then Michael Mann had his Manhunter. Taxi Driver may have capture the 'rage of an era' as Rolling Stone magazine puts it, but Manhunter catches the ease of the 1980s, a far more comfortable decade... Simply beautiful and peaceful.
shareAs I watched this today on HBOgo, I couldn't help but think something similar. I love John Hughes and I think he obviously touched the Youth of the decade, which leads to him being quintessential 80's. Spielberg also had his run with Indiana Jones, ET(And Poltergeist) etc...
BUT, Manhunter slowly has become in the top of my list of 80's cinema, if not my favorite film of the decade. It is just PERFECTLY crafted by Mann and truly brings out the Reagan Years and the "Atmosphere" of the era. Scorsese's 'After Hours' is similar but it's obviously not near the same SCOPE of what Mann did with this film. The color scheme throughout is incredible. While it has moments of almost pure Expressionism, the rest of the film is either lit up with the Skylines or Deeply Darkned in the Suburban Realms of America. The interior scenes... Wow... Spinotti and Mann just dug deep with their usual Bright Lights to Pitch Black contrast, using the Shadows in almost every way. This is truly a somewhat forgotten about and definitely underrated GEM.
People talk about Nightcrawler feeling like Taxi Driver and at times, it certainly does... However, what I see is Manhunter all over the place in that film. The "Murder House" scene is literally ripped right out of those great interior shots of the same type of "Modern Home" scenes in Manhunter. White Carpets, White Sheets, Large Rooms... It's without a doubt a film that speaks for an Era.
Nice call about echoes of Manhunter in Nightcrawler. Both films have that quality of capturing an otherwise ephemeral essence, but also of having captured it and then not being concerned with it. By comparison, Hughes, Spielberg, and Scorsese capture an essence, then try to keep that essence alive somehow. There's a nostalgic quality that is totally absent in Manhunter and Nightcrawler, which is why they, I think, feel so fresh and modern.
Sure, Manhunter has things about it that are out-of-date, but that's different from being outdated.
"Manhunter has things that are out of date but that is not the same as being out-dated"
Exactly. That's a good point to bring up. There are always going to be things that date a film(Clothing, Technology/Electronics, Hairstyles etc) but there are ways to avoid making other mistakes that would limit its "longevity" so to say. Manhunter and Heat are both timeless Mann Films. Scorsese did it with Goodfellas. To me, that's avoids every pitfall thar can date a movie. While Manhunter is a great representation of the Reagan Era but it still works on a psychological and philosophical level today. It's actually more appreciated now than ever.