tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666879.post112286870469835496..comments2024-02-06T18:22:11.094-08:00Comments on Signal Bleed: Weekend viewingJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119251227853197640noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666879.post-1123400571383652182005-08-07T00:42:00.000-07:002005-08-07T00:42:00.000-07:00Well, maybe "only" was a little hasty. Offhand, I ...Well, maybe "only" was a little hasty. Offhand, I can think of at least three working directors (Scorsese, Eastwood, Toback) who are exploring manliness regularly in their work; there are probably more, especially if you take in world cinema. <BR/><BR/>But I think that Mann has really distilled his ideas about men and masculinity into a distinctive thesis that he's refined over time; you can really see how certain vague themes in Thief really coalesce in Heat (which I think is one of the best movies of the last 20 years). He's always exploring the way that emotionally unavailable men seal themselves off in these incredibly macho professions (cop, criminal, boxer, TV news producer, hitman, etc.) and then try to come to terms with their own lack of emotions, alternately rejecting their work for the way it closes them off from relationships and embracing it for the way it excuses them from having any feelings. I think he is the foremost chronicler of the way that traditionally masculine men relate to women in a world that is increasingly hostile to traditional masculinity. He may not be the director who best understands relationships overall, but I think he is the one who best understands that particular kind of relationship, and how it fits in with a certain conception of what it means to be a man.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, that's just a few random thoughts; obviously I'd want to develop them further by more closely studying Mann's films. I'm hoping to write something to tie in with his next movie (which unfortunately isn't scheduled to open until next summer).Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06119251227853197640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666879.post-1123287358070746132005-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:002005-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00Ooh, I am intrigued by this. Can you tell me more ...Ooh, I am intrigued by this. Can you tell me more about this essay? (assuming you're too busy to write it anytime soon.) Why "only"?<BR/><BR/>Any essay with a title like that has to be good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666879.post-1123100673546994012005-08-03T13:24:00.000-07:002005-08-03T13:24:00.000-07:00Well, I didn't dislike Le Cercle Rouge, I just fou...Well, I didn't <I>dislike</I> Le Cercle Rouge, I just found it slow and monotonous at times. I think you're right that Melville is also exploring masculinity (I found it more evident in Bob le Flambeur), but it's an old-fashioned, elegant sort of masculinity. Someday I am going to write an essay called "Mann and Manliness" which will explicate my thoughts on Mann, who I think is the best (and perhaps only) "manly" filmmaker working today.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06119251227853197640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666879.post-1123050663950571252005-08-02T23:31:00.000-07:002005-08-02T23:31:00.000-07:00Too bad you didn't like Le Cercle Rouge, that's on...Too bad you didn't like Le Cercle Rouge, that's one of my favorite movies. (My mom thought it was boring, though.) It's interesting that you mention the exploration of masculinity in Mann and Peckinpah, because I think that's Melville's subject, too (in his crime films), though in a different way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com