By Sam Tucker
Oh, Michael Mann, you crazy Chicago son of a grocer!
As I’ve mentioned before, I spent most of my adult life in the Windy City, and I feel like there is a specific style that directors bring from there, even when their movies are set in other cities or countries. I’ll leave it to the boys from the Blank Check podcast to fill you in on his background — their Michael Mann series is incredible — but you can tell this guy came from a blue-collar background, not one where filmmaking was exactly a priority.
Mann is best known for his run of hits, both financial and critical. HEAT set the stage for action movies for decades to come. THE INSIDER brought him into the same air as Ridley Scott. ALI showed that sports biopics could be filmed like crime thrillers. And COLLATERAL put Tom Cruise in a light we had never seen before or haven’t really seen since.
Known for pushing the envelope on digital filmmaking — a bizarro Christopher Nolan, if you will — Mann eventually let his style take over his substance with MIAMI VICE, PUBLIC ENEMIES and BLACKHAT. Finally, almost a decade later, he tried to make the magic happen again with FERRARI, which also split critics and audiences.
What he is less known for is his incredible foray into neo-noir and genre filmmaking at the beginning of his career. THIEF is a fantastic story of a burglar trying to redeem himself. THE KEEP walked so that OVERLORD could run. Then he introduced the world to Dr. Hannibal Lecter with his masterful thriller MANHUNTER — five full years before Anthony Hopkins would win an Academy Award for his portrayal of the character in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. The Independent Picture House is celebrating its 40th anniversary by showing MANHUNTER: THE FINAL CUT as part of our Summer of ’86 series.
The real crime is that this movie has been all but overlooked next to the other Lector adaptations, including the massive downgrade of its retelling in RED DRAGON 16 years after MANHUNTER’s release. I don’t want to spend too much time rehashing the story, since many people have heard of it in one way or another. What I want to dive into are the three things that separate Mann’s work from the rest of the Lecter pack: the cast, the direction and the sound design.
What catches attention is Brian Cox’s scene-stealing performance as Dr. Lecter. It’s striking to see him with a full head of jet-black hair slicked back and a clean shave, especially for those who know him only as Logan Roy from Succession. More striking still is seeing just how stripped back the character can be. Cox is even more collegial toward the man who put him in prison than Hopkins would later be, bringing a much quieter menace to the scene. It’s kind of like having your history professor vaguely threaten your wife and kids.
The rest of the cast brings equally stellar takes: William Petersen as the retired detective pulled back in for one more case, Joan Allen as the final girl, Tom Noonan as the new killer, and even Colonel Quaritch from AVATAR (Stephen Lang!) as maybe the most annoying reporter in history. That most of these actors weren’t marquee headliners, especially at the time, keeps the movie grounded in its hard-boiled nature.
Ultimately, though, it’s the sound design and direction that give MANHUNTER a vibe both completely grounded in the decade it was made in and somehow able to transcend it, minus the almost antique-looking technology.
Well before digital film was widely available, Mann was pushing the digital frontier with his pre-vaporwave soundtrack. Composed mostly on a legendary synthesizer system called the Synclavier and featuring post-punk and new wave artists — including The Prime Movers with their song Strong As I Am, which has a fantastic music video — the soundtrack encapsulates the haunting, lonely temperament that Mann’s later collaborations with Tangerine Dream would continue to define.
Add Mann’s unmistakable directorial vision, mixing long single takes with more “boots on the ground” frenetic shots and machine-gun editing, and the sight and sound of the movie carry as much emotional weight as the acting.
Mix it all together and you get an underappreciated gem in a remarkable filmography, and one that should be great for viewing on the big screen.
So this week, head over to IPH, turn your phone off and enjoy a nice beverage while seeing a master at work — but maybe not too close. You never know what the FBI might see when they look back at you.