As long as they have been making films, the social outcast becoming a lurid serial killer has been a fascination. Not for reasons of morbidity or even the growing acceptance of violence/torture. It is most likely to examine the loss of one's humanity and the damage inflicted by the mind.
Before streamers were filled with enough dramas and documentaries to fulfill even the worst nightmares, traditionalists like Hitchcock and expressionists like Fritz Lang used the brutality of murder to process the crushing reality of the world waiting outside of the theatre.
However, real life interceded in too many places after the runaways of secretly broken homes of the Sixties became the victims of cruel and disturbing sociopaths in the Seventies. In a collision with reality, a trend once seen as "sensationalist" began using the newspapers and the media to fuel its habit.
This intersection in cultural history presented an opportunity to combine the same skin-crawling fear from Eighties slasher films with the nerve-jangling yet accurate point-of-view of those trying to put the breadcrumbs together to prevent the next heinous crime. That last statement is of paramount importance. In the beginning (and to a certain extent unlike slasher films,) these films were in no way looking to immortalize their criminal subjects. If they were to live on, it was only to be as the proverbial boogeymen.
Enter Michael Mann. A gifted writer and director. Mann knew from his Seventies work on "Police Story" with acclaimed cop-turned-author that telling the law's side of the story would achieve the same level of realism that Hitchcock, Lang, and others previously did. Years of research went into his transfer of Thomas Harris's chilling novel "Red Dragon." Even working with the talented actors, Mann wanted them to stretch their boundaries to the point of almost being uncomfortable with their characters. This level of commitment pays off richly in the stylish, yet accurate "Manhunter."
Mann's star was on the rise because of his MTV-period revamp of cop shows known as "Miami Vice." At the time of its release in 1986, the similarities nearly damned the film to obscurity. Forty years later, the bold colors and set design only emphasize the creeping miasma of psychological problems in what appears to be a perfect world. In addition, Mann's script is drawn out in a way that routinely leads you away from classically timed film development. As a director, he is routinely pointing out the split personalities of his protagonist (the intense, wiry William Petersen) and his antagonist (the menacing, yet impossible-to-read Tom Noonan - who was so repelled by his research, he had to quit and isolate himself instead.)
Mann works early in the film as Petersen in an Atlanta hotel is poring over home videos of the latest victims. From behind the TV, we are given the point-of-view of seeing Petersen, the FBI profiler purposefully lose himself to the negative thoughts of a killer. With no cuts, just a simple follow shot from left to right, we are inside the process with a newfound sympathy for those who lose themselves to stop criminals.
Later in the film, after a procedural run that probably inspired the CSI franchise (where Petersen eventually found fame) and others, Mann diverts his killer from his planned crime for prey a little closer to home. The effect here is chilling, because it is played like seduction (no spoilers, promise) but with enough space that you cannot figure out where it is going. Mann uses nearly every shot and nuance to take you out of the mechanics of his plot - thus, seducing the viewer.
Given its small budget and Mann's growing profile, "Manhunter" does so much with its actors to keep the presentation real. In one inspired sequence, the production did not have enough money to stage a scene where Petersen boards a commercial plane and studies his files. Without permission, Mann booked Petersen and a small camera crew on a flight from Chicago to Florida. Smuggling their gear on board in carry-on luggage, they waited for a quiet moment when the crew was busy and filmed it "guerrilla style."
Finally, a word on the first appearance of Hannibal Lecktor (original spelling.) Scottish actor Brian Cox (now a huge star from "Succession" to voicing McDonald's ads) is the perfect choice. Classic Shakespearean actor Anthony Hopkins always keeps you wondering exactly what he is thinking and withholding in the other films - which is a huge accomplishment. Cox, on the other hand, consistently plays Lecktor as if he has no sense of right or wrong and leaves you wondering how many moves he is in front of everyone.
It is no wonder that Quentin Tarantino regards "Manhunter" as one of the best films of what he regarded as the dreadful Eighties, it remains both dangerously real and dreamlike in places. Fans of "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" can even see the huge debt Tarantino pays to "Manhunter" - but as always, you must watch - and watch closely.
