David Fincher directed the film “MANK”, most famous for “seven” and “Gone Girl,” and written annually by his father, Jack Fincher. It is available on Netflix as a Netflix original film. The film follows Herman J. Mankiewicz, known as Mank, a Hollywood scenario writer who is drunk and washed. Orson Welles employed him to write a scenario for the first film well, “Citizen Kane,” while remote on a broken leg-broken farm.
“MANK” is really a great film to watch that can be rather impressive sometimes:
But it does not quite reach the height of the period that aims to replicate. To start, Gary Oldman played Mank. Oldman did a great job playing a drunk scenario writer, and he provided excellent and consistent performance. It’s easy to get lost in his appearance as he becomes overseas. Which is on the verge of losing everything. The only disturbance is that the old man plays someone much younger than him, about 20 years full, but still an excellent performance.
Supporters do an excellent job too. Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies, Lily Collins as Secretary Mantan Rita Alexander, Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst and Tom Burke as Orson Welles. They, along with everyone doing work well to bring this film to life.
Together with Oldman, the actors played into several stereotypes and the behaviour of 1940s Hollywood. Which was what aims to replicate. They do this exceptionally well.
The whole story and the structure of this film are pretty interesting. The story is about Mank writing a scenario for Welles. With a flashback sequence from 1930 to date. This flashback shows real-life people who inspire MANK to write a scenario and tell the story as he did.
Especially how flashbacks are the primary means of conveying stories. It was even seen in Oldman’s performance when he acted in reverse. For how Alles acted in “Citizen Kane” by playing a younger version of himself.
The building above this, this film did the best to replicate the film.
From the 1940s, most felt in the way the film was shot. This film is served with beautiful black and white. It has perfect lighting, and it looks like an actual black and white film, using a greyscale for its benefit. This movie looks fantastic and even does an old Hollywood lighting transition by turning off the lights to fade into black. However, this film looks a little too clean, especially for the period he created. However, the cinematography is top-notch.
Another aspect that looks is a sound design. This is doing this well because everything feels like a re-recorded to add sound to a movie like the early Hollywood Talkie.
To add to this, the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is fantastic. They did a fantastic job making old Hollywood scores and helped drive home some films trying to cross in his style. Overall, the sound and score for this film are technically impressive.
The editing of this film is also worth discussing for several reasons.
In general, the editing is extraordinary, mainly because it clarifies. When it is cut into flashbacks (cleverly using the snail line from the scenario to show it). It also uses imperfections in the upper right corner of the screen to show when to switch roll movies (like actual films in theatres). Finally, the transition uses perfect lighting. Overall, this is a well-edited film that uses several modern methods in the film.
David Fincher does an excellent job in compiling this film.
Unfortunately, “MANK” becomes close but not close enough to what you want to remake. Although every aspect is fantastic, it does not fully function as a whole cohesive. This is mostly in film display, which contrasts with every aspect of the technical film. In this case, this film looks too good for what happens.
All this is to say that “MANK” impresses in its ambition and for what. Even if it doesn’t quite achieve its goal in some ways, this is a well-made film with lots of passion in it. I Will not remember it as one of the best finishers, but still a well-made film. “MANK” is worth watching, especially for those who have a love for films.