The film PUBLIC ENEMIES is, in at least one sense, not really a film at all. It
was shot in hi-def video, then transferred to film for theatrical release. I'm
not really sure of how this is done. Several films have been shot this way, but
PUBLIC ENEMIES is the first I've ever seen. It really makes the texture of the
images on-screen very different. You can almost count the pores on an actor's
complexion, or the stubbles of whisker on his chin. At times the clarity of the
image almost drew my attention away from the story.
you haven't seen Michael Mann's recent crime thrillers Miami Vice or Collateral?? both were shot in hi-def as well.? I enjoyed Public Enemies so much it prompted me to tivo and re-watch Mann's first foray into the genre- Thief, made in 1982 (I think) starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld.? Dennis Farina has a small part as a thug in the film and if you don't blink you'll also see William Peterson deliver one line with a billy club in his hand in a barroom.? Michael Mann is simply a great crime film director and I've stated many times here that Manhunter, his version of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon has the superior Hannibal Lector portrayal in it
John Lau
?eggs have no business dancing with stones
-----Original Message-----
From: JIM DOHERTY <jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com>
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 9:06 am
Subject: RARA-AVIS: New Film PUBLIC ENEMIES
Without commenting on whether it's hard-boiled, or noir, or both, or neither, I
think most Rare Birds will enjoy the new film PUBLIC ENEMIES, based on Bryan
Burroughs's non-fiction account of the FBI's Depression-era "War on Crime."
Suffice it to say that, whatever it is, I think it's an appropriate subject for
this list, which should be all a subject should need to be in order for any
individual member to introduce it as a topic.
The rise of gangsterism in the '20's and '30's that was, after all, one of the
elements that led to the development of hard-boiled and/or noir crime fiction.
And this dramatized film gives a compelling portrait of many of the real-life
figures who inspired many of the villains created by the likes of Hammett,
Chandler, and their desciples.
Highly fictionalized (like 1973's DILLINGER, about the same subject), it's
nevertheless hugely entertaining. Johnny Depp plays Dillinger, and damned well.
Christian Bale plays Dillinger's FBI nemesis, Mel Purvis. Bale, already a filmic
crimefighter thanks to the current BATMAN movies. Bale gives a performance that
led me to think he might be a pretty decent Dick Tracy if another Tracy film is
ever attempted, not altogether inappropriate since , inarguably the most famous
hard-boiled detective of them all, was one of the main inspirations for Batman,
whom Bob Kane cheerfully admitted was basically Tracy in super-hero drag.
The film PUBLIC ENEMIES is, in at least one sense, not really a film at all. It
was shot in hi-def video, then transferred to film for theatrical release. I'm
not really sure of how this is done. Several films have been shot this way, but
PUBLIC ENEMIES is the first I've ever seen. It really makes the texture of the
images on-screen very different. You can almost count the pores on an actor's
complexion, or the stubbles of whisker on his chin. At times the clarity of the
image almost drew my attention away from the story.
For those of you who might be interested in seeing a dramatized depiction of the
real-life figures who inspired helped midwife the hard-boiled form, PUBLIC
ENEMIES is highly recommended.
JIM DOHERTY
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