Short Commentary on "Mank" Exceeds the number of characters in the long commentary

Johnathan 2022-03-23 09:02:25

The photography is very retro, with the slow push and pull of the lens, and the reduced exposure that mimics the old movies and only a white light bulb is left. At the end of the table confrontation, Manke confronted the upper-class people alone. The rich people left the camera too much and too deliberately. It would be better if only Manke was alone and others kept passing by behind him.

After watching a few David Fincher movies, I still don't quite understand the point of the audience who like him, and feel that his films are too scattered. The editing of this film is too messy, and often cuts from different perspectives together. For example, taking a panoramic view from the front and one person sitting on the sofa, then taking a middle background shot from the right side, one person talking with his back to the camera, and one person talking sideways, and then taking a close-up shot from the left side, the sideways person talking with a wine glass. It's very straightforward in many places.

For two hours, Mank's character was not created, which again reflects the amazingness of "Citizen Kane". The only thing that surprised me was that the German nanny said that Manke saved more than 100 people in their village from fleeing to the United States. But it was an ordinary over-the-shoulder shot, and the subsequent stenographer was surprised by the change, and decided to respect Manke's will and hand him a wine glass, which was also very bland. The change of the stenographer in this scene reflects Manke's character highlights, as if he just borrowed a historical event from a historical figure. What we are moved is only the historical event, not the character shot by the director.

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Extended Reading

Mank quotes

  • Charles Lederer: Sorry. Somebody told me Mankiewicz was in here.

    Joe Mankiewicz: He is. I'm the promising brother, Joe.

    Charles Lederer: I didn't know Herman had a brother.

    Joe Mankiewicz: Neither does anyone else. Let me guess. "There are millions to be made, and your only competition is idiots," stop.

    Charles Lederer: How did you know?

    Joe Mankiewicz: I hate to tell you, anyone who can rub three words together and make a sentence gets one.

  • Title Card: In 1940, at the tender age of 24, Orson Wells was lured to Hollywood by a struggling RKO Pictures with a contract befitting his formidable storytelling talents. He was given absolute creative autonomy, would suffer no oversight, and could make any movie, about any subject, with any collaborator he wished...