A BA English student at the University of Southampton has just signed a book deal with Telos Publishing.
James Slaymaker, who also regularly writes for our very own film section, is set to write a book focused on Michael Mann – the acclaimed filmmaker behind such films as The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Ali, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies and Blackhat.
Speaking exclusively to The Edge, Slaymaker said this of his upcoming publication: “It’s a combination of biography and critical pieces, covering the whole of Mann’s filmography, from his early TV work up to Blackhat. I think Michael Mann is one of the greatest living filmmakers, but he remains strangely under-appreciated (particularly his recent works), maybe because he’s so difficult to categorize.”
“I’d describe him as an idiosyncratic populist, a formally radical nostalgist, a Hollywood Marxist, an egotistical introvert, a romantic who fetishizes technology, and a pulp existentialist.”
While we eagerly wait for the book to be written, take a look at this clip – which has been selected especially by James, as a testament to Mann’s appeal as an auteur.
