MANK : Tuesday 24th November 2020.

'MANK' which I saw at my local independent movie theatre this week, is an M Rated American biographical drama film Directed and Co-Produced by the multi-award winning and nominated David Fincher, whose previous film making credits include his debut 'Alien 3', then 'Se7en', 'The Game', 'Fight Club', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'The Social Network', and 'Gone Girl' amongst others. This film is based on a script written by David Fincher's father Jack Fincher which he wrote in the '90's with David wanting to film it following 'The Game' in 1997 but it never eventuated because David wanted to shoot the film in black & white to maintain an authenticity of the period in which the film is set ie. the Hollywood of the 1930's and '40's. At that time no studio wanted to shoot a film in black and white and when father Jack died in 2003 the film was put on the back burner, until mid-2019 when Netflix International Pictures put the movie into production. The film has garnered positive critical acclaim, and went on a limited cinematic release from last week before streaming on Netflix from 4th December. 

The film opens up in 1940 with a car motoring along a dusty highway and turning off at Victorville and driving up to the North Verde Ranch where Herman K. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) alights from the vehicle on crutches, assisted by his good friend and writing collaborator John Houseman (Sam Troughton) and English typist Rita Alexander (Lily Collins) and a German nurse Fraulein Frieda (Monika Grossman). Mankiewicz (or 'Mank' as he shall be known) has a broken leg in three places from a recent motor vehicle accident. Laying down in an adapted bed he receives a phone call from Orson Welles (Tom Burke) about a screenplay he has been commissioned to write in ninety days, only Welles tells him that he now has sixty days. Mank is not happy about the news but relents and accepts the direction from the Producer, Director and star of the upcoming film, which the studio, RKO Pictures, have given him complete creative control over - not bad for a 24 year old untried and largely unproven movie maker.

And so Mank gets to work on the script at the alcohol free ranch much to his chagrin, although he is able to get dosed up on bottles of barbiturates provided by Houseman instead of whisky, which has the effect of knocking him out cold for twelve hours at a time. Ultimately, Mank is able to smuggle in to the ranch a crate loaded full of his favoured whisky, unknown to Houseman. With Mank dictating the words to his script for Rita to write down long hand and then type up at night, the process is sporadic at best and with the sixty day deadline looming he has still only one hundred pages completed in what Houseman describes as beautifully written, but incoherent and too high brow for American audiences to grapple with for their 25cents cinema ticket price. Mank however, persists along his chosen path.

In the meantime, we see constant references and flashbacks to various key dates in the previous decade, and his meetings, run ins, business and personal relationships with the likes of screen Actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and mistress to William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) the famed American businessman, newspaper publisher and politician, whose life story was to be the main inspiration for Mank's screenplay of Charles Foster Kane - the lead character that would be portrayed by Orson Welles in the 1941 film 'Citizen Kane'. 

In addition we see his dealings with Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) of Metro Goldwyn Mayer fame; prolific Hollywood film Producer Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley); American film Producer, Screenwriter and Executive David O. Selznick (Toby Leonard Moore); Mank's brother and Director, Producer and Screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Tom Pelphrey) and of course Mank's long suffering but fiercely loyal wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton). 

And naturally there are sub-plots along the way that centre around Mank's heavy drinking and alcoholism (which would eventually kill him in 1952 at the age of just 55), his propensity to gamble on almost anything, the successful attempt by Irving Thalberg who was an MGM Studio Executive at the time to swing the 1934 California Governor's election against the socialist candidate Upton Sinclair (Bill Nye), and his declining relationship with Hearst, which culminates with a drunken rant by Mank at Hearst Castle at San Simeon aimed at Hearst and Mayer and in front of other Hollywood movers and shakers who all one by one get up and leave the dinner table out of disgust or embarrassment or both. And of course the ever looming deadline counting down on sixty days by which time Mank has his final draft of three hundred pages, but doubts that it is really any good until Houseman and brother Joseph tell him that it is probably his finest work. 

