This article was first published in Xia Yinghua, unauthorized reprinting is prohibited
Text: Anthony
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"Film Critic" Donald Trump once said: "Although Kane in "Citizen Kane" has achieved great success in his career, he is also a loser to some extent, a kind that has nothing to do with wealth. My personal failure, so I failed in the end." What an insightful point of view, is very consistent with this short fat man. David Fincher’s new movie "Mank" is full of ups and downs. This movie is written by his father Jack Fincher, a film about the production of "Citizen Kane".
("Manke" poster)
The title "Mank" refers to Herman J. Mankiewicz. This name appeared at the end of "Citizen Kane". He and Orson Wells served as screenwriters, although the two took At the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay-the only Oscar for the film, none of them attended the awards ceremony held at the Biltmore Hotel in 1942. It is said that everyone involved in the production of "Citizen Kane" was ridiculed.
Mankiewicz first worked for the "New Yorker" magazine. He is the kind of person who is closely related to the times, so you can't imagine how he lived in other times. He looks like a very funny potato, and trying to remember something that is not funny is a thankless job (he has a photo of him, and he is dressed up like the Max Brothers at the same time.) His face is round, There are a lot of pimple. He has a wide mouth, pours the wine in, and can talk a lot. He is also a gambler, in "Mank", he used five thousand dollars to bet how long a leaf will fall.
(Herman J. Mankiewicz)
So who will play Mankiewicz on the screen? A long time ago, WC Fields (an American actor who is addicted to alcohol) should be able to do the job, provided that the props department provides real alcohol instead of using dirty water to pretend to be. Charles Dern should be ideal. Oliver Platt just met the requirements. But in the end, Vinci chose Gary Oldman, who successfully played Winston Churchill in "The Darkest Hour" (2017). His image of having a huge appetite and becoming smart by drinking is already well known.
(Gary Oldman in "The Darkest Hour")
"Mank" pays tribute to "Citizen Kane" in many ways. In Wells's movie, the crystal ball that slipped from Kane's hands before his death in the opening film was responded by Fincher with a close-up shot of an empty bottle, and it rolled out of the actor's grip. Both films are black and white, and both quickly spread narratives across multiple generations.
(The crystal ball in "Citizen Kane")
The first was in 1940. Mankiewicz was on his way to Victorville. By this time he had already set off from Los Angeles for an hour or two. He has a leg in a cast, and he has another task to complete. In a remote ranch, his secretary Rita (played by Lily Collins) helped him dictate and had to keep him away from alcohol. Mankiewicz had to write a script for Wells’s debut, Wells’s The theater partner John (played by Sam Troughton) monitored the progress of the plan (Teoughton played a picky man, and the corresponding lines were "We expect something better," "We are in a decisive moment", "The servants have always been Does it look like that?") Then, a flashback was inserted.
One showed us that Mankiewicz was injured in this accident, and the other took us back to 1930. The screenwriter Charles Leder came to Paramount, and he took the one he received from Mankiewicz. A seductive telegram saying that he can make millions of fortunes and his competitors are just a bunch of fools.
("Manke" stills)
However, in fact, this telegram was sent to Ben Hecht. "Mank" tells a lot of gossip about this old entertainment circle, so if you want to give it to MGM boss Louis Meyer. (Arliss Howard) The old way to send a message is to use the Western Union Telegram instead of a movie.
Similarly, every Mankiewicz fan has heard that he apologized to his host after vomiting during dinner. He said that there was nothing wrong with it. It might be caused by eating fish while drinking white wine. Where did the gimmick in the film happen? Vinci arranged this episode in the luxurious base camp of William (Charles Dance, played by Charles Dance) in San Simeon, and Mankiewicz was often invited as a guest here in the 1930s. We saw him in a flashback, like a court jester, causing a humorous offense to his guests.
("Manke" stills)
He became a special friend among Hearst's long-term partners. Actress Marion Davies (played by Amanda Seyfried) stood on a wooden pile similar to a pyramid when she first appeared on stage. Soon many people came to take pictures, like a sacrifice. Mankiewicz asked what dangerous happened over there. Later, he and Davies walked in the moonlight. They walked through the statue and the private zoo. When they approached the giraffe, he said that that was the price of adventure.
