By offering up the figures of bank robber John Dillinger and F.B.I. officer Melvin Purvis, Michael Mann is once again rolling out his own obsessions about obsessive men who mirror each other… or is he? Is the main focus here not the men but the systems by which they operate? Dillinger is presented here as one of the last true outlaws (he is being replaced by more business like and profitable ventures), whilst the F.B.I. and interstate enforcement is just coming into existence. Purvis is a driven man but his weapons include technology and the methodical gathering of information. If this is an extension of the themes essayed in Heat (1995) then the roles have been reversed. Maybe the clue is in the title and this is a study of the birth of the celebrity/information era but to be honest I’m not sure. Why this story? Why now? It’s definitely an interesting tale but, unlike Mann’s previous films there is a lack of focus that keeps that keeps the viewer at a distance, talking of which…
Michael Mann makes beautiful films. His name has always been a guarantee that what you are paying to see will be ‘cinema’. Equally at home in the forests of Last of the Mohicans (1992) as he is on the neon-lit streets of L.A., Mann (and frequent DoP Dante Spinotti) has an eye for image and the ability to fill a screen. The problem with Public Enemies is that whenever the camera, or even something within the frame, moves there is a distracting blur that kicks you out of the narrative and sets you thinking about the camera – this is deadly and, I suspect, the reason why I just couldn’t invest in what was happening. By the way, I’m not just being precious about Mann using digital. I love digital and I think that the images can be fantastic (I also subscribe to Mike Figgis’ view that ‘digital is digital so lets not pretend it’s film’) but, no matter what format you are using, it really helps if the film is watchable. Public Enemies is beautiful when still but a mess when moving and, I suspect, might be one of the first truly cinematic films that will become more satisfying when viewed at home.
Public Enemies is at cinemas now and please let me know if you found it hard to watch because I’m convinced that it’s a better film than I experienced last night.
I was also unconvinced by the use of digital in this film. My concerns were a little different to yours. Yes I did see the blur but I was more concerned by the way it affected the look of the film. Neither of these things ruined the enjoyment of the film.
http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/we%e2%80%99re-here-for-the-bank%e2%80%99s-money-not-yours/