Is Michael Mann an auteur? Mann is a formidable filmmaking personality, no doubt, but the notion that today’s celebrity cult of director immediately correlates with the mysterious sect of auteur is questionable and deserves to be investigated. In doing so this book strives to emulate the methodology of the man himself, by ranging over not only the films he has made – from 1979’s The Jericho Mile to 2015’s Blackhat – but also the scope of intellectual interests that they exemplify in an attempt to mine the commonalities, themes and traits that may suggest the presence of an auteur. Through his investigation of Mann’s filmography and the personality that flows through it, Deryck Swann provides the reader with accessible and new ways of thinking about his films to date, including, amongst myriad other things, references to Morris Louis, desert modernism, the X, Y & Z axes, West Coast prison culture, Mayor Richard Daley, Strain Theory, Mike Royko, Chicago’s Auditorium building, and a rarely heard of Charlie Bronson movie!
