It is not often that a film is made which almost demands that it comes accompanied by a set of footnotes, yet such is the case with Mank, currently showing on Netflix.
Ostensibly the film has a simple premise: to show how Herman Mankiewicz wrote the script for the Orson Welles movie, Citizen Kane. However, for a number of reasons, the film is likely to be problematic for viewers.
The first reason is that the film assumes that the viewer is familiar with the Orson Welles movie. Scattered throughout its narration are many references, some of them quite short, to the original film. If, like me, the viewer has seen the Citizen Kane numerous times, this clearly is no problem. However, if one has never seen the film or has not done so recently, then a viewing is definitely in order before one watches Mank.
Even then, one may not be adequately prepared for such a viewing. One also needs to be familiar with the real-life story that inspired the script of Citizen Kane. One needs to be aware that the central character, Charles Foster Kane, is clearly modelled on William Randolph Hearst. Both Citizen Kane and Mank are replete with references to the multi-millionaire’s life – his development of a media empire which made him one of the wealthiest and most influential men in America in the first forty years of the last century; his affair with a young movie star, Marion Davies; his determination to use his wealth to persuade people like Louis B. Mayer of MGM to advance the career of Ms. Davies; his building of a castle in California (today a tourist attraction, second only in popularity in the state to Disneyland); and above all his determination to have the film Citizen Kane destroyed in so far as he was able – something in which, fortunately, he was unsuccessful as many (including myself, for what that is worth!) regard it as the greatest film ever made.
Here again, some preparatory homework would be helpful in the form of a viewing of the documentary, The Making of Citizen Kane which originally aired on PBS and is now, fortunately, part of a two-set special edition of Citizen Kane, probably available from your local library.
And as if all that homework were not enough, it would also be helpful before viewing Mank, to know something of the characters who appear in the film, including John Houseman, Upton Sinclair, Joseph Mankiewicz, and David Selznick. Fortunately, this can easily be done in that one can find a guide to the characters online, including one from the New York Times.
All of this may be a lot of work to prepare oneself for viewing a film, but the good news is that the viewing rewards the effort. The script for Mank was written several years ago by Jack Fincher. It failed to attract a producer, but eventually his son David Fincher was able to persuade Netflix to produce the film in the format he, as director, insisted on: a black and white production.
The director clearly has made the film as homage to Citizen Kane in many ways. Shot after shot of this superbly photographed film is a reference to the original film; the music is reminiscent of Bernard Hermann’s for the original film; as in that film, the dialogue is sharp and witty. Tom Burke, who plays Welles, even sounds like the famous actor. Most significantly, as in Citizen Kane, writer and director have narrated the film in a series of flashbacks which interloop and overlap (something which can be a little confusing, even with the help of slides indicating dates and locale).
The result is a truly marvelous cinematic achievement. The result is even more satisfying when one throws in a series of dazzling performances by a talented cast, especially Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies, Lily Collins as Mankiewicz’s secretary, Tuppence Middleton as his feisty wife, and, above all, Gary Oldman in the title role (an Oscar worthy performance if there ever was one). Furthermore, the film adroitly indicates how incidents and themes of Citizen Kane rose from Mankiewicz’s experience; every scene is relevant both to the original film and the grander idea of what allows a writer to craft a masterpiece.
There is no doubt that Welles was a genius. At 26, with absolutely no experience in filmmaking, he produced a truly brilliant film, and though he made full use of his cinematographer (Greg Tolland), his composer, and above all his scriptwriter, his achievement is amazing. Just how much he owed to them all, particularly the latter, still remains a mystery and provides one of the many themes of Mank. As a further bonus, it is also coincidental that the film has an unexpected and timely resonance as it addresses the manipulation of media to gain political ascendancy. This is one of the best films of 2020.
But be warned, the film has some use of objectionable language and the morality of some of the characters portrayed is less than ideal.
However, despite my enthusiasm for Mank, I recognize that the film may well be too demanding for many who want their entertainment to be light, straightforward, and easily accessible. However, if one is willing to make whatever effort may be necessary to get the most out of it, one will be amply rewarded, delighted, and vastly entertained. And if a little preparatory homework is necessary, what better time to do it than in these days of isolation and lockdowns?