In the final analysis Mank's script for the film that would become 'Citizen Kane' was nominated for an Academy Award in every possible category, but won the award only for Best Original Screenplay for co-authors Mank and Orson Welles. Neither Welles nor Mankiewicz attended the dinner, which was broadcast on radio. Welles was in South America filming 'It's All True', and Mank refused to attend. George Schaefer, who was President of RKO Pictures in 1941 when the film was made, accepted Mank's Oscar in his absence. It should be noted that Mank and Welles clashed over the writing credit for 'Citizen Kane', with Welles reportedly offering Mank a bonus of US$10K if he would let Welles take full credit. Mank went to the Screen Writers Guild for a determination, and they eventually laid down a joint credit with Mank's name appearing first. Welles maintained that he had always intended to share the writing credit. 

'Mank' is a beautifully shot film looking as though it was filmed in the late 1930's in crisp black and white by Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt; the dialogue is sharp, emotive and mature; the production values top notch; and the cast are all uniformly good but special mention must go to Gary Oldman who once again inhibits his character in every sense and every scene - just as he did with his Academy Award winning turn as Winston Churchill in 2017's 'Darkest Hour'. And Fincher here has crafted a film that serves as a stirring footnote to Hollywood's 'Golden Age' of domineering studios, those who ran them, and the rot that lurked largely hidden beneath. The film is entertaining, thought provoking, stylishly made, has a haunting soundtrack by regular musical collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Fincher has here once again proven that he is right up among the best that Hollywood has to offer and is at the top of his game. Oscar bait for sure and worthy of repeat viewing that will be right up the street of every cinephile, but if you're not one of those, then there is a chance this film will be lost on you.

'Mank' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th November 2020.

The brand new UK collaborative 'Amplify! Film Festival' is currently running from the 6th through to the 22nd November. Bringing brilliant new cinema right into your lounge room 'Amplify!'s' online film festival beams feature films, documentaries, shorts, Q&A discussions and industry events wherever you are in the UK. Combining the Cambridge, Bath, Brighton and Cornwall Film Festivals this four partner event pools over one hundred years of accumulated experience to support independent filmmakers and bring a diverse range of films to the audience spread out across the cities of the UK. 

This years line up covers an array of film types, genres and categories, which is partly summarised below :-

UK Premier screenings

* 'Falling' - from Canada, UK and Denmark this Directorial debut for Viggo Mortensen is also written and stars him alongside Lance Henriksen that sees a father-son relationship sustained by pain and resentment, dominated by a hot-tempered patriarch. Also in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'My Mexican Bretzel' - from Spain with subtitles, this is Directed by Nuria Gimenez featuring Leon and Vivian Barrett travelling the world in a glamorous lifestyle following WWII. Also in the 'Triple-F Rated' section and in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'Schoolgirls' - from Spain with subtitles this Directorial debut by Pilar Palomero is a semi-autobiographical film set in the early '90's about the doubts, fun, discovery and restlessness that accompany adolescence. Also in the 'Triple-F Rated' section and in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'Body of Truth' - from Germany and Switzerland this documentary film is Directed by Evelyn Schels and examines the artists Marina Abramovic, Shirin Neshat, Sigalit Landau, and Katharina Sieverding who have all incorporated their bodies and the bodies of others into their work. Also in the 'Triple-F Rated' section.

* 'I Never Cry' - from Poland and Ireland this drama film is Directed by Piotr Domalewski and is a tale of teenage rationale and angst, in which a Polish seventeen year old girl's journey into adulthood is set against the effects of mass economic emigration after Poland joined the European Union.

* 'Caught in the Net' - from the Czech Republic this documentary film is Directed by Barbora Chalupova and Vit Klusak in their Directorial debuts and is a daring film about a project to catch and arrest a paedophile. Also in the 'Triple-F Rated' section and in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'Cat in the Wall' - from Bulgaria and the UK with subtitles the documentary filmmakers Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva bring us their fiction film debut set on a London council estate, where multicultural residents clash over their social and economic differences, but must come together when an ownerless cat becomes trapped in the walls. Also in the 'Triple-F Rated' section.

* 'Some Beasts' - from Chile with subtitles Directed by Jorge Riquelme Serrano this thriller offering delves into the dark unravellings of a well-to-do urbanite family holidaying on a remote Chilean island.

