Michael Mann

This is a director who hasn't gotten his due from the public nor the critics alike. He's done work which study men at work. By work, I mean professions as criminals and detectives. He was the mind behind such films as Heat, the Insider, Collateral, Miami Vice and the recent Public Enemies. There is a clear correlation between the characters of these films. Most of these movies include cops and robbers.

I believe that Mann's work has redefined the idea of an action movie. Most of the films that I said early have substantial amounts of action and violence in them. In fact, some of the most perfectly shot and executed action scenes have been seen in his films, like the bank robbery in Heat or the showdown in the forrest in Public Enemies. Despite the action and violence being very well done in his film, that is not the reason why I believe Mann has redefined this genre. It's how powerful his character studies are.

Take Heat for example. Throughout the film, we see that both the antagonist and protagonist are severly flawed. Pacino's character lives for his police work which hurts his marriage. DeNiro's character is lonely which is in part due to the career that he chose, criminal/thief. Mann goes into a more Arthouse territory with Public Enemies. He studies more the era of crime in which the movie takes place, which is the great depression, than the actual characters themselves in the film. I used the word arthouse because of the way he uses his camera. Often enough the camera shakes when theres action and gets a close up of the main characters at certain key points. The camera is almost a character of the film, giving the audience access to these to these criminals of great reputation.

There's also the sound in Public Enemies. When a gun fires, it roars. Some may find that aspect of the film somewhat annoying and loud, but I think that it serves a purpose. Adds a sort of chaos to the gun battles, which seems appropriate and even necessary.

Michael Mann loves the look of cities in the nighttime. Whether its in Heat, Miami Vice or Collateral, the night shots really set the mood. Mann used a digital camera for his more recent films which bring out the texture of his nighttime scenes. Some might argue that using a digital camera is simply not proper, but it serves his purpose to help the audience better see his night scenes.

Michael Mann has done a lot for the movie business. He pushed the boundaries of the "action" movie and turned it into a very respectible genre. Hopefully, there will be many more Michael Mann films to come.