Movies: Public Enemies, Johnny Depp and Bette Davis

NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

It’s Fourth of July weekend at the movies. What better way to celebrate than with that most patriotic of film genres: the gangster movie. I kid, but it’s definitely true that disreputable types that you would never ever want to associate with in real life have never gone out of style as film heroes. Perhaps it’s the abstracting distance of reel life that makes them attractive?

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Michael Mann, one of Hollywood’s most relentlessly masculine auteurs, has always been drawn to violent men. He brought us Hannibal Lecter’s debut in Manhunter (1986), colonial savagery in The Last of the Mohicans (1992), corporate thuggery in The Insider (1999) and the gun play of Miami Vice (2006) …it’s what he does. His new film PUBLIC ENEMIES, recounts the last year of John Dillinger’s life as a notorious bank robber during the Great Depression. It begins with a huge title card stating "1933". Not for Mann, any fears about today's audiences not (generally) flocking to period dramas. But with one of the most dependable superstars in the world headlining, why worry?

Johnny Depp plays this  "Public Enemy #1", and Mann surrounds the star with a huge cast of fine character actors as well as other dangerous famous beauties like Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Marion Cotillard and even Channing Tatum as "Pretty Boy Floyd". Don’t get excited about the latter… he isn’t long for this film’s world.

 Bang Bang. My Baby Bale shot him down.

Aside from the title card, costumes and the recurring use of the classic "Bye Bye Black Bird" song, there's not much that feels period about Public Enemies. Mann's swift footed digital camera work is jarring at first but once you’ve adapted, it reveals its own distinct harsh beauty, lending the film a strangely modern feel. Plus the antihero (and also Johnny Depp) hold timeless appeal.

MORE, AFTER THE JUMP...
...on Public Enemies, new lesbian films, gay superheroes and the enduring appeal of Bette Davis

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A few character shots and some concept art for Tim Burton's Wonderland have been released. Above, Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts and Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, AFTER THE JUMP...

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