The Philosophy of Michael Mann

by Steven Sanders (Editor), Aeon J. Skoble (Editor), R. Barton Palmer (Editor)

Overview

Known for restoring vitality and superior craftsmanship to the crime thriller, American filmmaker Michael Mann has long been regarded as a talented triple threat capable of moving effortlessly between television and feature films as a writer, director, and executive producer. His unique visual sense and thematic approach are evident in the Emmy Award-winning The Jericho Mile (1979), the cult favorite The Keep (1983), the American epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and the Academy Award-nominated The Insider (1999) as well as his most recent works—Ali (2001), Miami Vice (2006), and Public Enemies (2009).

The Philosophy of Michael Mann provides an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the work of this highly accomplished filmmaker, exploring the director's recognizable visual style and the various on-screen and philosophical elements he has tested in his thirty-five-year career. The essays in this wide-ranging book will appeal to fans of the revolutionary filmmaker and to philosophical scholars interested in the themes and conflicts that drive his movies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813144719
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	04/17/2014
Series:	The Philosophy of Popular Culture
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Steven M. Sanders is emeritus erofessor of ehilosophy at Bridgewater State University. He is the editor of The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film and the coeditor of The Philosophy of TV Noir. Aeon J. Skoble is professor of philosophy at Bridgewater State University and a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Deleting the State: An Argument about Government and Reading Rasmussen and Den Uyl: Critical Essays on Norms of Liberty. R. Barton Palmer is the Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson University, where he also directs the film studies program. He is the coeditor of The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh.

Table of Contents

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Michael Mann Steven Sanders 1

Michael Mann and Nonplace: A Nietzschean Element in Mann's Modern Crime Films Robert Arnett 14

"Awakened to Chaos": Outsiders in The Jericho Mile and Thief R. Barton Palmer 31

Existential Mann Steven Sanders 51

"Do You See?" Reflecting on Evil in Manhunter Aeon J. Skoble 66

Mann and Übermensch: Evil and Power in Manhunter David Sterritt 74

"Blood in the Moonlight": Toward an Aesthetics of Horror in The Keep and Manhunter Ivo Ritzer 90

Style, Meaning, and Myth in Public Enemies Steven Rybin 104

Interiorization in Public Enemies Murray Pomerance 119

Mannerism: Neoclassical Style in the Films of Michael Mann Tom Paulus Vito Adriaensens 141

The Ethics of Contracts, Conscience, and Courage in The Insider David LaRocca 160

The Commodification of Justice: Michael Mann and Postmodern Law Mark Wildermuth 181

Subjectivity and the Ethics of Duty in Michael Manns Cinema Aga Skrodzka 200

Natural Man, Natural Rights, and Eros: Conflicting Visions of Nature, Society, and Love in The Last of the Mohicans Alan Woolfolk 215

Emotion, Truth, and Space in Heat Jonah Corne 227

Mann's Biopics and the Methodology of Philosophy: Ali and The Insider David Rodríguez-Ruiz 244

Acknowledgments 257

List of Contributors 259

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

Although Mann is recognized, both popularly and critically, as a brilliant visual stylist who revitalized the American crime genre in the postmodern era, The Philosophy of Michael Mann is the first scholarly treatment of his oeuvre from a range of philosophical perspectives. Soundly refuting the notion of Mann as a manipulator of surfaces, this volume reveals the subtextual depths and diversity of his feature film career.

Middle Tennessee State University Linda Badley

The Philosophy of Michael Mann is a collection of well-thought-out essays from bright scholarly minds who breakdown their interpretative logic of one of American cinema's most important contemporary auteurs. It is worth a read.

Terry R. Wickham

[The authors] have woven a complex collection of criticism and analysis into a cohesive and satisfying whole that expresses the multiplicity of Mann's oeuvre. [...] Achieved here, in this rather concise yet wholly expansive book, is something worthy of the attention of not only readers interested in the cinema of Michael Mann, but also those interested in philosophy, history, anthropology, and aesthetic theory. A great read.

Film Matters

This is an extremely useful and diverse collection of philosophical musings on one of American cinema's most important contemporary auteurs. The Philosophy of Michael Mann features an impressive line-up of world-renowned film critics, philosophers, literary experts, and Mann scholars—all illuminating the eclectic range of concepts gestured to throughout his decades of work. A provocative, engaging read for students of cinema and philosophy, as well as fans of the director. If there remains any doubt that Mann is a legitimate auteur of the first order, this collection should put it to rest once and for all.

Jason Sperb

"Although Mann is recognized, both popularly and critically, as a brilliant visual stylist who revitalized the American crime genre in the postmodern era, The Philosophy of Michael Mann is the first scholarly treatment of his oeuvre from a range of philosophical perspectives. Soundly refuting the notion of Mann as a manipulator of surfaces, this volume reveals the subtextual depths and diversity of his feature film career." — Linda Badley, Middle Tennessee State University

"This is an extremely useful and diverse collection of philosophical musings on one of American cinema's most important contemporary auteurs. The Philosophy of Michael Mann features an impressive line-up of world-renowned film critics, philosophers, literary experts, and Mann scholars — all illuminating the eclectic range of concepts gestured to throughout his decades of work. A provocative, engaging read for students of cinema and philosophy, as well as fans of the director. If there remains any doubt that Mann is a legitimate auteur of the first order, this collection should put it to rest once and for all." — Jason Sperb, Northwestern University, author of Blossoms & Blood: Postmodern Media Culture and the Films of Paul Thomas Anderson

"[... ] [The authors] have woven a complex collection of criticism and analysis into a cohesive and satisfying whole that expresses the multiplicity of Mann's oeuvre.

[...] Achieved here, in this rather concise yet wholly expansive book, is something worthy of the attention of not only readers interested in the cinema of Michael Mann, but also those interested in philosophy, history, anthropology, and aesthetic theory. A great read." — Film Matters

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