By John Saeger
Mank is an irresistible pursuit for auteurs and cinephiles who crave its well-crafted reverence to a classic film. David Fincher’s latest is a story about the creation of Citizen Kane shot in the style of the Orson Welles drama. Fincher and lead actor Gary Oldman succeed in their immersive homage to prewar Hollywood by nailing an ambitious concept with high artistic stakes.
Fincher’s film is written by his late father, Jack, and came to fruition after three decades. Jack Fincher’s account of Orson Welles’ magnum opus pays dividends for the Fincher family and Netflix. The tale of screenwriter Herman Mankowitz’s relationship with political influencers, Marion Davies, and William Randolph Hearst positions the film for several Oscar nominations. Mank is likely to receive frontrunner consideration for Best Picture, Best Director, Leading Actor, Supporting Actress, and a slew of technical awards.
The actors comprising the story’s core are Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, and Tuppence Middleton. Much of the drama flashes between Oldman’s character as he writes the Citizen Kane script and his previous Hollywood social liaisons. The relationship between Mankowitz and Hearst is key. Their dynamic fuels the inspiration for Citizen Kane, a story of a news mogul that bares resemblance to Hearst’s own life.
The film does not present a glorious side of Hollywood. It is a bleak snapshot of the time period and shows how the entertainment industry influences politics. Fincher particularly focuses on the 1934 election for California governor, but there are some evergreen ties to political media in the script.
Oldman’s brilliant portrayal of the alcoholic Mankowitz contains unflattering nuance for its lead character. Because Mank is saturated with an old boys network, it leaves room for a supporting star to break that narrative rut. That role falls to Seyfried, who shines with her portrayal of Davies, a Hollywood starlet and Hearst’s mistress. Seyfried enlivens the film with terrific charisma and charm. Their complementary acting excellence results in a balance of styles crucial to the movie’s success.
Mank also features longtime Fincher collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross as you have never heard them before. Their score honors this classic era of Hollywood and is the least Nine Inch Nails thing you would expect. Along with terrific cinematography and period-specific sound design, the Reznor-Ross combination is one of several technical pluses fo the film.
There are aspects to Mank that fall victim to its platform. If it was not for a pandemic that steers movies away from theaters, there would be an extended discussion on how a film of this magnitude belongs on the big screen and not its Netflix home. A movie of this ilk loses the spectacle of its sound design and cinematography on a television screen.
The film is also front loaded with quick scenes that attempt to capture the bustle of a Hollywood lot. This bloats the beginning of the film and distracts from the more captivating political drama in its second half. While these scenes are not throwaways, a trimmer product would have gone a long way towards a cleaner story whose lead is difficult to be enamored with.
Mank is a prestige film, but not in the magic act sense of the word. It does not hide that it is trying to go for broke on a tough concept. It succeeds in its pursuit of the ultimate cinephile’s film. The arthouse obsessed will love Mank, but a mass audience is going to tepidly appreciate its efforts. The film’s appeal is not unlike its source material, classic brilliance with a loaded concept that is critiqued more than it is loved.
About the Author: John Saeger is a music and film writer from Philadelphia. He is also the co-host of the Philly sports podcast The Boo Birds. Prior to The Globe, he wrote the pop-culture blog Long After Dark, a site dedicated to the arts in the City of Brotherly Love and beyond. Email/ Twitter
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