Up next in 10
On the surface most characters in Michael Mann movies might seem wildly disparate. Films like Heat, Collateral, Thief, and Ali showcase highly skilled characters, performing at their highest level, all while battling internal issues that stem from their obsession. It seems a lot of what Michael Mann creates comes from a sudo-autobiographical place. But why does Michael Mann seemingly use the same tropes and character types in all his movies? Does Michael Mann see himself in his own characters?
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
This is Vincent Hanna
0:01
Because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block
0:05
That's my life. This is Hawkeye. Soap powder! If we don't go in that, there's no chance
0:10
None! You understand? And this is Muhammad Ali. You want the title
0:15
Want to wear the heavyweight crown? You ready for that? Is that you? You face the man who will die before he let you win
0:21
These iconic characters were all brought to the silver screen by director Michael Mann
0:25
On the surface, these characters might all seem wildly disparate. However, if we dig a little deeper
0:30
perhaps they're all bonded by a common pseudo-autobiographical trait. Having enough time
0:37
Enough time to do what you want to do. That's right. Michael Mann usually builds his stories to display a rigid architecture of characters
0:46
displaying hyper-competency while making their way through genre settings. He takes what could be two-dimensional people
0:52
who serve no greater point than to push the plot forward and develops them into the realm of living, breathing icons
0:58
by adding a simple component, emotional vulnerability. Take, for example, Man's theatrical feature debut, Thief
1:06
The film follows an expert safecracker, Frank, as he takes on one final job before leaving a life of crime behind
1:12
In a now iconic scene, he gives an impassioned speech revealing that he's a criminal to the woman he loves
1:18
I'm a thief! I've been in prison, all right? So what? I don't care. So what
1:22
Don't tell me. So what? I never even told my wife that. I don't care! Who is now gone
1:27
What transpires is a deeply personal back and forth where the two lovers sit at a late night diner
1:32
bearing their souls to one another. You're backing off, you're hiding out
1:36
you're waiting for a bus that you hope never comes because you don't want to get on in any way
1:39
because you don't want to go anywhere, alright? Frank, in many ways, will serve as a prototypical man protagonist
1:45
He's wrought with inner conflict, skilled in a very specific craft, lives outside of societal norms
1:50
and yet has a staunchly moral philosophy This archetype would be expanded upon in the television program Miami Vice This was supposed to be a lightweight deal
2:01
Yeah, it's what we thought, until the fireworks started. First airing in 1984
2:06
the impact that this police procedural television program had on culture cannot be overstated
2:11
I hear you're gonna have your bachelor party Friday night before the wedding. You might miss Miami Vice
2:16
The show, which follows two Metro-Dade police department detectives on The Vice Beat in Miami, Florida
2:21
could have easily been a rote, tropey police show. However, when the pilot two-hour movie aired
2:26
it was a near instant success. Mann was an executive producer on the show
2:31
and was intimately involved with the production and the writing of the series
2:34
despite only taking a writing credit on one episode. While they would quickly move away from the status quo
2:39
after the first season, James' Sonny Crockett was initially written to be a brilliant cop in the middle of a crumbling marriage
2:46
Now, you just have to accept that I have my own life now. Yeah, well, I have my own life too
2:51
And a big part of that includes being a father. So forget it, Caroline
2:54
This trope of male protagonists, whose primary attribute is a hyper-competency, shows up in just about all of man's films
3:02
Hawkeye in Last of the Mohicans is basically a one-man war machine embroiled in a sweeping romance
3:07
Ali depicts the greatest boxer to ever live, and how a lesser man would have taken the easier path
3:12
instead of standing up for what he believed in during one of the darkest times in American history
3:16
Even the insider, which is a fictionalized account of Dr. Jeffrey Wiggins' life as a whistleblower on the tobacco industry, fits into this mold
3:24
Interestingly, the exceptions of the tropes still somehow fit. Take Mann's 2004 stripped-down high-concept thriller, Collateral
