Director Deep Dive: Michael Mann
With talk of the greatest directors of all time: Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese are mentioned without fail. Now, what if there was a director with an equally great filmography with half the recognition? You may be wondering, who could this person be? They are Michael Mann: one of the most overlooked directors of all time.
Michael Mann is an American film director known for his signature neo-noir crime thriller films such as Thief (1981), Manhunter (1985), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999) and Collateral (2004). With over 50 years of directing under his belt, Mann has built up one of the most stylistic and captivating filmographies in all of American cinema history.
Mann’s first feature film success was Thief (1981). The film stars the late James Caan as Frank, a diamond thief and expert safecracker who signs with a top gangster before things take a turn for the worse. Thief introduces Mann’s signature use of the color blue, capped off with music by Tangerine Dream, Thief demonstrates Mann’s artistry with a perfectly complementary score.
His next major success came four years later with the adaptation of the novel Red Dragon. Manhunter (1985) is a stellar film that has ‘80s stylings all over. We follow detective William Graham, who is helped by Hannibal Lecter, in his quest to capture the “Tooth Fairy.” This film features a gripping story full of great performances and two distinct “film firsts.” The first film appearance of Hannibal Lecter and the first time we see the sunset longshot— a common technique used while characters are enduring moments of reflection— used by Mann.
His next film, Heat (1995), starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer, is the project I consider to be his best work. In this Los Angeles crime thriller, Neil and his crew conduct heists across the city, ultimately entering a cat-and-mouse chase with Detective Vincent Hana. Heat is a spectacle of filmmaking best known for its 10 minute long bank shootout scene filmed in Los Angeles— one that revolutionized how shootouts were filmed and heavily inspired Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight’s (2008) opening.
Mann’s most underrated film, The Insider, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, tells the true story of a 60 Minutes special centering on a tobacco industry whistleblower from the perspective of former executive, Jefferey Wigand. On paper, this may not read like a crime thriller, but Mann turns it into a gripping story full of moments of shock and tenseness.
By far, Michael Mann’s most creative film is Collateral (2004). It follows the story of Max, a cab driver played by Jamie Foxx, who is offered $600 to drive a man across Los Angeles, not knowing that the man is an assassin. The most interesting thing about this film is that Tom Cruise— well known for playing the hero role— plays the villain in this film and does a stellar job at that! This, then, is also Mann’s first film shot digitally. He uses digital grain, an art form entirely exclusive to this style of filmmaking, which aids heavily in fleshing out the film’s overarching aesthetic.
Michael Mann’s filmography also includes such gems as The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Ali (2001), and his most recent release, Ferrari (2023). Mann’s next feature film is set to be a sequel to Heat (1995), which will serve as a prequel/sequel to the original. If you haven’t paid attention to Mann’s work, this is the best time to do so! You don’t know what you’re missing.