* 'Open Door' - from Albania, Kosovo, Italy and North Macedonia with subtitles this Directorial debut for Florenc Papas sees a thirtysomething woman whose younger sister arrives back from Italy unexpectedly pregnant and their planned trip to see their old-fashioned father looks like a disaster in waiting - unless they can find someone to play the role of Elma's husband! Also in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'The Two Sights' - from Canada and the UK with subtitles Directed by Joshua Bonnetta this sound-focused documentary cinematically reconnects the narratives of a disappearing oral tradition with its physical environment set in the far western islands of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. 

* 'Aalto' - from Finland and Directed by Virpi Suutari this documentary film is about Finnish architect Alvar Aalto who holds a unique position amongst his peers, having brought a humanist influence to architecture by creating spaces that serve our social, psychological, and environmental needs. This film provides an insight into the intimate love story and their joint contribution to the world of modernist architecture that he shared with his wife Aino whom he married in 1924.

* 'The Mole Agent' - from Chile, USA, Germany, Netherlands and Spain with subtitles, this is Directed by Maiti Alberdi and sees an 83 year old man go undercover in an nursing home to uncover if there's any truth that his client's mother is being mistreated. 

* 'Adventures of a Mathematician' - from Germany, Poland and the UK and Directed by Thor Klein this film gives a compelling account of how one simple man is capable of great things and how he made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, nuclear physics and  modern computing by applying his talents to The Manhattan Project in order to develop a functioning atomic weapon during WWII.

* 'An Impossible Project' - from Germany and Austria and Directed by Jens Meurer this documentary film is about former biologist Dr. Florian Kaps whose heroic battle against the odds to save the world’s last remaining Polaroid factory after the first iPhone was released in 2008, and so keep analogue film alive in a world increasingly taken over by the digital image.

* 'Robolove' - from Austria with subtitles this is Directed by Maria Arlamovsky and this documentary is a compelling exploration of self and what it means to be human. Do we need androids that resemble humans? Do they provide some bridge between humans and machines? Or will they provide a way for us to pass our legacy to future generations?

Triple-F Rated screenings

If a film also features significant women on screen in their own right it is 'Triple F-Rated'. The rating is designed to support and promote women and redress the imbalance in the film industry. Other than those films highlighted above that fall into this category, there is also :

* 'The Audition' - from Germany and France with subtitles and Directed by Ina Weisse sees a music teacher with a fanatical and meticulous obsession with excellence who has identified a young musician with stage fright as being in need of her initially protective mentoring, but what seems to be her generosity gradually reveals itself to be something much darker.

* 'The Innocence' - from Spain with subtitles and Directed by Lucia Alemany that sees a teenage girl who dreams of leaving her hometown to become a circus artist. Her parents are good people, but not especially in tune with the needs and desires of their young daughter. Also in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'Cocoon' - from Germany with subtitles and Directed by Leonie Krippendorff about a fourteen year old girl growing up in Berlin who is young and marginalised but then discovers that she can become the centre of someone else's universe. 

* 'Asia' - from Israel with subtitles and Directed in her debut by Ruthy Pribar and is about a mother and daughter relationship that is limited and strained, until events force them to develop a deeper, more authentic bond. Also in the 'Directorial Debut' section.

* 'Luxor' - from Egypt, UK and UAE and Directed by Zeina Durra that sees a British aid worker (played by Andrea Riseborough) seeking respite from the trauma of her work on the Jordanian-Syrian border with a trip to the Egyptian city of Luxor, where she used to live in her 20's.

* 'Rose Plays Julie' - from Ireland the the UK and Directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor and tells the story of a young woman who decides to take time out from her veterinary studies to contact her birth mother, who gave her up for adoption and went on to become a successful actress. This in turn leads her to her biological father, a famous archaeologist, and discoveries that cut deeper than she anticipated.

Directorial Debut screenings 

* 'Patrick' - from Belgium and the Netherlands and Directed by Tim Mileants this story surrounds Patrick whose only concern is that he’s lost one of his hammers. This despite the fact that his father just died and the camp his family runs is on the brink of revolt.

