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Johnny Depp and Michael Mann are Public EnemiesTwo Giants Join Forces in John Dililnger Bio
A celebrated director of modern-day crime sagas, Michael Mann takes on a film about the hunt for John Dillinger. Is he up to the challenge of a sprawling period piece?
Public Enemies stars Johnny Depp as notorious bank robber John Dillinger. Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice) directs the film based on Brian Burroughs’ non-fiction book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI. The script’s scrupulous detail benefited greatly from Burroughs’ two years of research into the era. No doubt, this dedication to historical accuracy of a fascinating time impressed acting talent as well, given the caliber of Johnny Depp’s co-stars:
Michael Mann co-scripted and directs the film, but a man known as a chronicler of modern times Los Angeles (Collateral, L.A. Takedown) appears an odd choice to helm a Prohibition-era historical drama. As a writer, not only has Mann examined the gleaming façade and gritty underbelly of life on both sides of the law, he has also exhibited a strong interest in the future of high-definition video in theatrical filmmaking. He shot many sequences in Ali in HD, and used in almost exclusively in Collateral and Miami Vice. As a writer in the 1970s, Mann emerged from television having written for many crime dramas of the day, including Starsky & Hutch, Police Story and Vega$. He continued the trend as writer and producer of such seminal 1980s police shows as Miami Vice and Crime Story. The Right Man for the Job? Mann displays a rigorous intellect and laser-sharp focus on detail in all his work. His control over every aspect of filmmaking has earned him the reputation as a scrupulous auteur. This will serve him well when dealing with the particulars of period detail. He has also made two historical films previously: The Keep (1983), a brooding horror film set in World War 2-ravaged Romania; and his adaptation of James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans (1992). Both films are steeped in the kind of rich attention to detail that delights fans of historical films, while also satisfying the demands of the horror and action genres respectively. The director also exhibits a slavish devotion to historical accuracy, as related by producer Kevin Misher. The production shot on as many real-life locations as possible. “If we could find where Dillinger walked, we shot where he walked.” Historians and film-goers should agree that the legend of John Dillinger is in good hands.
The copyright of the article Johnny Depp and Michael Mann are Public Enemies in Biopic Dramas is owned by Jesse McLean. Permission to republish Johnny Depp and Michael Mann are Public Enemies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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