Michael Mann | |
|---|---|
 Mann in 2023 | |
| Born | Michael Kenneth Mann (1943-02-05)February 5, 1943 (age 82) |
| Education | University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA) London Film School (MA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingAmi Canaan Mann |
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylizedcrime dramas.[1] He has received aBAFTA Award and twoPrimetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for fourAcademy Awards and twoGolden Globe Awards. His most acclaimed works include the filmsThief (1981),Manhunter (1986),The Last of the Mohicans (1992),Heat (1995),The Insider (1999),Ali (2001),Collateral (2004),Public Enemies (2009), andFerrari (2023). He was executive producer on the popular TV seriesMiami Vice (1984–90), which he adapted into a2006 feature film.
Mann was born February 5, 1943,[2] in Chicago, Illinois.[3] He is Jewish and the son of Esther and Jack Mann.[4][5] His grandfather left theRussian Empire in 1912, and brought his wife and Mann's father over in 1922.[6]
Mann graduated fromAmundsen High School, also the alma mater ofBob Fosse.[7][8] He then studiedEnglish literature at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison.[9] While a student, he sawStanley Kubrick'sDr. Strangelove and fell in love with movies. In anLA Weekly interview, he described the film's impact on him:
It said to my whole generation of filmmakers that you could make an individual statement of high integrity and have that film be successfully seen by a mass audience all at the same time. In other words, you didn't have to be makingSeven Brides for Seven Brothers if you wanted to work in the mainstream film industry, or be reduced to niche filmmaking if you wanted to be serious about cinema. So that's what Kubrick meant, aside from the fact thatStrangelove was a revelation.[10]
Mann graduated from theUniversity of Wisconsin with a BA in 1965. In 1967 he earned an MA from theLondon Film School.
Mann later moved to London in the mid-1960s to go to graduate school in cinema. He went on to receive agraduate degree at theLondon Film School in 1967. He spent seven years in the United Kingdom going to film school and then working on commercials along with contemporariesAlan Parker,Ridley Scott andAdrian Lyne. In 1968, footage he shot of theParis student revolt for a documentary,Insurrection, aired onNBC'sFirst Tuesday news program and he developed his '68 experiences into the short filmJaunpuri which won the Jury Prize atCannes in1970.
Mann returned to the United States after divorcing his first wife in 1971. He went on to direct a road trip documentary,17 Days Down the Line. Three years later,Hawaii Five-O veteranRobert Lewin gave Mann a shot and a crash course on television writing and story structure. Mann wrote four episodes ofStarsky and Hutch (three in the first season and one in the second) and the pilot episode forVega$. Around this time, he worked on a show calledPolice Story with cop-turned-novelistJoseph Wambaugh.Police Story concentrated on the detailed realism of a real cop's life and taught Mann that first-hand research was essential to bring authenticity to his work. Mann also wrote an early draft of the 1978 filmStraight Time.[11]
His first feature movie was a television special calledThe Jericho Mile, which was released theatrically in Europe. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special in 1979 and the DGA Best Director award.His television work also includes being the executive producer onMiami Vice andCrime Story. Contrary to popular belief, he was not the creator of these shows, but the executive producer andshowrunner, produced by his production company.[12][13][14][15]
Mann's debut feature in cinema as director wasThief (1981) starringJames Caan, a relatively accurate depiction of thieves that operated in New York City and Chicago at that time. Mann used actual former professional burglars to keep the technical scenes as genuine as possible. His next film wasThe Keep (1983), a supernatural thriller set inNazi-occupiedRomania. Though it was a commercial flop, the film has since attained cult status amongst fans.[16] In 1986, Mann was the first to bringThomas Harris' character of serial killerHannibal Lecter to the screen withManhunter, his adaptation of the novelRed Dragon, which starredBrian Cox as Hannibal. In an interview on theManhunter DVD, starWilliam Petersen comments that because Mann is so focused on his creations, it takes several years for him to complete a film; Petersen believes that this is why Mann does not make films very often.[17]