* '76 Days' - from the USA with subtitles and Directed by Hao Wu, Weixi Chen and an Anonymous contributor Covid-19 is laid bare in this zeitgeisty documentary cataloguing the 76 days after the eleven million inhabitants of Wuhan went into lockdown on 23rd January 2020.

* 'You Will Die at Twenty' - from Sudan, France, Egypt, Germany, Norway and Qatar with subtitles, this is Directed by Amjad Abu Alala and is about a newborn boy who is taken for a blessing by his parents, but an accident causes the village's holy man to declare the child will die at the age of 20.

* 'Influence' - from Canada and South Africa and Directed by Diana Neille and Richard Poplak here the late Timothy Bell was a veteran of the British advertising world, most famous for being the favourite spin doctor and confidante of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This films takes a look behind the curtain to analyse the man who pulled the strings, and chart the eventual fall from grace of his controversial PR firm, Bell Pottinger.

* 'Running Against the Wind' - from Ethiopia and Germany with subtitles Directed by Jan Philipp Weyl and telling the story of two young Ethiopian boys who run for fun, but, when they grow up, only one remains a dedicated athlete, while his friend has become involved with drugs and crime.

For more information, you can visit the official website at : https://www.amplifyfilm.org.uk

This week there are seven latest release new movies coming to an Odeon near you. We launch with a biopic set in the Hollywood of yesteryear and how the writer of one of the greatest films ever made comes to blows over the credit for his script with the Director, Producer and star of that film. We next turn to a Christmas offering surrounding Chris Cringle who is down on his luck and finds himself at odds with an assassin hired by a disgruntled twelve year old. This is followed up by a live action Italian film about a wooden puppet who longs to become a real boy and the adventures he has along that journey; and in turn a British offering about a Vietnamese refugee living in England who seeks to retrace his family history in his native country while scattering the ashes of his dead parents who fled from the ravages of the Vietnam War. We then have a French film about a new Principal joining a middle school in a Paris suburb and the relationships that unfold with her students and her staff; and following this is a real love story marred by tragedy; before closing out the week with an Aussie offering about a high school girl who plucks up the courage to ask another girl out to the school formal, only to be guided through this tricky scenario by her dead aunt, who was also an '80's lesbian activist, acting as her Fairy Godmother.   

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'MANK' (Rated M) - this American biographical drama film is Directed and Co-Produced by the multi-award winning and nominated David Fincher whose previous film making credits include his debut 'Alien 3', then 'Se7en', 'The Game', 'Fight Club', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'The Social Network', and 'Gone Girl' amongst others. This film is based on a script written by David Fincher's father Jack Fincher which he wrote in the '90's with David wanting to film it following 'The Game' in 1997 but it never eventuated because David wanted to shoot the film in black & white to maintain an authenticity of the period in which the film is set ie. the Hollywood of the 1930's and '40's. When father Jack died in 2003 the film was put on the back burner, until mid-2019 when Netflix International Pictures put the movie into production. The film has garnered positive critical acclaim, and goes on a limited cinematic release from this week before streaming on Netflix from 4th December. 

The story here centres around the life of alcoholic Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he is scribing 'Citizen Kane', and the issues that arose with Orson Welles (Tom Burke) throughout production of the film and in the lead up to the release of the film in 1941. Also starring Tuppence Middleton as Sara Mankiewicz, Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst, Arliss Howard as Louis B. Mayer, Ferdinand Kingsley as Irving Thalberg, Toby Leonard Moore as David O. Selznick, Lily Collins as Rita Alexander and Tom Pelphrey as Joseph L. Mankiewicz. 

'FATMAN' (Rated MA15+) - Written and Directed by the brothers Eshom and Ian Nelms, this American dark comedy action film stars Mel Gibson as Chris Cringle (aka Santa Clause) who in order to save his business which is on an ever downward spiral, is forced into a business arrangement with the US military. To complicate things even more, Chris Cringle gets entrenched in a deadly battle of wits against the Skinny Man (Walton Coggins), a highly skilled assassin working in a toy shop who has been hired by a trumped up twelve year old Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) after he was gifted a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking. Also starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The film has received mostly negative Reviews so far and saw its limited release Stateside on 13th November before its digital download release on 17th November and its limited release in Australia this week. 

