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David Fincher's film is sure to be a masterpiece, but the truth is quite the opposite

After a short break, David Fincher returns to filmmaking to adapt a screenplay by his late father, which deals with the behind-the-scenes writing of "Citizen Kane."

The result, "Maneck", aired over the weekend on Netflix and turns out to be a smug, tedious and exhausting work

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• David Fincher

• Netflix

• Lily Collins

Avner Shavit

Friday, 04 December 2020, 00:41

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Trailer for the movie "Maneck" (Netflix)

Image processing Shai Librovsky

"Citizen Kane" was released in 1941, and has since maintained its status as one of the most acclaimed films, if not the most acclaimed of them all.

His opening sentence, "Rosebad," also gained mythological status, as one of the most famous cinematic quotes ever.

What is "Rosebud"?

Good question.

This is the sentence that the protagonist of the film, the son of the character of the press mogul William Randolph Hurst, says when he is on his deathbed, and from here on out "Citizen Kane" tries to understand the meaning of this statement.

Now, a movie called "Maneck" is coming up on Netflix, which makes a similar move: tracing the circumstances that led to the making of "Citizen Kane."

Surprisingly, he does not turn the spotlight on the character who is almost exclusively identified with the classics - director, producer and star Orson Welles, whose character appears here for only a few short minutes.

Instead, the one who stands in the center of the stage is revealed to be Herman J. Mankiewicz, the filmmaker who wrote the first version of the script for the canonical work.

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Despite everything, there are quotes for the Pantheon.

From "Maneck" (Photo: PR)

The screenplay for "Maneck" was written by Jack Fincher, who passed away a little over a decade and a half ago, and before he had time to see it see the light of day.

The person who carried out the project was his son, none other than David Fincher - one of the greatest American directors of our generation, whose resume includes modern classics such as "Seven Sins", "Fight Club" and "Social Network", but like many he gave up cinema over the decade Previous and focused on television making, "House of Cards" for example.

"Maneck" is his first film since "Disappeared" six years ago, but due to the Corona, most of the world will see it directly on Netflix, and so will we in Israel of course.

Netflix is ​​known as one of the only content entities nowadays that allow filmmakers to realize their artistic vision.

They funded "The Irish" despite its huge budget, exhausting length and innovative techniques and embraced "Rome" despite being Spanish-speaking and black and white.

"Maneck," as befits his preoccupation with classic Hollywood, also flaunts these colors and is made in a style reminiscent of 1940s movies.

Mankiewicz is played by Gary Oldman, in the same feigned, vociferous style that he used to play Churchill in "Dark Hour" - a role for which he won an Oscar, of course, because what do members of the academy like more than papers.

On one level, the film is a portrait of the filmmaker, who turns out to be a special and colorful character: a man whose tactlessness equals only his kindness, and it is impossible not to be hurt by him, but also impossible not to love him.

On another level, it's also a story about the writing process, of "Citizen Kane" and in general of the scripts of that period, and also a peek behind the scenes of Hollywood in those days - days that were and are and will never come back.

And there are other, more important layers: According to the controversial "Maneck" sub, the script of "Citizen Kane" was for Mankiewicz closing a circle and also closing an account with Hurst, who had a deep personal acquaintance with him and his mistress - actress Marion Davis .

A Mannerist show just like the one Oscar brought him.

Gary Oldman from "Maneck" (Photo: PR)

Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for "Citizen Kane" in the early 1940s.

He had known Hurst in depth a few years earlier, and his flashbacks take us back to the most interesting story of all: how the filmmaker acted in the service of the press mogul and of capitalism in general.

This is to block the path of Upton Sinclair, the writer who tried to be elected governor of California in 1934 with a socialist platform.

The rivals of the idealistic intellectual had labeled him a dangerous communist, using a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to do so, using the money of studio managers and their artistic resources to spread Pike News.

Sound familiar?

Indeed, this layer is so topical that it sometimes seems that “mank” is taking place nowadays.

In addition to this relevant and fascinating plot line, Maneck has a host of other virtues: Oscar Messerschmidt's photography is a feast for the eyes, and reinforces the longing to watch movies on the big screen;

Some of the scenes that take place in the corridors of the studios rise to levels of gems like “Burton Pink,” mostly thanks to the character of Louis Mayer, the MGM boss who turns out to be a walking entertainment show, with quotes for the Pantheon;

Amanda Seyfried, after a period in which she had to participate in films like "The Art of the Race in the Rain", finally gets a role she deserves, and is great in the character of Davis - if anyone here deserves an Oscar, it's her;

Lily Collins, too, who has been slandered for "Emily in Paris," excels as Mankiewicz's writer, and scatters such a class that it's now harder to deny the resemblance between her and Audrey Hepburn.

But all of these are small gifts, not elements that crystallize into a coherent experience.

"Maneck" confused me and even tormented me: I barely managed to watch it for the first time, I barely approached the second viewing with even greater difficulty, and to be honest, I don't have much desire to write about it either.

If anyone here deserves a figurine, it's her.

Amanda Seyfried from "Manek" (Photo: PR)

The problems are specific and profound.

Let’s start with the first category: the film is exhausting, for me, because of the same flashy Oldman acting show;

Because of the script, which does not have a single sentence that is not sharpened, clever and tiredly witty, which means that there is also not a single sentence that there is a chance that someone would actually say it;

Because of the tedious pace, which unfolds slowly over more than two hours;

And because of the fact that all the scattered plot lines just don’t connect.

If it hadn't been for Fincher's floor class movie about a classic the size of "Citizen Kane," would Netflix have purchased it?

Would we talk about it?

Would anyone have watched it?

I think not.

This leads me to an even deeper problem: because of its content and the way it is made, "Maneck" is defined as an ecstatic experience for movie mice.

A film that is both for the well-traveled and for those who are interested, with photography that only those who know how to play with the technical settings on television can enjoy properly, and with references that require control of the material to identify them.

Pincher scatter all of this here in such a geeky and smug way that one can get confused and think that it is the work of Trentino.

"Maneck" is so fat with so much pride and self-importance that you can really feel how he raises his nose and sonnets at those who dared not enjoy it - did not you like?

You probably do not have a big enough screen, or you do not understand the importance of Wells and Mankiewicz, or you do not know how to appreciate cinema as it used to.

For people like you our Lily Collins did "Emily in Paris".

The truth is that his arrogance annoyed me so much that I felt like making fun of "Citizen Kane" (don't worry, it won't happen).

It's harder to deny her resemblance to Audrey Hepburn.

Lily Collins from "Maneck" (Photo: PR)

Admiration and awe for classic Hollywood may be failing contemporary directors.

It happened to the Cohen brothers with "Long Live the Emperor", one of their most forgotten films, and it now also happens to Pincher, whose hitherto each of his films was bingo.

It is possible that the respect for his father's script was also in its infancy.

One can of course understand why he saw in him things that were not and why he did not correct what was broken.

I, too, probably have a lot of respect for Fincher, a great director whose talent is also evident in this film, but in the end, "Maneck" is a classic Netflix cinematic project - lots of spirit and ringtones, lots of headlines and not much beyond that, and even if The streaming service will push it hard, let me put my money on so that few will bother to watch it to the end.

Orson Welles managed even without algorithms.

Netflix is ​​not there yet.

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