Mank, the new David Fincher directed feature film which recently debuted on Netflix, answers a question for many fans of the Orson Wells masterpiece Citizen Kane, who exactly was Herman Mankiewicz, the screen writer? Effectively portrayed by Gary Oldman, managing to be both flamboyant, folksy and occasionally enigmatic , the film lays out in flashbacks and fast-forwards the tale of a gifted alcoholic playwright and screenwriter who, in financial arrears, agrees to write a screenplay for Wells and take no screen credit for the writing.
The trailer makes it seem that there is something more sinister afoot , but what we actually have is a splendid and finely written portrait of a gifted man limited in his work and production by an alcoholic ennui and cynicism; Mankiewicz .a presence that is droll, melancholic, ironic, erudite , truth telling , is seen in the Fincher film ( interestingly, the screenplay is by David Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher,who wrote the script about fifteen years ago) who views himself as an artist dedicated to truth, beauty and authenticity and yet who makes deals and compromising his idealism in order to scrape by financially.
Oldman brings his is best set of talents to creating the intellectual shambles that is this screen version of Mankiewicz, and it is rather a pleasure to see recreations of L.B.Mayer, William Randolph Hearst , Marion Davis and John Houseman, names from the film and California history books, brought to the screen dramatically but not cartoonish. Fincher , the director, effectively creates the period and mimics the baroque style of Wells from KANE — lots of deep focus, a black and white style with any manner of shadings that make this whole thing seem other worldly . The center of this story, though, is Mankiewicz, “Mank”, an interesting character who’s story is of a man who ought to have achieved far greater fame and renown by dent of his talent, but who seemed intent on sabotaging his future with drunk escapades and a compulsion to speak of things political and ethical that didn’t sit well with his higher ups.
Originally published at https://www.ted-burke.com.
