Customer Reviews

Blood in the Moonlight: Michael Mann and Information Age Cinema

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Critical analyses of the works of Michael Mann remain rare, but this little gem of a book, which integrates theory with lucid writing (all too rare for theoretical frameworks) and a thoroughly precise examination of Mann's pictures from 1981 through 2001, worthily meets the task that Mann admirers would be looking for in a critical study. Wildermuth brushes past the more obvious Mannian themes for a more probing and immediate discourse on the nature of communication, and how Mann laments how informatics and economics of consumption are incongruent with genuine symbolic exchange between beings. The only regret is that this nifty little book does not have chapters on Mann's two most recent films, "Collateral" and "Miami Vice", a pity as both may be all too easily dismissed as genre films, when in fact the fascinating ideas in Wildermuth's study would readily be applied to them also.

Let me start by acknowledging that the author is my brother. That said, I am writing this review as a Michael Mann fan. There are so few books that provide in depth analysis of Mann's film and TV work. My brother's book is a fascinating exploration of director Michael Mann's (Miami Vice) recurring theme of the importance of communication to society and the manipulation and abuse of media. Excellent illustrations accompany an intriguing analysis of media culture in films including "The Insider", "Ali", "The Keep" (a great, almost unknown Mann film), "Heat", and "Last of the Mohicans." Very thought provoking - this book will help you see the films of Mann in a whole new way. By the way, if you are interested in Michael Mann, I also recommend A One-Man Show? The Construction and Deconstruction of a Patriarchal Image in the Reagan Era: Reading the Audio-Visual Poetics of Miami Vice. This is a cool socio-political analysis of Miami Vice in the context of the Regan era. Both books are highly recommended.
You might also want to check out Dr. Wildermuth's new book, Print, Chaos, and Complexity: Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-century Media Culture if you are intrigued by media culture. Bet you never thought about media culture in the context of the 18th century! Dr. Johnson and Michael Mann have something in common and Dr. Wildermuth is a true expert on this theme. Enjoy!