'PINOCCHIO' (Rated M) - this Italian fantasy film is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by the Italian film maker Matteo Garrone who's previous Directorial credits include 'Gamorrah' in 2008, 'Tale of Tales' in 2015 and 'Dogman' in 2018. This film is based on the 1883 book 'The Adventures of Pinocchio' by the Italian author Carlo Collodi. 'Pinocchio' has been a passion project for Garrone, who drew the first storyboard of the story at the age of six. This film is aimed at both adults and children, unlike his previous very adult orientated films, and the majority of characters, including Pinocchio himself, were created through prosthetic make-up rather than CGI. The film was released in its native Italy in mid-December last year, in the UK in mid-August this year and now here in Australia from this week. Having taken so far US$20M at the Box Office off the back of a US$12M production budget, the film has so far garnered positive Reviews. The film centres around Geppetto (Roberto Benigni) a poor Italian carpenter who builds a wooden puppet with which to earn himself a living by touring the country with it. As Geppetto begins to build the puppet, which he decides to name 'Pinocchio' (Federico Ielapi), he soon realises that Pinocchio is alive and able to experience feelings and express emotion, and decides to take him as his son. What follows is a journey of discovery and adventure for the wooden puppet as he strives to become a real boy. The film is overdubbed into English.

'MONSOON' (Rated M) - is a British drama film Written and Directed by the Cambodian born Chinese British film maker Hong Khaou in only his second feature film outing following 'Lilting' in 2014. The film saw its World Premier showing at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at the end of June 2019 before its release in the UK in late September this year and in the US last week. The film has generated mostly positive Critical Reviews and has so far taken US$9K at the Box Office. Here Kit (Henry Golding), a young British Vietnamese man, returns to his birth country for the first time in over 30 years. He was just six years old when he and his family escaped Saigon as 'boat refugees' after the Vietnam War. No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit embarks on a personal journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes. Along the way he reconnects with his childhood friend Lee (David Tran) and falls for Lewis (Parker Sawyers), an American whose father had fought in the war. 

'SCHOOL LIFE' (Rated M) - is a French film Written and Directed by Grand Corps Malade (aka Fabien Marsaud) and Mehdi Idir, was released in France in late August 2019 and received positive Reviews from Critics becoming a box office success taking so far US$14M before being streamed via Netflix from early April 2020. And so here, the new vice principal of a middle school in the suburb of Paris, Saint Denis, Samia Zibra (Zita Hanrot) is warned by her fellow teachers that students are unmotivated and rarely abide by any form of discipline. She sees things in a completely different light compared to those others. However, she gets to know the students especially Yanis Bensaadi (Liam Pierron) who is quite sharp and intelligent but disillusioned by a world that seems to have turned its back on him and his family.

'ALL MY LIFE' (Rated M) - is an American romantic drama film Directed by Marc Meyers based on the true story of Solomon Chau and Jennifer Carter. Released in the UK in late October and scheduled for a US release date of early December, the film cost US$25M to produce. This story revolves around a young couple Solomon Chau (Harry Shum Jnr.) and Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe) as they plan their wedding in the face of devastating news. The couple, who had been planning their Toronto wedding since April 2014, found out that Chau had liver cancer in December of that year. To make sure they got the wedding of their dreams, they moved the date up to April 11, 2015, and they raised more than $52,000 through a GoFundMe account. They were married for four months before he died.

'ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE'S DEAD AUNT) (Rated M) - this Australian film is Written and Directed by Monica Zanetti in her feature film making debut. Here seventeen year old Ellie (Sophie Hawkshore) is struggling to find the courage to ask her classmate, Abbie (Zoe Terakes), to the school formal, while at the same time struggling to come out to her Mum, Erica (Marta Dusseldorp). Luckily her Aunt Tara (Julia Billington), a lesbian activist who died in the '80's has shown up as a 'Fairy Godmother' guiding her through and offering advice on the trials and tribulations of first love, whether Ellie wants it or not. The film has generated mostly positive press so far. 

With seven new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-