Mank is not your typical
“Fincher-esque” film that we all grow accustomed to. The seemingly absent but
yet so subtle Fincher’s trademarks scattered scene by scene are easy to miss
and somewhat feel too subliminal. Compared to his early works as in Se7en
(1995) and Fight Club (1998), Fincher’s actually getting more subtle as he has
gotten older; concealing in every genre he makes and just disappears into the
fabric of something else without a trace. And Mank is one of the best examples
of this.
The film basically
tells a story about Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) and his legal battle with
Orson Welles (Tom Burke) over the screenplay credit for the infamous and
critically acclaimed film of all time: Citizen Kane (1941). Although the premise
sounds simple and straightforward, Fincher presents the plot in non-linear
fashion: one’s in present time involving Mank’s process in writing the
screenplay assisted by Rita Alexander (Lily Collins) and the other one (via
flashbacks) is focusing on his career in Hollywood; especially his dynamic and murky
relationship with co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, Louis B. Mayer (Arliss
Howard) and newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance).
Based on the
screenplay by Fincher’s late father, Jack, the story is closely based on Pauline
Kael’s infamous 1971 essay called “Raising Kane” where it debates whether Orson
Welles did really deserve screenwriting credit for Citizen Kane or not. The story
also describes Hollywood’s role in American political landscape especially during
1934 California gubernatorial election where Republican Frank Merriam went
toe-to-toe with former Socialist Party member turned Democrat Upton Sinclair
for the race to become the 28th governor of California.
Mank is David
Fincher at the height of his power, and I encourage you to see it by yourself.
You are welcome.
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