One of year's most anticipated films hits theaters Friday. Michael Mann's "The Insider," starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, provides a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes machinations of a "60 Minutes" exposé of the tobacco industry that never made it on the air.
This incendiary film is ruffling some serious feathers: "60 Minutes" executive producer Don Hewitt and chief correspondent Mike Wallace are huffing that "The Insider" portrays them unfairly (Wallace called the movie "such bulls-" in the Sept. 18 issue of TV Guide). But the real reason to be excited about the movie is Mann, who has emerged as a director with a provocative voice.
With an arresting, muscular visual style, Mann creates environments in which men are at war with one another. Whether he's examining the streets of L.A., Miami or the Adirondack Mountains in 1757, Mann finds men who have evolved to suit their milieu and are great at what they do. The intensity of his films comes when their wills collide. It will be interesting to see how he applies these themes to the behind-the-scenes minefield of television news.
After attending London's International Film School, Mann began his career in the late 1970s, as a television writer for such shows as "Starsky and Hutch," and in 1979 directed the acclaimed TV prison drama "The Jericho Mile."
From there, Mann moved on to the big screen with "Thief," starring James Caan in the heroic role of a high-class burglar. "Thief" is mostly notable for Mann's use of such striking cinematic technique as Donald Thorin's dream-like cinematography (using odd shifts in camera placement and lighting that creates an inviting atmosphere) and Tangerine Dreams' memorable score.
1983 saw the release of Mann's second feature film, "The Keep," a much more peculiar work. This adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's book features an impressive roster (Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Sir Ian McKellen) but remains largely abstract, as Mann's penchant for style and appearance makes his storytelling a bit murky.
After "The Keep" froze at the box office, Mann returned to his more successful home, television, and created one of the biggest hits and most representative shows of the 1980s, "Miami Vice." In addition to making a star out of Don Johnson, Mann became the anti-Steven Bochco. He made crime-fighting look like it could actually be fun. Using Jan Hammer's score, Giorgio Armani's flashy clothing designs and gorgeous on-location photography, Mann added pizzazz to the life of narcotics investigation.
Mann took a break again from television halfway through the run of "Miami" to film "Manhunter," adapted from Thomas Harris' novel "Red Dragon." This prequel to "The Silence of the Lambs" introduced the world to the character of Hannibal Lecter (here played by Brian Cox).
William Petersen stars as Will Graham, another tough-talking, occasionally violent detective, who consults Lecter, whom he put behind bars, to help capture a serial killer. Here is the first time one can see the wheels turning in Mann's head. "Manhunter" succeeds in getting underneath the viewer's skin and becoming a taut suspense thriller.
As he has developed his style, Mann has become less prolific, but when he stepped behind the lens again after six years, the wait was worth it - 1992's "The Last of the Mohicans" outdid all of his previous efforts. Mann brings the James Fenimore Cooper classic to life with such zeal and vigor that it almost makes the audience that they, too, could have participated in the romance and revelry that was the French and Indian War.
With "Mohicans," Mann abandons the world of urban crime to create a full-fledged celebration of the hero. As Hawkeye, Daniel Day-Lewis makes a perfect leader for this frontier fantasy. He is one with the mountainous woods around him, but finds himself caught in a war between forces that understand nothing about the American frontier or the people who live there.
Hawkeye's dilemma is complicated by his involvement with the ravishing Madeline Stowe, who plays Cora Munro, the daughter of a British officer. It is the chemistry between Day-Lewis and Stowe - one of the greatest pairings of the last decade - that distinguishes "Mohicans." Not only has Mann mastered the art of visual brio in his storytelling, but he makes the audience feel the impact in their hearts as well.
Moving away from the mountains of upstate New York, Mann makes present-day L.A. his muse in "Heat," his most fully realized film. As story, it is invigorating in its scope and complexity: Mann charts a duel between an expert thief, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), and a crackerjack detective, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), while also integrating the lives of their friends and families. Mann's action scenes are unparalleled in their technical brilliance, whether he's placing the viewer in the middle of a shootout or sustaining tension as McCauley and his men abort a heist under Hanna's surveillance.
But due to Mann's amazing visuals, "Heat" also becomes one of the best and most multilayered visions of an urban landscape ever captured on film. His L.A. is vast and anonymous, and he stages scenes amid the residue of urban sprawl - underneath a freeway or in the fields surrounding an airport. Through Mann's compositions and scenery, the viewer sees how the city could create two such dedicated loners as Hanna and McCauley, and how they develop a strange mutual respect as they are pitted against one another. Mann introduces the complex interactions of their friends and families so he can strip them away, leaving McCauley and Hanna alone in the blankly indifferent city that created them.
"Heat" and its director offer breathtaking reminders of the possibilities of cinema. Here's hoping "The Insider" will further cement Mann's place in the pantheon of modern filmmakers.
(Cavalier Daily Arts & Entertainment Editor Ben Nuckols contributed to this article.)
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