Michael Mann
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer. Best known for his stylised crime dramas, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as earned nominations for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. His most acclaimed works include the films Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), Public Enemies (2009), and Ferrari (202
Defining films
In their own words
Films like Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï and Army of Shadows or the works of Gillo Pontecorvo, particularly The Battle of Algiers, have always been touchstones for me in terms of creating that level of immersive realism, especially when approaching something like Miami Vice.
Melville has this very spare, hard-boiled, almost existential approach to his characters. That was something I always admired and tried to bring into my own work, from Thief to Miami Vice and Heat.
Films like Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï [1967] and Army of Shadows [1969] or the works of Gillo Pontecorvo, particularly The Battle of Algiers [1966], have always been touchstones for me in terms of creating that level of immersive realism, especially when approaching something like Miami Vice.
The films I admire most, be it Le Samouraï or The Battle of Algiers, or La Dolce Vita, have an immediate sense of reality about them, even if they're fictionalized. It's that kind of immersion I wanted to achieve with Public Enemies.
