Mank                    4 ½ stars

Mank, now available on Netflix, is a rarity as it portrays 1930’s Hollywood while also being filmed in the style of the thirties. Directed by David Fincher (of The Social Network and Gone Girl), it stars Gary Oldman as Hollywood screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz who is best known for writing the screenplay of Orson Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. The film is in black and white and looks much like the movies of the thirties, not only by the tones and shots on the screen, but also by the quick paced dialogue of that era. At the beginning we learn that in 1940 the young 24 year old phenomenon Orson Welles has been given free reign to make whatever movie he wants with whatever resources he needs. Welles has chosen Mankiewicz to write a screenplay about a corrupt media mogul who has even greater ambitions. Throughout the movie we see Mank confined to a bed following a car accident as he dictates to a secretary and receives visits from associates and occasional phone calls from Welles. The rest of the story is done in flash backs to Mankiewicz activities in the thirties where we really get a view of what old Hollywood was like, featuring such figures as Louis B. Mayer of MGM and an aging William Randolph Hearst, the ultrarich media mogul. Amanda Seyfried portrays Marion Davies, Hearst’s mistress and confidant of Mankiewicz. There is a good deal of social commentary on the politics of the age, so it helps to have some historical background. It is set in the midst of the depression at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration with labor strikes going on and with Hitler creating a stir in Europe. There is a socialist movement going on in California with writer Upton Sinclair challenging incumbent Republican Frank Merriam for the Governor’s office. The scene featuring a gathering of big wigs and socialites at Hearst castle engaged in a political discussion is fascinating as the socialist leaning Mankiewicz goes toe to toe with the Republican backers in the room. Much like Welles film, Mank can be viewed as an indictment of the superrich who live off the backs of the workers that keep their enterprise going. It is really Oldman who makes the film work though he is much older than Mankiewicz was at the time. Mank leads the Academy Award nominations with a total of ten, including Beast Actor for Oldman, Best Supporting Actress for Amanda Seyfried, Best Picture and Best Director for David Fincher. The screenplay was written by David Fincher’s father Jack who died in 2003 so never got to see it become reality.