Brock Landers
12-27-2000, 05:30 PM
"Manhunter" A Brock Landers Overview of A Michael Mann Film (8/10)
(Note: this is more of a psychological horror film/thriller...but there's still plenty of gore, psychotic killers (first appearance of Hannibal Lecter) and one of the creepiest scenes ever with Iron Butterfly's psychedelic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" blasting in the background...I think Marilyn Manson covered it on a B-side track to an early album)
While shopping last week, a new poster made me think of the upcoming
theatrical release of "Hannibal" (sequel to 'Silence Of The Lambs"), and
suddenly I got the urge to look for "Manhunter" again (I have had no luck in the
past)…and wouldn't you know it, I found a copy of Michael Mann's film
adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel, "Red Dragon". It was only a crappy VHS
version (the manager said the DVD version is set to be released as a Special
Edition in early 2001), but I bought it anyhow and here's what I thought after not
seeing this film for years and years…
"Manhunter" is an uncanny, persuasive thriller that probably appealed to two
kinds of people upon its original release…fans of "Miami Vice" and psychopathic
killers. It is the story of the hunting down of a revolting psychopathic killer by a
strangely gifted FBI agent. The film was written and directed by Michael Mann,
who first achieved fame for developing and supervising "Miami Vice" and most
recently directed "The Insider" starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino…he also
directed "Heat", "The Last Of The Mohicans" and the upcoming 2001 film "Ali".
"Manhunter" more closely represents the "Miami Vice"-style (slick
compositions, mesmerizing camera movements, a skillfully calculated color
range and over-reliance on rock music for emotional impact.) than any of his
other work and is to some degree dated material. What Mann attempts to do
and what he does best, is to compose a terrifying dreamscape in which
psychological monsters prowl for each other. Mann creates an extremely
unsettling sense of psychoculture…the film feels not only like it is taking place
in the belly of the beast, but in his brain as well…
William Petersen, who made his debut in "To Live and Die in L.A.", plays Will
Graham, the title character. Graham is an investigator who specializes in serial
killers at considerable risk to his own body and mind. His personality is familiar,
but his technique is puzzling. A conventional burnt-out cop, he's seen too much,
too soon and is discovered (by Dennis Farina) staring moodily out to sea,
unsure whether he'll join the hunt again. But, he's too good to sit this one out.
The crime that draws Graham from retirement…he lives on the beach in Florida
with wife Kim Greist ("Brazil") and son…are the murders, during consecutive full
moons, of two families. The deaths and subsequent mutilations of families in
their beds at night is evoked by the director just vividly enough for dramatic
purposes without seeming to dwell on them…which is good judgement on his
part…
The real fascination of this film, for me, is in watching Graham work. Evidently
possessing a rare gift of psychic empathy, he likes to visit crime scenes and
re-create the crimes in his imagination as he traces the killers' steps and
thereby inspires in himself intuitive leaps in logic. Mann chronicles this process
with extreme believability, particularly as Graham draws near to the final
discovery that uncovers the killer. Another filmmaking triumph of "Manhunter" is
the way that Mann keeps track of the investigation. He labors vigorously here to
keep the story of the investigation moving forward and grounded in the realities of
modern forensics. (Note: Mann has an unbilled cameo as a lab technician)
There's plenty of convincing police procedure, helped in no small amount by
Dennis Farina as the extremely believable FBI supervisor…
There are times when Mann tries to cram too much in though. I was unsure how
Graham made a vital connection between Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox in a
wonderful piece of acting, later made famous by Anthony Hopkins), a creepy
psychopath he had previously caught, and the "Red Dragon" killer-at-large, by
way of a secret communication between them. But the air of menace is so
complete and so compelling, it's easy to forgive this lapse. In the second half,
we meet the killer, played with gruesome geekiness by Tom Noonan. (great
performance by the way) It rings true with the novel by Thomas Harris, who
made the killer a sympathetic character. He's a giant, ugly man, with a cleft
palate, who was savagely abused as a child. In his strangeness he has taken
to…this is muted in the film… an over-identification with the poetry and art of
William Blake, particularly with the painting "The Red Dragon and the Woman
Clothed in the Sun", and as fascinating as that is, it becomes somewhat
distracting, particularly as we watch the killer become involved with a blind
woman (the phenomenal Joan Allen) and seem almost to discover love…in fact it
almost violates the ritual of the hunt. I mean, do I want to really know and care
about the killer? Isn't the satisfaction of the moral tidiness of movies, as
opposed to the messiness of real life, the pleasure we take in blowing these
psychopathic misfits back to hell? Just a thought…needless to say the plot
reverses itself once again and presto…in this corner we have Will Graham (good
guy) and in this corner we have the "Red Dragon" (bad guy)…and we also have a
.44 Magnum between them…guess who dies?
(Note: The events in this film occur before the events in Silence of the Lambs,
The (1991). Although there are several characters common to both films, there
are only two actors who appear in both movies. Ironically, they both play
different characters in both films. Frankie Faison plays Lt Fisk in Manhunter
(1986), and Barney in Silence of the Lambs, The (1991), and Dan Butler plays
an FBI fingerprint expert in Manhunter (1986), and an entomologist in Silence of
the Lambs, The (1991)…Originally was to be titled "Red Dragon" after the novel,
but when Year of the Dragon (1985) flopped, Dino de Laurentiis decided to avoid
a "dragon" title.
