New Quiz from SLIFR: SISTER CLODAGH'S SUPERFICIALLY SPIRITUAL, AMBITIOUSLY AGNOSTIC LAST-RITES-OF-SPRING MOVIE QUIZ

Dennis Cozzalio of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule always does a great job coming up with questions that leave me mulling my answers for days. In fact, he's so good at it, that I usually take so long to answer the questions that by the time I finish answering them, there's a new quiz to tackle. Luckily, I hunkered down with a good beer the other night and found the time to answer Dennis' spring quiz. I've omitted the questions that I chose to pass on.

Onto the answers...

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In Defense of Miami Vice

Head on over to Wonders in the Dark where they've been kind of enough to let me ramble on about why I think Miami Vice is one of the best film's of the decade (in their recent poll on the subject I placed it number two). Here's a sample:

There’s nothing more cliché than an action film about two cops who go undercover and infiltrate a drug cartel; and that, while undercover, one of the cops will no doubt get in too deep while the other cop can only question his partner’s commitment to the case. Such clichés are evident in almost all of Michael Mann’s films; however, he always sidesteps the banal inevitability of said clichés by taking a fresh look at the men who lead such lives through an introspective and microscopic lens. 2006 brought Miami Vice, a film popping with beautifully filmed colors, meticulously framed skylines, and, most importantly, the type of scrupulous itemization Mann loves to display for his audiences (just watch the way his characters create sing-songy dialogue with insider jargon). For Mann, it isn’t so much about the action, but about the duty, the inner turmoil (which is always aided by beautifully shot and framed visual correlatives); they’re about why these people are driven by what they’re driven by, and how they function in the world they live in. A lot of people find Mann’s brand of “action” film boring – too much ethereal wandering that result in long, lingering takes on unnecessary close-ups or establishing shots – with not enough shoot ‘em up; I find them misunderstood, refreshing takes on tired genre tropes; existential tone poems of the crime genre that are narratively akin to the French master Jean-Pierre Melville in how the filmmaker is more concerned with the inner dilemma than the external action. If Mann’s crime films are narratively akin to Melville then surely they are visually akin to his American contemporary visual poet Terence Malick in how the film has an ease about its tone; it’s almost as if it wafts from scene to scene as if in a dream.   Miami Vice is a masterpiece of the crime genre that isn’t just the most misunderstood film of Mann’s oeuvre, but also the most misunderstood masterpiece of the last decade.

Read the rest of the entry with comments at Wonders in the Dark

 

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Public Enemies: Take One

I plan on seeing this again (hence the "take one" in the title), but for the moment here are my ramblings on the film after I saw it this afternoon.

Michael Mann can film a face like no one else. He loves to linger on faces, letting the audience figure out what’s going on behind those cold eyes of his characters. And it’s not just that Mann likes faces, it’s that he loves lingering there with his in-the-moment digital photography and intense music pumping in the background – here is an auteur who is interested in the un-action of action movies. Perhaps no other recent filmmaker has been able to dupe audiences more frequently than Mann has with his last three films: 2004’s Collateral about a hitman, 2006’s reboot of the kitch-tastic 80’s hit Miami Vice, and now in 2009 with Public Enemies – a gangster film about the last year of John Dillinger’s life. All three of these films (and to an extent all of Mann’s pictures) share the same trait of on the surface seeming like a commercial action film created to rake in the Summer dollars; whether it’s with big stars (Tom Cruise, Jaime Foxx, Johnny Depp) or sure-fire plots that sound exciting and seem to guarantee action (movie about a hitman, buddy cop movie, gangster film), but what’s buried beneath these seemingly simple plots is something that is always more interesting than the bang-bang, shoot ‘em up films they sound like. Mann is interested in the action that drives his subjects, here is it John Dillinger, but it could be anyone; Mann, like the French master Jean-Pierre Melville, loves to look deeply into his characters who commit crimes because that’s more interesting than the crimes themselves.

I can imagine this film taking in the same opening box office that Miami Vice did on it’s opening weekend…then audiences figure out that this isn’t a Scarface or Godfather type crime film and run away to the comforts of mind-numbing summer fair like Transformers. So be it. They don’t know what they’re missing. Public Enemies fits Mann’s oeuvre like a glove, and it’s easy to see why he was so drawn to the material. No, not because of the gun battles and the bank robberies (although those do remind us of Mann’s earlier films like Heat and Miami Vice), but because here are a two men, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and G-Man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) who are on opposite sides of the law, but are driven by the same force to excel at what they do, no matter what the cost, and to only think about the present.

