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Storyline
1940. Film studio RKO hires 24-year-old wunderkind Orson Welles under a contract that gives him full creative control of his movies. For his first film, he calls in washed-up alcoholic Herman J Mankiewicz to write the screenplay. That film is "Citizen Kane," and this is the story of how it was written.
Written by
grantss
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
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Did You Know?
Goofs
The Arroyo Seco Parkway did not open until Dec. 30, 1940, and it was not called the Pasadena Freeway until many years later.
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Quotes
Herman Mankiewicz:
[
referring to "Citizen Kane"]
I hope, if this gets made, you'll forgive me.
Marion Davies:
And I hope, if it doesn't, you''ll forgive me.
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Crazy Credits
The Netflix logos at the beginning and end are in full color, despite the film being in black and white.
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Soundtracks
California, Here I Come
Written by
Al Jolson,
Buddy G. DeSylva (as B.G. DeSylva), and
Joseph Meyer
Performed by
Al Jolson
Courtesy of Geffen Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
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2020 has been a dull year in cinema with very few anticipated films to release this year. However, the movies that are anticipated have been... well... disappointing such as Tenet and unfortunately -- Mank.
David Fincher is one of the best working directors with fantastic films such as Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network, Zodiac, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera and luckily enough, he once again went above and beyond and made this movie all the more watchable. When it was announced that David Fincher would be directing another biopic (after the hugely successful Social Network) I -- like many others -- was ecstatic. In preparation for the "New David Fincher Film" I went back and watched his entire catalog of films. Each of his films (with the exception of Alien 3) is HIS film -- it belongs to him. With the notable yellow/blues, wide shots, static camera and the especially intriguing material, his movies are masterpieces. Then I grew worried. Mank was sounding less and less like David Fincher's other movies. It is okay to make something new and different but I wanted more dark and suspense-filled cinema. Mank was not that -- which was not a bad thing and in fact, he pulled it off! Stylistically the movie is a masterpiece but the material felt empty and that became Mank's downfall.
With a David Fincher movie it is unlikely to be disengaged yet during Mank I found myself getting distracted, antsy, and even checking the time! I was confused and disappointed. The acting was great, the directing was once again great, I did not know what it was that was causing me to be so bored, then it hit me: nothing happened. "You cannot capture a man's life in two hours. All you can hope is to leave the impression of one." The movie was called "Mank," I was expecting a thorough analysis on Mank -- but I was not even left "the impression" of Mank. He was an alcoholic and wrote Citizen Kane... that was really it.
The directing and acting make this movie worth a 7/10. The story had potential but did not fulfill expectations. It is stylish, playful, well edited and an homage (not love letter) to 30s Hollywood making it worth a watch -- I continue to look forward to future work from David Fincher and his upcoming remake "Strangers".
7/10