(Note: this is more of a psychological horror film/thriller...but there's still plenty of gore, psychotic killers (first appearance of Hannibal Lecter) and one of the creepiest scenes ever with Iron Butterfly's psychedelic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" blasting in the background...I think Marilyn Manson covered it on a B-side track to an early album)
While shopping last week, a new poster made me think of the upcoming
theatrical release of "Hannibal" (sequel to 'Silence Of The Lambs"), and
suddenly I got the urge to look for "Manhunter" again (I have had no luck in the
past)…and wouldn't you know it, I found a copy of Michael Mann's film
adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel, "Red Dragon". It was only a crappy VHS
version (the manager said the DVD version is set to be released as a Special
Edition in early 2001), but I bought it anyhow and here's what I thought after not
seeing this film for years and years…
"Manhunter" is an uncanny, persuasive thriller that probably appealed to two
kinds of people upon its original release…fans of "Miami Vice" and psychopathic
killers. It is the story of the hunting down of a revolting psychopathic killer by a
strangely gifted FBI agent. The film was written and directed by Michael Mann,
who first achieved fame for developing and supervising "Miami Vice" and most
recently directed "The Insider" starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino…he also
directed "Heat", "The Last Of The Mohicans" and the upcoming 2001 film "Ali".
"Manhunter" more closely represents the "Miami Vice"-style (slick
compositions, mesmerizing camera movements, a skillfully calculated color
range and over-reliance on rock music for emotional impact.) than any of his
other work and is to some degree dated material. What Mann attempts to do
and what he does best, is to compose a terrifying dreamscape in which
psychological monsters prowl for each other. Mann creates an extremely
unsettling sense of psychoculture…the film feels not only like it is taking place
in the belly of the beast, but in his brain as well…
William Petersen, who made his debut in "To Live and Die in L.A.", plays Will
Graham, the title character. Graham is an investigator who specializes in serial
killers at considerable risk to his own body and mind. His personality is familiar,
but his technique is puzzling. A conventional burnt-out cop, he's seen too much,
too soon and is discovered (by Dennis Farina) staring moodily out to sea,
unsure whether he'll join the hunt again. But, he's too good to sit this one out.
The crime that draws Graham from retirement…he lives on the beach in Florida
with wife Kim Greist ("Brazil") and son…are the murders, during consecutive full
moons, of two families. The deaths and subsequent mutilations of families in
their beds at night is evoked by the director just vividly enough for dramatic
purposes without seeming to dwell on them…which is good judgement on his
part…
The real fascination of this film, for me, is in watching Graham work. Evidently
possessing a rare gift of psychic empathy, he likes to visit crime scenes and
re-create the crimes in his imagination as he traces the killers' steps and
thereby inspires in himself intuitive leaps in logic. Mann chronicles this process
with extreme believability, particularly as Graham draws near to the final
discovery that uncovers the killer. Another filmmaking triumph of "Manhunter" is
the way that Mann keeps track of the investigation. He labors vigorously here to
keep the story of the investigation moving forward and grounded in the realities of
modern forensics. (Note: Mann has an unbilled cameo as a lab technician)
There's plenty of convincing police procedure, helped in no small amount by
Dennis Farina as the extremely believable FBI supervisor…
There are times when Mann tries to cram too much in though. I was unsure how
Graham made a vital connection between Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox in a
wonderful piece of acting, later made famous by Anthony Hopkins), a creepy
psychopath he had previously caught, and the "Red Dragon" killer-at-large, by
way of a secret communication between them. But the air of menace is so
complete and so compelling, it's easy to forgive this lapse. In the second half,
we meet the killer, played with gruesome geekiness by Tom Noonan. (great
performance by the way) It rings true with the novel by Thomas Harris, who
made the killer a sympathetic character. He's a giant, ugly man, with a cleft
palate, who was savagely abused as a child. In his strangeness he has taken
to…this is muted in the film… an over-identification with the poetry and art of
William Blake, particularly with the painting "The Red Dragon and the Woman
Clothed in the Sun", and as fascinating as that is, it becomes somewhat
distracting, particularly as we watch the killer become involved with a blind
woman (the phenomenal Joan Allen) and seem almost to discover love…in fact it
almost violates the ritual of the hunt. I mean, do I want to really know and care
about the killer? Isn't the satisfaction of the moral tidiness of movies, as
opposed to the messiness of real life, the pleasure we take in blowing these
psychopathic misfits back to hell? Just a thought…needless to say the plot
reverses itself once again and presto…in this corner we have Will Graham (good
guy) and in this corner we have the "Red Dragon" (bad guy)…and we also have a
.44 Magnum between them…guess who dies?
(Note: The events in this film occur before the events in Silence of the Lambs,
The (1991). Although there are several characters common to both films, there
are only two actors who appear in both movies. Ironically, they both play
different characters in both films. Frankie Faison plays Lt Fisk in Manhunter
(1986), and Barney in Silence of the Lambs, The (1991), and Dan Butler plays
an FBI fingerprint expert in Manhunter (1986), and an entomologist in Silence of
the Lambs, The (1991)…Originally was to be titled "Red Dragon" after the novel,
but when Year of the Dragon (1985) flopped, Dino de Laurentiis decided to avoid
a "dragon" title.