Bale’s square jaw is at home under his stern look and fedora, and surprisingly his morose tone works here as Purvis is a man who gets no joy in his job – believe me when I tell you that this man is the antithesis of Al Pacino’s cop in Heat. Depp is just outstanding as John Dillinger, a man who, as he introduces himself to people, “robs banks.” And that’s the Dillinger Mann showcases. There are no flashbacks into his past to try and understand why he does what he does (although in one scene he does mention that his dad beat him because he didn’t know what else to do with him), he is a man possessed, a man who is cold and calculated and can get through a bank in under two minutes…he doesn’t have time for backstory. He is also a man of the people. He understands the need to play to the people as he will no doubt be hiding out among them, and the way Depp handles the moments of celebrity are nice dashes of humor in an otherwise humorless film.

Depp and Mann decide to showcase this Dillinger as a man who is not likeable. Sure, he may have some redeeming qualities about him, but for the most part we don’t like this man, even though we’re spending the better part of two hours with him…up close and personal, too. Just like in the most recent Michael Mann pictures, digital cameras are used to great effect. Here he films Purvis mostly with film, and in a cold, detached manner; but Dillinger is filmed up close with digital – and it’s obvious that it’s digital, maybe the most obvious Mann has ever made it that he prefers this medium – but there we are, as in-the-moment as we can be, but as is the case with any Mann character, we are also kept at a distance from them, left to figure out what makes them tick and why they do what they do.

This isn’t a gangster film like that of Scorsese or Coppola. There are no family gatherings or quirky characters that make you laugh and think “hey they don’t have such a bad life.” These are gangsters who rob for a living, but never seem to enjoy themselves (except for Baby Face Nelson who takes great pleasure in shooting things up). Like most of Mann’s crime films this is a deeply existential one (again reminding me of Melville). Mann loves for the viewer to come up with their own theories on the histories of the characters and why they do what they do. Like I mentioned in my Miami Vice review earlier this week, it’s rare for a filmmaker to have the patience for this kind of thing, and it just cements what the director is more interested in. He may make action movies, but it’s the deep thoughts and pondering of the films main characters (again the shots of those faces) that he’s most interested in. And he when he does do action, he does it better than anyone else, he does arty action, comparable to anything Terrence Malick has made.

It’s funny, after reading a lot of the fine entries from the Michael Mann blog-a-thon hosted by J.D. at Radiator Heaven, I’ve noticed a lot of the same themes swirling around all of Mann’s pictures, and Public Enemies is no different. Here’s a film that seems to be a pastiche of Mann’s most famous work: Thief, Heat, Manhunter, and my personal favorite Miami Vice. The pacing, as is the case with most of Mann’s films, is not for everyone, but the man never films an uninteresting scene, and I love the way the viewer is dropped into scene after scene with very little use of establishing shots so that we may get our bearings. The film is deliberate, but felt like it went by quickly because of this decision by Mann. In addition to all of the usual themes at play, here, there’s also the usual aesthetic goodness that one finds in a Mann picture.

Dante Spinotti re-teams with Mann (he shot his first foray into digital The Insider) and evokes a lot of the classic gangster film feel. He also gives several visual nods to a lot of Mann's other crime films. What’s most amazing about the way the film was shot was that we have never seen a period piece shot with digital before. So, it’s a little jarring at first, but it also feels all the more real, like we’re there watching all of this happen. It’s so much more affective than sepia tone or muted colors. It’s yet another example of one of the many things that has always fascinated me about Mann’s pictures: his ability to make you feel in-the-moment, yet simultaneously keeping you at arms length. The film is beautiful to look at, but that hardly comes as a surprise to anyone who enjoys Mann’s work. I can't wait for the film to be released on DVD so I can take a look at some of the scenes shot by shot.

What else can I say about this film? I feel like I haven’t even really done the film critical justice. I think that’s because I need to let the film settle into my mind for the weekend, think about it some more, and then come back with some better thoughts. I know I’ll see it again (especially since the showing I went to a woman decided to treat the theater like her own living while she dealt with her baby and fielded cell phone calls in the theater.) and when I do I feel like there will be even more to say. As for specific elements of the film besides the usual Mann themes…I loved how Mann showed J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) trying to implement the Bureau in its early phases of clean-cut men in suites, and the way Purvis challenges Hoover saying he needs men who know what to do in a gun fight. I also like how they show the shift of crime towards the end of Dillinger’s life. Robbing banks isn’t sufficient enough anymore, it’s too risky for the meagerness of the reward; so, instead gangsters turned to bookies and the betting system as a way to steal money, and the scene where Dillinger finds out that his skills aren’t really an asset anymore is one of the best scenes of the movie. Conversely law enforcement was now starting to become dirtier and dirtier where it was okay to rough up witnesses in order to get information (even women weren’t above these harsh interrogation methods). Crime was becoming more organized, almost more civil, while the black and white police ethos was becoming grayer. Needless to say the action scenes were typical top-notch Mann stuff – meticulous and brilliantly executed. I also really enjoyed the Robin Hood style of bank robbing that Dillinger subscribed to. There’s a great scene where he tells one of the bank customers who has put his money on the counter for Dillinger to take to keep his money, and that they’re there for the banks money, not theirs. I thought the way Dillinger endeared himself to the public was one of the most interesting things about the movie, and especially as an anti-hero – a man who was stealing from the rich during a time of great depression.