3:31
The two halves of the stock protagonist are divided into the two main characters
3:35
Vincent has all the skills, but none of the interior life, while Max is the character that experiences the moral conflict
3:41
almost as if man is saying that Vincent absence of emotions negate his exceedingly impressive skill set Like what were you one of those institutionalized race guys Anybody home Stand parts that are supposed to be there when people in you aren Perhaps the apotheosis of man hyper yet emotionally turbulent male protagonist
4:02
is his neo-noir magnum opus, Heat. Released in 1995, the film follows a group of thieves
4:08
led by the notoriously cutthroat burglar named Neil McCauley. These criminals are doggedly hunted by an eccentric LAPD lieutenant named Vincent Hanna
4:16
Hannah and Macaulay are both prototypical man characters. Macaulay is a solitary individual who has next to no life outside of his criminal enterprises
4:24
who falls in love with a woman, which upends just about everything in his world
4:29
Hannah is a dedicated officer in the middle of, you guessed it, a crumbling marriage
4:34
Family life is the central core theme of heat. It's examined from just about every angle, both with the dyad of Hannah and Macaulay
4:41
but also with the supporting cast as well. And it's this film that truly proves to be the skeleton key to unlocking the emergent
4:48
theme that man has been dealing with his entire career. Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds
4:55
flat if you feel the heat around the corner. How do you balance having a family and dedicating yourself to a craft completely
5:02
He obviously is someone who does not deal in compromises or half measures. He's someone who wants perfection
5:08
And dealing with other people, having relationships, and dedicating time to things other than your
5:13
Kraft is the defining trial of his life, and that's what all his films are ostensibly about
5:18
This regular type life, is that your life? My life? No, my life
5:24
No, my life's a disaster zone. When evaluated in the cold light of day, it's almost a simple math equation
5:30
All of the films have these stand-ins for man's own personal struggles. It's readily apparent that he is obsessed with the inner lives of these highly skilled men
5:38
But once you realize that these stock protagonists are ostensibly him, it recontextualizes both them and their creator Mann true medium is not filmmaking but autobiography The struggles that Mann films deal with are a direct reflection of his own obvious guilt
5:54
over being pulled away from his family or his inability to balance a personal life
5:59
and professional accomplishments. Yes, obviously, he's very interested in crime, politics, socioeconomic brackets, and the aesthetics of neon and city lights
6:08
But underneath that, there's something deeper, a personal statement. His mind is obviously consumed with the task of attempting to justify his obsession with filmmaking to himself
6:18
Mann's body of work, at its most primal, asks a simple question. If you make art that is great enough, will the love of an adoring public or the self-satisfaction of seeing your vision captured on the screen
6:28
find an equilibrium with a neglected or brutalized personal life? The most frustrating aspect to all of this is that there is no clear-cut answer for either him or us
6:39
which is exactly why Mann is constantly preoccupied with this theme. He's always attempting to give the audience the same feeling of being caught between a rock and a hard place
6:48
because that unwinnable scenario is where he constantly lives. Michael Mann's work is a treatise on just exactly what it takes to be a great artist
6:57
and whether or not that pursuit in and of itself is even worthwhile
7:01
How far would you really go to achieve your potential? How much of yourself would you stifle in order to succeed
7:07
What is the fallout in your family and social circle because of your choices
7:12
So you never wanted a regular type life? What the f*** is that? Barbecues and ballgames
7:18
Yeah. You can even see these tropes in his newest film, Ferrari
7:22
which follows one of the most well-respected race car drivers in history during a turbulent time in his personal life
7:27
while his auto manufacturing empire is crumbling. So what do I do? Win the mille mille, Enzo
7:33
Oh, you are out of business. The dark secret behind every Michael Mann protagonist is that they represent a primal howl into a void of existential nothingness
7:42
A coarse whisper that says, was it all worth it
#Movies
#Drama Films