OSCARS 2021: Mank (2020)

On the surface, a biographic film about beloved Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz probably seems like blatant Oscar bait. There's nothing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science loves to celebrate more than the history of (American) film. And yet, quite unexpectedly, “Mank” is a personal project for David Fincher. His father, Jack Fincher, began writing the script thirty years ago. It was a passion project for David's dad, who died in 2003. The director previously almost made the movie in 1997, with Kevin Spacey and Jodie Foster set to star. That version stalled and it was for the better. Fincher would finally bring the long developing project to the theater screens – or Netflix menus anyway – last year.

In 1940, RKO wunderkind Orson Welles was given complete creative freedom to make whatever movie he wanted. And the movie he wanted to make was “Citizen Kane.” He recruited Herman J. Mankiewicz, a known Hollywood hell raiser, to write it. Recovering from a broken leg and writing via dictation, Mankiewicz has sixty days to complete the script. As he completes the story, he reflects on his past. On his time working on the M-G-M backlot, where he butted heads with studio executive Louis B. Mayer and newspaper magnet William Randolph Hearst... Who would prove direct inspiration for Mank's script. 

“Mank” is a film overflowing with love for the cinematic form. From the opening minutes, Fincher shows his love and fidelity to film history. Cigarette burns appear in the corner of the screen before scene transitions. As Mank remembers his past, scene setting from a screenplay appears on-screen to establish the time and place. The story isn't just about the making of a movie but also indulges in the cinematic language of the forties. Fedoras, classy dames, and lightning-fast dialogue co-exist alongside slightly chunky montages, antiquated titles, and wonky rear projection car rides. The film's greatest homage to the golden age of cinema is Erik Messerschmidt's utterly gorgeous cinematography. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score not only brings “Kane” to mind, without directly quoting it, it also so perfectly sounds like the 1940s to me. Maybe not the real forties but at least the one that exists in the old movies. 

More than anything else, “Mank” is a beautiful homage to a real life hero. Herman J. Mankiewicz was a silver-tongued man that was always ready to speak truth to power. All throughout the film, he takes every opportunity he can to call people like Mayer and Hearst on their bullshit in his own sly way. As he demands to receive credit for writing “Kane,” he even steps up to his own director, the man writing his checks. Bringing Mankiewicz to life is Gary Oldman. Oldman has the ideal handle on the fast-paced dialogue. Even in his most self-destructive moments, like the titanic drunken rant that provides the film's climax, Oldman retains that fantastic sense of humor that makes Mank so goddamn likable. 

A film about screenwriters in the thirties and forties probably doesn't seem like a very relevant story to our modern world. Yet “Mank” also reflects on our own times in interesting ways. A subplot in the film involves the upcoming election between socialist Upston Sinclair and conservative Frank Merriam. Merriam demands that M-G-M produce propaganda reels to discredit Sinclair. The testimonial in the news reel are actors, a black man and a German cast as the Sinclair supporters. This is, in other words, fake news. Fincher and his team make sure to target the real root behind these deceptions. Millionaires like Hearst put the pressure on industry to enforce their worldview, to make sure who they approve of stay in power. This is made all the apparent in a shared anecdote from a supporting character about being physically intimidated by Boss Tweed goons as a boy. The rich use force – intellectual or literal force – to get what they want.

Debuting among much hype, “Mank” had a somewhat lukewarm reception among a lot of critics and especially the Film Twitter/Letterboxd tastemakers crowd. I don't know if people were expecting more from Fincher or if a story about old white guys seemed especially irrelevant in 2020. (Though it's not) The movie still managed to grab the most of all Academy Award nominees this year, even if it's unknown how many it'll take home right now. In ten years or so, I think “Mank” will be better received. It's a gorgeous and brilliant homage not just to “Citizen Kane,” not just to all of movie-making, but especially to the irrepressible spirits that make this business we call show possible. [Grade: A]