I know there’s more I want to say, and I am sure this isn’t the last this film will be discussed on the blog. I haven’t even mentioned the dynamic between Depp (whose performance I feel like I haven't said enough about, but he understands Mann's love of actors acting with their face...he hits everything just right in this movie) and Marion Cotillard who plays Billie, Dillinger’s love interest. It’s rare for a woman to be the focus in a Mann film, but like Amy Brenneman’s Eady from Heat, Billie is integral to the story. Public Enemies above everything else is just a great entertainment, and cements Mann as a true poet of the cinema. More thoughts are sure to come, but for now, I feel pretty comfortable calling this one of the best films of the year.

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Miami Vice: Michael Mann's Misunderstood Masterpiece

This review was inspired by J.D. who is hosting the Michael Mann blog-a-thon over at his blog, the always brilliant and fun to read Radiator Heaven. It's going on all week, so head on over and take a look at all of the great entries as we head into the release of Mann's newest film Public Enemies.


There’s nothing more cliché than an action film about two cops who go undercover and infiltrate a drug cartel; and while undercover, one of the cops will no doubt get in too deep while the other cop can only question his partners commitment to the case. Such clichés are evident in almost all of Michael Mann’s films; however, he always sidesteps the banal inevitability of said clichés by taking a fresh look at the men who lead such lives through an introspective and microscopic lens. 2006 brought Miami Vice, a film popping with beautifully filmed colors, meticulously framed skylines, and, most importantly, the type of scrupulous itemization Mann loves to perform with his crimes films (just watch the way his characters create sing-songy dialogue with insider jargon). For Mann, it isn’t so much about the action, but about the “why” that these people are driven by and how they function in the world they live in. A lot of people find Mann’s brand of “action” films boring – too much exposition and long, lingering takes on unnecessary long shots – with not enough shoot ‘em up; I find them misunderstood, refreshing takes on tired genre tropes, and Miami Vice is one of the most misunderstood of all Mann’s films.


The film’s story seems like something off of the old TV show that the film shares its namesake with; however, that’s the only thing they share as Mann is doggedly determined to make this film a straight crime drama, not the campy TV-to-film adaptations that were all over the multiplexes in the mid-2000’s (Charlie’s Angels, Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazard). I think that’s what fans wanted: a popcorn summer film, and Miami Vice, released in the heart of the summer blockbuster months (much like this years Public Enemies), was anything but what the fans were clamoring for (the film had a strong opening weekend, being the first film to unseat the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean which has been atop the box office list for a month) wasn’t exactly what the masses were asking for: a talky, heavy-on-drama crime film with a middle 45 minutes that is trying.

The film was, however, a fine look at some of the boring old tropes found in these undercover cop thrillers. Collin Ferrell and Jaime Foxx do a great job of making these characters into fleshed out entities rather than 80’s pop caricatures, and Mann’s camera always finds something easy-on-the-eyes to settle on. Like most of Mann’s films it’s a test of one’s will power whether they can muster up the empathy for such morose, one-line spouting characters. Mann’s male characters are never that interesting when they’re speaking (exception: Al Pacino from Heat, but that’s because Pacino can’t play subtle the way Mann likes it), but what Mann does so well is let his camera linger on their weary eyes or he stays on two-shot just long enough for the audience to get a sense of what the characters are feeling; simply put: his characters are always interesting in the things they do. Think about James Caan’s thief (Thief), or Pacino’s television producer (The Insider), Cruise’s hitman (Collateral), or DeNiro’s criminal who falls in love and breaks his own rule about women mixing with “the job” (Heat) – they’re all interesting because they love what they do and they do it with an unremitting passion (Pacino’s cop from Heat is another example).

Mann’s men are also always conflicted. Often times they let themselves forget what they’re intent is, or they don’t realize how their passion to see something through will hurt those they love; and sometimes they’re so passionate about those they love, they don’t care about their job. That is the case with Foxx’s Rico, the more level-headed cop (Ferrell’s Sonny is more of the “act first” kind of guy) who is troubled by their latest covert operation. His girlfriend Trudy (another cop on the force played by Naomi Harris) is being watched by those they plan to do business with, and even though Rico convinces her that if they trace their names all they’re going to get is their fake histories, she doesn’t seem at ease. And this small scene, with Rico and Trudy talking in a diner, is one of the great moments of Miami Vice. It shows Mann’s interest in talking about the things that these people would talk about. Rico says to Trudy that “even if they find something, they’ll just find more layers of out fabricated lives.”

