Mank (Netflix released 2020) Ryan's rating ✯✯✯ out of four.
Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies & Gary Oldman as Mank (Still: Indiewire)
The latest Netflix production from top tier director David Fincher tells the story of famed screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (played by Gary Oldman in another fine performance) and his writing of the screenplay for Citizen Kane (RKO Pictures 1941). Mank, like Kane, uses a non-linear storyline where the present story is set in 1940 with a bedridden Mankiewicz writing the first draft of Kane and we flashback to various moments between 1933 and 1937 that inspired his writings.
This story which is rarely if ever told from Mankiewicz's point of view is controversial in some film circles as there has long been a debate (most famously articulated by critic Pauline Kael) that Herman Mankiewicz really wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and Welles' writing credit was simply for show. Others believe that the alcoholic Mankiewicz merely provided ideas and Welles wrote the screenplay alone. The film takes the view of the former with Mankiewicz writing the screenplay alone and Welles picking it up. There is a scene near the end of this film where Mankiewicz requests screen credit though he originally agreed to none which does not please the young Welles, but he grudgingly agrees. I personally take the middle road Mankiewicz wrote an epic screenplay (since he was a friend of William Randolph Hearst, the inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, it only makes sense) but Welles edited it down to what we see on screen much like he did with his famed Mercury Theatre adaptions of Shakespeare and the War of the Worlds radio play to name a few.
The screenplay for Mank, by the director's late father Jack Fincher (a longtime dream project for the older Fincher which sat unmade for decades), is similar to Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) as Mank is only focused on a very specific time in the protagonist's life. We do not see Herman from childhood to the end of his life we see a set year and snippets of the preceding decade which makes for a good story.
The film Citizen Kane (1941) looms large here, with many of the scenes in Mank intentionally staged to resemble or reference famous scenes in the earlier film. In Mank when L.B. Mayer gives an oration to his studio staff about pay cuts it resembles one of Kane's campaign speeches, the sequence between Mankiewicz and his guilt ridden friend Shelly on election night fully calls to mind the scene between Kane and Leland after Kane's unsuccessful election. A scene late in the film where Mankiewicz and Marion Davies have a picnic the background appears to be a matte painting common for 1930s films and used for a number of scenes in Citizen Kane, particularly the opening scene of the castle on the hill.
The black and white cinematography (by Erik Messerschmidt) also evokes a 1930s style, the shadowy noir-esque lighting is also employed, and there is even a use of deep focus photography in a number of scenes which Kane pioneered. During some of the more romantic flashback scenes a circular "cue mark" flickers in the top right corner of the screen as if we are watching the film in a grand 1930s palace and the projectionist is being signaled.
Despite the 1930s setting and look it is intriguing/sad how many of the film's 1930s issues reflect today, especially the use of "Yellow Journalism" and smear campaign that was created by MGM big wigs during the real life California Gubernatorial race Upton Sinclair and Frank Merriam. As well as the concept of wealthy owners asking workers to take cuts while they do not during the Depression. Fears of communism and socialism, etc.
Overall, I am glad the film sheds light on the often overlooked writing abilities of Mankiewicz though I really hope the film will work to clear Marion Davies history. Davies was a talented and very successful comedic actress in the 1920s and 1930s though she is often confused with the fictional untalented character Susan Alexander from Citizen Kane. There are several scenes where Mankiewicz emphatically states Susan is not Marion, usually falling on deaf ears, but her portrayal here by Amanda Seyfried is one of the best I've seen (she has also been played by Kirsten Dunst, Melanie Griffith, and I still need to see the 1985 TV film portrayal by Virginia Madsen) and Seyfried really brings out Davies humor, and good spirit here.
I enjoyed Mank and recommend it but it is geared for insiders and film buffs, the story will most likely be confusing to those unfamiliar with the characters or some of the history. For instance, if a viewer has no knowledge of William Randolph Hearst (it could happen) and his media empire of the 1880s-1930s there is not much explanation here. There are also a number of Hollywood notables that briefly appear in the story (Charlie Chaplin without his famed tramp mustache, Norma Shearer, David O. Selznick) that are given little background or introduction.
The acting is uniformly strong, the look of the film is great, but to fully appreciate Mank you'll want to see Citizen Kane, as well as one or both of these following films: the 1996 documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane and/or the excellent HBO Film version of this documentary RKO 281 made in 1999 (where Mankiewicz is played by John Malkovich).
Happy film viewing my friends.
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