(Amanda Seyfried in "Manke")
These methods are indeed very funny, but only so, it is difficult to make people believe that this is a high-quality comedy with a high reputation. (Another supposedly insurmountable comedian is the protagonist in "The Promise of Dinner," which was released after the second year of "Citizen Kane." At the beginning of the film, the protagonist injured a hip joint, and then he started Use the remaining part with a negative attitude to say something full of humor. This role was played by Monty Woolley, but there was no good publicity at the time. Some people thought that this role should have belonged to Wells). Is the dazzling Oldman up to this role? Usually, his screen image is not the kind of warm humor, but a bit harsh cartoon-like ferocity.
("The Promise of Dinner" poster)
It's hard not to worry about him having problems in this movie, because if those who knew and hired Mankiewicz did not give him enough love, he should have been tolerated. No one is more patient than his wife Sara (played by Tuppence Middleton). She is often referred to as "Poor Sara", even if she is finally angry and asks to end this state, it is not without her benefit. Likewise, Hearst listens to Mankiewicz’s witty words with a smile on his face, and then says, “That’s why I always want Manke to be by my side.” Guess how Mankiewicz responds to these preferences? He turned St. Simon into Xianledu and Hearst into Kane, a very hypocritical and notorious man.
(Actor Tuppence Middleton)
Who created "Citizen Kane"?
In 1971, "The New Yorker" published an investigation report written by Pauline Kyle about this mystery. She believed that Mankiewicz was the initiator of the film. He gave the film an interesting atmosphere, but the perfidious Will Stolen these ideas, Robert Carringer answered (and some people say disassembled) these sharp and confident views in his 1985 book "The Making of
("Manke" stills)
A more radical question is: Who cares who is the screenwriter of "Citizen Kane"?
Film historians may scoff at this point of view, but we have to remind ourselves that millions of movie audiences can’t care about it no matter what. Kevich, put Wells aside, and Tom Burke played him as an insignificant person with obvious style. On the other hand, the popular music and excitement that Kyle appreciates are surprisingly few in "Citizen Kane." Vinci's movie looks very charming, it is brightly structured and light, and the gray light has a subtle sense of layering. With the help of witchcraft-like digital technology, the leaves look as white as snow, which is what they used to do on infrared photosensitive film. But what is the purpose of these methods? The rich light and shadow and amazing photographic angles in "Citizen Kane" are very consistent with Kane's worldview, that is , the unbalanced sense of tilt caused by loneliness and wealth . The fantasizing "Mank" weakens this dramatic power.
("Citizen Kane" poster)
As for the plot of the film, most of it consists of a man lying on a bed and then starting to make up a story. Vinci clearly felt the fear caused by the pause, so he arranged for Davies, Lederer, Wells, Mankiewicz’s younger brother Joe (played by Tom Pelphrey), who had directed "Comet Beauty" (1950) and "Cleopatra" ( 1963), came to the farm to interrupt his protagonist's work. At the same time, in the flashback, other famous people come and go, or debt disputes. Obviously, we saw a Clark Gable, a Betty Davis, and even Garbo, but I swear I didn't see them passing by.
In fact, the whole movie has a one-and-such feeling, replacing the film's narrative layout, making us want to understand how or whether these scattered events can be pieced together. There is a detailed supplement to the 1934 election for governor of California. Upton Sinclair failed in this election. He used to talk about in his speech on victory over the Great Depression. When Meyer was disgusted, Mankiewicz Very supportive of him: No doubt, let him seize the opportunity, but what does this mean?
("Manke" stills)
In addition, the film also has a plot that happened to the farm housekeeper Frieda (played by Monika Grossmann). She told others that with the help of Mankiewicz, a Jewish village had safely immigrated from Germany to a foreign country. This is an exaggeration. It feels like a joke made by Mankiewicz. (According to his own words, he became an "extreme Lindbergh", opposed to the United States participating in World War II-a weird idea not mentioned in "Mank") So what do we see in the film? In short, it is the image of a rebellious artist who focuses on self-destruction, but it lacks a "rosebud".
(The rose bud in "Citizen Kane")
Many critics of "Citizen Kane" were disappointed with this gadget in the story. It was related to a lost childhood. Wells himself dismissed it as a cheap Freudian thing. Very disappointing, the value of the Holy Grail is lower than the pursuit of it, and the process of pursuit gives the film an immortal aura. In contrast, "Mank" is a story about a story. Although it is very luxurious, it cannot complete its own narrative.
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