Mann broaches the idea that these men, who have real relationships, can never lead real lives, therefore ruining all of their very real relationships and hurting the ones they love. Rico and Sonny will never have a normal life – once you’re undercover and creating these fabrications it would seem impossible to be able to emerge “normal” out of a career being someone else – but they try during their brief run to take down a major Colombian drug czar. By the end of the film while Trudy sits in a hospital bed, Rico turns more sour on his vocation, proclaiming that he doesn’t care if Trudy dies for the “cause”, the cause is “bullshit” as Rico says, and even though Sonny tries to ease his mind by countering with “is that what Trudy would say?” Rico shoots him down: “No, that’s what I say.” Things have become all-too-real for Rico, and it has all happened while leading this fabricated life; playing pretend as it were.

Sonny is quite different from Rico – he always seems to be teetering between “knowing what he’s doing” and “getting in too deep”. His relationship with Isabel (Gong Li) is a perfect example of the high wire act these undercover agents play out on a daily basis. What I liked about their relationship is that you’re never quite sure who is playing whom and after a while you being to believe that they really love each other, and, in the ultimate bit of irony and pathos, you realize they would have been happy in another life. And that “other” life is always prevalent in Mann’s film – it’s always the carrot that dangles in front of the protagonist, and it’s one of the subjects Mann likes to explore in great depth, making his films always seem more interesting than the others that tackle the same material.

Like Mann’s previous film Collateral, Miami Vice was primarily shot using the Thompson Viper Filmstream camera which creates amazingly beautiful nightscapes that pop (especially on Blu-Ray) and the scenes’ beauty are captured in a way that film just can’t compare. The rest of the film was shot on 35mm, but it’s the digital moments that make this movie’s aesthetic something to behold. Digital gives you a sense of urgency -- something palpable. It's also just really damn nice to look at. Mann's films always have a sexy swagger about them, and Miami Vice is teeming with style; but, unlike the films of say Tony Scott (whose films also have a visual swagger about them), there's a lot of substance buried beneath a Mann film. He always knows where to frame the camera, and like the aforementioned Collateral and The Insider, he uses snap zooms and shaky-cam to great, emotional effect. This film is always jaw-droppingly beautiful, and even in the soggy middle, still just a joy and a feast for the eyes. There's also two great action scenes towards the end of the film. They're unconventional in their execution because Mann opts to go for the more realistic approach, the action is quick, over in an instant because that's they way it would be with professionals doing the job. There's also a shoot-out at the very end that rivals the one from Heat (in quality not in quantity), it's perfectly blocked and the sound is just fantastic throughout the scene, placing the viewer in the moment. It's really an inspired shoot-out scene, and it's what Mann does best: arty action.

I think Miami Vice is one of Mann’s most misunderstood and underappreciated films. It has a rich aesthetic with beautiful, bright colors that are always interesting to look at, but also serve a purpose in foreshadowing the narrative and speaking for the characters. Much like another American masters, visual poet Terrance Malick, Mann is a master at letting the visuals act as the poetics; he allows them to evoke the themes, emotions, and feelings, an onus that usually falls on the actors, but with Mann’s films he almost always wants his main characters to be enigmas, people who say little and speak with their actions. At the end of Miami Vice before the big bust Rico asks Sonny if he is prepared for what’s going to happen (the bust signifies the end of Sonny’s “playtime” with Isabel) and wonders if his partner’s head is in it. Sonny replies with brutal honesty: “I am most certainly not ready.” A line that means he is indeed going to go through with it all and that his partner can trust him to do the right thing.

Most action films don’t stop for these moments of dialogue, but this little exchange at the end of the film says a lot about the characters and they kinds of films Mann is interested in making. Mann reminds me a lot of French New Wave master Jean-Pierre Melville, another director who loved the crime genre, but rarely was interested in the crime itself. Like Melville, Mann loves to create action scenes that are more about the nuances instead of trumped up action clichés. Mann's films have an uncanny ability to be simultaneously grounded in realism (the action scenes in this film), scenes that are palpable in their intimacy (look at the scenes quieter scenes between Sonny and Isabel, especially their "courting" process and specifically their scenes in Havana), but are also poetically striking; ethereal moments that leave you in awe of their visual splendor all while watching something that seems so capital r Real.

Miami Vice may have just been released at the wrong time of the year. Mass audiences wanted something more along the lines of Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys mixed with the campy, faux-serious nature of the original television show. They wanted to see the neon blazers, 80’s hair, and flamingos; but instead, Mann delivers one of his best films, and had the film been entitled something different, the populace might agree. It’s not as taut or interesting as The Insider, or as crisp and exhilarating as Collateral, but it certainly ranks as one of his deepest, and most existential looks into the subject he loves to delve into, and it stands as my favorite crime film Mann has made (yes, better than Heat).

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