★★★½

Mank (2020)

Written by Dalton Welsh - December 22, 2020

David Fincher is touted as being one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation with a distinct exacting visual style. We see Fincher venture out into black and white while still maintaining his trademark aesthetic in his latest film ‘Mank’, telling the complex history of 1930s screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz as he writes the script for the famed ‘Citizen Kane’. The film, based on a script by Fincher’s late father, while not quite up to the same standard of Fincher’s past work, still has excellent visuals, great performances, and some interesting and timely political undertones.

The film intercuts between Herman Mankiewicz writing the script for Citizen Kane and flashbacks to his past, particularly his interactions with newspaper owner and politician William Randolph Hearst. Hearst acts as a large inspiration for the character of Charles Forster Kane, to which the studios are strongly against due to the negative light Hearst is shone in, made all the more risky by his public prominence and reach of power. While it brings up some interesting ideas concerning media monopolisation, control of information and general corruption of power, it never feels as fully developed as one might hope. The film spends a lot of time building the 1930s environment, and while this is done very successfully with some great sets, as well as excellent production design and costuming, the focus on reminiscing about the beginnings of the golden age of cinema comes at the cost of developing the thematics of the film. While there are some moments where we can begin to understand the disdain Mankiewicz has towards Hearst, for the most part there is a seeming lack of scenes displaying Hearst and Mankiewicz conflicting ideologies.

This struggle to find the prevailing theme in the film could have caused the first half to drag, but it is held up by David Fincher’s staple visual style, engaging dialogue and strong performances. Fincher to in keep with the period elected to shoot the film in black and white while still maintaining his trademark slow methodical camera pans/tilts and flowing tracking shots. While one misses his trademark blue cold colour palette that he is known for in his previous work the black and white is appropriate and effective in the film’s presentation. While sometimes feeling a touch flat there is still great use of light and shadow to make for some dynamic cinematography highlighting and justifying the monochromatic change. Then there is the dialogue scenes of which the film’s runtime is heavily consumed by, while the discussions aren’t necessarily frightfully interesting all the time the way in which they are spoken and presented give the film a consistently engaging pacing. This is thanks not just to the great script writing but also the great performances at the films core. With Gary Oldman brining another successful portrayal of a real-life figure in history. While at times it can feel a little too reminiscent of his performance as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour”, he is still allowed room to expand and show range from great confidence and bravado to disarray and dishevelment.

However, perhaps the best performance of the film is that of Amanda Seyfried playing William Randolph Hearst’s partner Marion Davies. The complex relationship she has with Oldman’s character of Mankiewicsz who shows fondness towards her but contempt towards Hearst makes for an interesting dynamic between the two. Seyfried conveys great emotional subtlety in her performance due to the character of Marion’s confliction towards her husband subsequently leading to her hiding her emotional inclinations. Whilst Seyfried show a keen aptitude for the dramatic elements of her character she also shows great theatricality in her mimicking the energy and voice of an actress from the period to make for an even more engaging and intriguing character.

This film also sees Fincher collaborating again with composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who again prove themselves as one of the best duos composing film scores today. With a quintessential 1930s twang to the score to engross the audience in the world of the film, but still maintaining a sound and rhythm that works for more modern music tastes.

So, while Mank wasn’t the instant classic that one might have hoped for or anticipated, based on Fincher’s track record of hits, it’s most definitely more success than failure. With a sparing but still compelling political angle concerning media control and manipulation, a fantastically engrossing production, cultivated cinematography and witty pacily presented dialogue. Topped off by a well-rounded performance from Gary Oldman as the films lead, a knockout portrayal of Marion Davies by Amanda Seyfried and another expertly crafted, but tonally vastly different score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It truly shows the great creative mind of David Fincher when even his weaker films are worthy of celebrating.