Mann gained widespread recognition in 1992 for his film adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's novel into theepichistorical dramaThe Last of the Mohicans starringDaniel Day-Lewis. The film is set during theFrench and Indian War. Film criticOwen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly described Mann's directorial style, writing that "Mann, at his best, is a master of violence and lyrical anxiety".[18]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone praised Mann's directing, writing that "the action is richly detailed and thrillingly staged."[19]
This was followed by crime dramaHeat (1995) starringAl Pacino,Robert De Niro, andVal Kilmer. The film, a remake of his TV movieL.A. Takedown, was a critical success withKenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times calling the film a "sleek, accomplished piece of work, meticulously controlled and completely involving. The dark end of the street doesn't get much more inviting than this."[20]Todd McCarthy ofVariety wrote, "Stunningly made and incisively acted by a large and terrific cast, Michael Mann's ambitious study of the relativity of good and evil stands apart from other films of its type by virtue of its extraordinarily rich characterizations and its thoughtful, deeply melancholy take on modern life."[21]
In 1999, Mann filmedThe Insider about the60 Minutes segment aboutJeffrey Wigand, a whistleblower in thetobacco industry.Russell Crowe portrayed Wigand, withAl Pacino playingLowell Bergman, andChristopher Plummer asMike Wallace. The film showcased Mann's cinematic style and garnered the most critical recognition of his career up to this point.The Insider was nominated for sevenAcademy Awards as a result, including a nomination for Mann's direction. CriticRoger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times praised the film writing, "The Insider had a greater impact on me thanAll the President's Men, because you know what? Watergate didn't kill my parents. Cigarettes did."[22]
With his next film,Ali (2001), starringWill Smith, Mann started experimenting with digital cameras. For his action thriller filmCollateral, which castTom Cruise against type by giving him the role of a hitman, Mann shot all of the exterior scenes digitally so that he could achieve more depth and detail during the night scenes while shooting most of the interiors on film stock.Jamie Foxx was nominated for anAcademy Award for his performance inCollateral. In 2004, Mann producedMartin Scorsese'sThe Aviator, based on the life ofHoward Hughes, which he had developed withLeonardo DiCaprio.The Aviator was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture but lost toMillion Dollar Baby. AfterCollateral, Mann directed the film adaptation ofMiami Vice which he also executive produced. The film starredColin Farrell asDon Johnson's character Sonny Crockett, and Jamie Foxx fillingPhilip Michael Thomas' shoes.
Mann directed the 2002 "Lucky Star" advertisement forMercedes-Benz, which took the form of a film trailer for a purported thriller featuringBenicio del Toro. In the fall of 2007, Mann directed two commercials forNike. The ad campaign "Leave Nothing" features football action scenes with formerNFL playersShawne Merriman andSteven Jackson, as well as using the score "Promontory" from the soundtrack ofThe Last of the Mohicans.[23] Mann directed the 2008 promotional video forFerrari'sCalifornia sports car.[24]
Mann was producer withPeter Berg as director forThe Kingdom andHancock.Hancock starsWill Smith as a hard-drinking superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public and who begins to have a relationship with the wife (Charlize Theron) of a public relations expert (Jason Bateman), who is helping him to repair his image. Mann makes a cameo appearance in the film as an executive. In 2009, Mann wrote and directedPublic Enemies forUniversal Pictures, about theDepression-era crime wave, based onBryan Burrough's nonfiction book,Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. It starredJohnny Depp andChristian Bale.[25] Depp playedJohn Dillinger in the film, and Bale playedMelvin Purvis, the FBI agent in charge of capturing Dillinger.
In 2009, Mann signed a petition calling for the release of film directorRoman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl[26]
In January 2010, it was reported byVariety that Mann, alongsideDavid Milch, would serve as co-executive producer of new TV seriesLuck starringDustin Hoffman andDennis Farina. The series was an hour-longHBO production, and Mann directed the series' pilot.[27] Although initially renewed for a second season after the airing of the pilot, it was eventually cancelled due to the death of three horses during production.
