Mank (2020)

6 December 2020

Citizen Kane is a powerful story about the life and maliciousness of William Randolph Hearst. It was Orson Welles' launching pad into Hollywood, and screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz's complex masterstroke. Mank is directed by David Fincher; the screenplay originally written by his father Jack in the 90s (and who passed away in 2003).

The difficulty with this story is that its source material is nearly 80 years old, and was a very targeted anti-Welles screenplay. It's a solid story though, and you don't need to know the source film to find this as an intriguing watch. Some of the source material has been arguably discredited in advance of the film, but Orson Welles has always had an undercurrent of being an arrogant charlatan. So the ownership of authorship for Citizen Kane will remain a grey area for history.

Oldman was solid as Mank, but all the performances were great, and considerable effort was definitely put in to every supporting monologue and drawn out scene - it added to the theatrical feel of a cinema themed film. Other details in the cinematic nod was the black and white film, and the changeover cues on the upper right to give the older film appearance. Some parts (like the side story about Upton Sinclair) additionally bring us some echoes of modern politics and manipulation that may feel uncomfortably familiar.

The complaints that this is pushing revisionist history doesn't seem as much the point of this work, it's more David Fincher's personal Citizen Kane: complete with flashbacks, deeply crafted scenes, personal motives, and controversy. The story, the craft and the dedication toward this movie shines brightly, making it stand out above most films in recent years. 10/10