, and complex plot twists.

Advertising

Mann directed the 2002 "Lucky Star" advertisement for Mercedes-Benz, which took the form of a film trailer for a purported thriller featuring Benicio del Toro. Mann also directed the 2008 promotional video for Ferrari's California sports car. In 2009 Mann also directed a commercial for Nike that featured several stylistic cues, most notably the use of "Promontory" from the soundtrack of The Last of the Mohicans.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Credited as
		Director	Screenwriter	Producer
1978	Straight Time		Yes
1981	Thief	Yes	Yes
1983	The Keep	Yes	Yes
1986	Manhunter	Yes	Yes
	Band of the Hand			Yes
1992	The Last of the Mohicans	Yes	Yes	Yes
1995	Heat	Yes	Yes	Yes
1999	The Insider	Yes	Yes	Yes
2001	Ali	Yes	Yes	Yes
2004	Collateral	Yes		Yes
	The Aviator			Yes
2006	Miami Vice	Yes	Yes	Yes
2007	The Kingdom			Yes
2009	Public Enemies	Yes	Yes	Yes
2015	Blackhat	Yes	Yes	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Credited as			Notes
		Director	Screenwriter	Producer
1976	Bronk		Yes
	Gibbsville		Yes
1975–1977	Starsky and Hutch		Yes
1976–1978	Police Story		Yes
1977	Police Woman	Yes			Episode directed: "The Buttercup Killer"
1979	The Jericho Mile	Yes	Yes		television film (teleplay)
1980	Swan Song		Yes		TV film
1978–1981	Vega$		Yes		creator
1984–1990	Miami Vice		Yes	Yes	executive producer Episode written: "Golden Triangle"
1986–1988	Crime Story	Yes	Yes	Yes	executive producer Episode directed: "Top of the World" (1987)
1989	L.A. Takedown	Yes	Yes	Yes	TV film, executive producer
1990	Drug Wars: The Camarena Story		Yes	Yes	TV mini-series
1992	Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel		Yes	Yes	TV film, executive producer
2002–2003	Robbery Homicide Division		Yes	Yes	executive producer
2011–2012	Luck	Yes		Yes	executive producer Episode directed: "Pilot" (2011)

Reception

Critical reception

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
Thief	95%[20]	N/A
The Keep	31%[21]	N/A
Manhunter	94%[22]	78[23]
The Last of the Mohicans	97%[24]	N/A
Heat	86%[25]	76[26]
The Insider	96%[27]	84[28]
Ali	67%[29]	65[30]
Collateral	86%[31]	71[32]
Miami Vice	47%[33]	65[34]
Public Enemies	68%[35]	70[36]
Blackhat	34%	51
Average	71.8%	70

Awards and honors

Mann received an Emmy in 1979 for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special for The Jericho Mile. The following year he was honored by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for The Jericho Mile. In 1990, he won another Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries for Drug Wars: The Camarena Story. Mann was the recipient of the Humanitas Prize and the Writers Guild of America's Paul Selvin Award in 2000 for The Insider. In 2005, he received the BAFTA Film Award for co-producing The Aviator.

To date he has received four Academy Award nominations: in 2000, the Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Motion Picture of the Year all for The Insider, in 2005 Mann received nomination for production of Scorsese's The Aviator.

References

1. "The Greatest Directors Ever". Total Film. August 20, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
2. Archived October 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
3. "25 Greatest Active Film Directors". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
4. Brooks, Xan (February 13, 2002). "Ali likes the film a lot. He's seen it six times". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 12, 2010.
5. "Michael Mann Biography (1943-)".
6. Michael Mann Biography | TVGuide.com
7. Wildermuth, p. 2
8. Inside Manhunter: Interviews with stars William Petersen, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, and Tom Noonan
9. Atkinson, Claire (October 27, 2007). "Sure, He can Direct Movies, but Can He Do Commercials?". New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
10. Garrett, Diane (December 5, 2007). "Johnny Depp goes Public". Variety. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
11. Fleming, Michael (January 5, 2010). "Mann, Milch in Luck with HBO". Variety. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
12. Kroll, Justin (February 14, 2013). "Mann, Hemsworth team for Legendary thriller". Variety. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
13. "Cyber (2015) – Filming Locations". IMDB.com. June 5, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
14. Richard Brody, "The Odd Shadow Over Michael Mann's New Movie," The New Yorker, January 16, 2015.
15. Dietz, Jason (6 December 2015). "Best of 2015: Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
16. Tad Friend, "Amygdala Report," The New Yorker, January 26, 2015.
17. Child, Ben (2016-01-18). "Christian Bale abandons Enzo Ferrari biopic over weight gain fears". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
18. Jaafar, Ali. "Christian Bale Exits Michael Mann’s ‘Enzo Ferrari,’ Balks At Weight Gain". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
19. "Paramount swoops on 'Enzo Ferrari'". www.screendaily.com. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
20. "Thief – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
21. "The Keep – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
22. "Manhunter – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
23. "Manhunter Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
24. "The Last of the Mohicans – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
25. "Heat – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
26. "Heat Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
27. "The Insider – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
28. "The Insider Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
29. "Ali – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
30. "Ali Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
31. "Collateral – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
32. "Collateral Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
33. "Miami Vice – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
34. "Miami Vice Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
35. "Public Enemies – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
36. "Public Enemies Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.

Bibliography

• Wildermuth, Mark E. (2005). Blood in the Moonlight: Michael Mann and Information Age Cinema (Paperback Ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Company and Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2059-9.
• F. X. Feeney, Paul Duncan (2006). Michael Mann (Hardcover Ed.) Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-3141-0.

External links

• Michael Mann at the Internet Movie Database
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
• Literature on Michael Mann

Interviews

• Entertainment Weekly: Part I Part II
• L.A. Weekly
• DGA magazine
• Salon
• "Paint It Black" – Sight and Sound