In February 2013, it was announced that Mann had been developing an untitledthriller film with screenwriter Morgan Davis Foehl for over a year, forLegendary Pictures.[28] In May 2013, Mann started filming the action thriller, namedBlackhat, in Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong andJakarta.[29] The film, starringChris Hemsworth as a hacker who gets released from prison to pursue a cyberterrorist across the globe, was released in January 2015 by Universal.[30] It received mixed reviews and was a commercial disaster, although several critics included it in their year-end "best-of" lists.[31]
Mann directed the first episode of the 2022 crime seriesTokyo Vice forHBO Max, his first directing work sinceBlackhat.[32] In August the same year, Mann releasedHeat 2, a novel he had co-written withMeg Gardiner. The book takes place from 1988 to 2000, covering events that happen before and after the 1995 film.[33][34] The same month, Mann began shootingFerrari starringAdam Driver andPenélope Cruz inModena.[35][36] The film premiered at the80th Venice International Film Festival and was released in the US in December 2023.[37][38]Ferrari received generally positive reviews from critics and attained moderate box office success in the United States,[39] while under-performing in overseas box office.[40]
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Mann's trademarks include powerfully-lit nighttime scenes and unusual scores, such asTangerine Dream inThief and thenew-age score toManhunter.
Dante Spinotti is a frequent cinematographer of Mann's films.F. X. Feeney describes Mann's body of work inDGA Quarterly as "abundantly energetic in its precision and variety" and "psychologically layered".[41]
IndieWire's 2014 retrospective of the director's filmography focused on the intensity of Mann's ongoing interest in "stories pitting criminals against those who seek to put them behind bars (Heat,Public Enemies,Thief,Collateral,Miami Vice). His films frequently suggest that in fact, at the top of their respective games, crooks and cops are not so dissimilar as men: they each live and die by their own codes and they each recognize themselves in the other."[42]
Mann's films have been noted for their realism when it comes to capturing the sounds of gunfire, with him preferring to use raw audio captured from the scene, rather than a sound mix. Many of his films feature practical effects to produce the action scenes, with actors attending boot camps for weapons handling and firing 'full load' blanks in scenes to accurately represent the sound of live ammunition.[43]
Mann's daughterAmi Canaan Mann is also a film director and producer.[44]
Mann has directed 12 theatrical feature films. Hisfull filmography includes numerous other works.
| Year | Title | Distributor |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Thief | United Artists |
| 1983 | The Keep | Paramount Pictures |
| 1986 | Manhunter | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group |
| 1992 | The Last of the Mohicans | 20th Century Fox /Warner Bros. |
| 1995 | Heat | Warner Bros. |
| 1999 | The Insider | Buena Vista Pictures |
| 2001 | Ali | Sony Pictures Releasing /Initial Entertainment Group |
| 2004 | Collateral | DreamWorks Pictures / Paramount Pictures |
| 2006 | Miami Vice | Universal Pictures |
| 2009 | Public Enemies | |
| 2015 | Blackhat | |
| 2023 | Ferrari | STX Entertainment /Neon |
For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including theBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts,Cannes, and theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As a producer, Mann has twice received nominations for theAcademy Award for Best Picture, first forThe Insider and thenThe Aviator (2004), which Mann had been hired to direct before the project was transferred toMartin Scorsese.
Total Film ranked Mann No. 28 on its 2007 list of the 100 Greatest Directors Ever,[45] andSight and Sound ranked him No. 5 on their list of the 10 Best Directors of the Last 25 Years (for the years 1977–2002).[46]
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1992 | The Last of the Mohicans | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1999 | The Insider | 7 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 2001 | Ali | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2004 | Collateral | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | Ferrari | 1 | |||||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 0 | |
Interviews
