"When I was 7 years old, my father used to explain his point of view to me and introduced a lot of film concepts to me, so I thought at that age that film was going to be my life's work." - Big David Finch
David Fincher 's 11th feature film, Mank, will be a remarkable film in his directorial career, a black-and-white film about the director's and his career in Hollywood's golden age. Some joys and sorrows caused by the cooperation of the screenwriters.
The film restores the behind-the-scenes secrets of “Citizen Kane,” specifically about a journalist-turned-writer alcoholic Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) working on “Citizen Kane.” The script was later attempted by director Orson Welles (played by Tom Burke) to take away the attribution rights.
The screenplay was first written 30 years ago by David Fincher's father and will now be brought to the screen by David Fincher. The film will be released in select national theaters on November 13 and will be released on Netflix on December 4.
Author | Mark Harris
Translator | LX
Originally published in Vulture, this article has been edited and deleted
Path to Enlightenment:
Because of the fan father and "Citizen Kane"
Q: When you made The Social Network ( 2010), you told me that during production you would often say to Aaron Sorkin (the screenwriter), "We're Making the John Hughes version of Citizen Kane. When I was young, I knew before I saw Citizen Kane ( 1914) that it was called the greatest American movie ever made.
David Fincher: It starts with my dad, a former journalist, who insists that the greatest entertainment is made by those who know the real world best. When I was 7 years old, my father used to explain his point of view to me and taught me a lot of movie concepts, so I thought at that age that movies would be my life's work.
When we were discussing "what is the greatest movie ever," my father uttered the words "Citizen Kane" without hesitation. When I was 12 and learned that I was going to see Citizen Kane in my film appreciation class, I thought, a movie from over thirty years ago? It's like an old fresco in a cave. But when I read it, I was shocked. Although I don't understand the director's technique, I can understand that this is something that has a sense of reality. I feel like I've seen something very important but I still can't understand.
Q: So, did Citizen Kane hit you when you were the age of watching children's films?
David Fincher: Yes. In our family, my father always believed in quality over quantity. My father grew up in movie theaters. My grandpa was an alcoholic and my grandma was always working. So my dad spent countless weekends rewatching Tom Mix Westerns uninhibited.
If I went to see Westworld ( 1973) or The Reincarnation of Peter Proud ( 1975), he would agree to me. But he would say, these are rubbish. He tolerated my naivety, but he still took me to see Dr. Strangelove (1964) and 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 2001: A Space Odyssey , 1968) when I was only 9 years old. We went to the movies together every week until I grew up to a young age.
On and off screen:
Discover the truth and guard the right to speak
Q: Has your father talked to you about Herman Mankiewicz?
David Fincher: I don't think my father even really knew Mankiewicz at the time. The first time I came across the book that revealed the secret behind Citizen Kane was in high school, and my dad had it in his library, and he retired and said, "I want to write a script, what subject should I write about? ?" I said, "Why don't you write the Herman Mankiewicz story?" He was overwhelmed by the idea and went off to finish it. This is the story of a great screenwriter who is removed from memory for his arrogant personality.
Q: Have you worked on it together?
David Fincher: The first draft was like revenge, and the first draft could hardly be called a script. I said to my dad, "You're talking about two people 40 miles apart fighting each other, and they've never met. That's not going to work if you're going to make a movie." He knew all those magazine stories about filmmakers, but he I don't know how to structure the script, and I don't know how to conduct an on-the-spot investigation.
Eventually, after we worked together for a while, I went to do The Seven Deadly Sins ( Se7en, 1995). Meanwhile, Dad discovers Upton Sinclair's political activism, and he learns how two former MGM executives created fake news by splicing anti-Sinclair fake news clips.
Q: After grafting the behavior of two former MGM executives into the film, the film also hints at the process by which Herman Mankiewicz found himself sacrificing character.
David Fincher: First of all, when my father showed me the script, I said, "I don't see how it shows the relationship between Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz. A relationship full of problems." My father said seriously, "The point is that someone comes forward and finds out what is important between them. " However, at the age of 30, I still stood up to a middle-aged man and sorted out my life dedication. stories are not of interest. Then I slowly realized what it meant for my father and for Herman Mankiewicz to express these secrets.
Fathers need to construct complex branches to produce a story about a man regaining his voice. Both Herman and his brother Joseph have stood up to defend their voice in the film industry. I'm pretty sure Herman has been having a hard time, and my dad has been like him, so that's where the three of us bond.
Q: In your father's script, when the first draft of Citizen Kane was written, Herman said, "I built a rigorous narrative and a constructive direction for him, and when he took over, that was his Work." Is that also the way you think writers and directors work together?
David Fincher: I think that's the biggest hope a screenwriter can expect from his own script: "My work part is over." I think Herman's input in writing is the most important thing that made Citizen Kane's screenplay so successful reason. Of course, there is no doubt that Orson Welles is an absolute genius. But I have to say that I've seen other films that Wells wrote on his own, and none of them came close to Citizen Kane.
Q : Do you think the Herman Mankiewicz story will be a cautionary tale?
David Fincher: I never wanted it to be a cautionary tale, I thought it was about both sides of alcoholism. On the one hand, he's self-deprecating, and on the other hand, people say, "Oh my God, he's a lot more fun when he's alcoholic than he is when he's normal." Seeing a guy who needs to be helped by his wife to get undressed really makes a lot of sense. People sympathize, but this is indeed Herman. Some people are ten times smarter than normal after drinking too much. It's a really contradictory point, but to me it's more true.
By all means:
Restore the film texture of the 1940s
Q: So, shooting in black and white has always been part of the plan?
David Fincher: Always. A lot of people were saying, "In addition to the black and white part, there's the sense of age in the movie, the mono part in the movie, and the guy who wrote the Citizen Kane script, we all love it."
Q: The film sounds and sounds a lot like something made in Hollywood studios.
David Fincher: All the details are made like it was in the 1940s, the music was recorded with an old mic so you can hear some old hiss and you will sound like you are sitting Watch a movie in the old theater.
Visually, we shot super high-resolution footage and then downscaled it to get closer to the real texture of old movies. In addition, we also added scratches and burn marks to the images, just like those old movies from the 1940s. We also made the sound of the movie with a subtle fracture effect, in order to pursue a certain charm that belongs to the past.
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