The Cinema of Michael Mann (Genre Film Auteurs)

Steven Rybin has written a thorough, impressively researched, cogently argued piece of film criticism. He covers in depth Mann's ten feature films and some, though not all, of his television work. His discussions will be of most use to film students and scholars, but the book will be a delight to any film goer who would like a better understanding of Mann's objectives as a filmmaker, his verve and style, and the themes that resonate throughout his body of work. Rybin's writing is free of jargon and obscurity. His book is studded with apt descriptions of scenes from Mann's films. And, as the cliche-description has it, he wears his erudition lightly, though it is obvious that he has a firm grounding in film history and criticism.Perhaps the highest commendation I can give this book is to say that it provides readers with a way of seeing Mann's films. Even when you disagree with a particular way Rybin "reads" a scene (or entire film), you come away enriched by the alternative perspective he has provided.Numerous anecdotes attest to Mann's almost complete control over the writing, shooting, and editing of his work. Steven Rybin takes Mann's exertions as a filmmaker seriously, and in consequence has written a book worthy of its subject.