With his arms folded, and showing just the slightest of smiles, Michael Mann stood in his office on a recent afternoon and watched the opening title sequence to the first episode of "Luck," the HBO series that will air next year and give Mann his first television directing credit in 22 years. On the screen, a montage showed racehorses, gamblers, mob men and money as the Massive Attack song "Splitting the Atom" pulsed along with its languid whispers of desire.
FOR THE RECORD: Michael Mann: An article in Sunday's Calendar section on director Michael Mann's return to television misidentified HBO programming President Michael Lombardo as David Lombardo.
"I wanted to nail — in an abstract, free-form way — the yearning," Mann said later. "Just that, the yearning." At his best moments — in films such as "Heat," "Ali" and "The Last of the Mohicans" — the 67-year-old filmmaker has shown a profound gift for connecting human emotion, music, color and light on the big screen. Before that, as executive producer of "Miami Vice" and "Crime Story" in the 1980s, he brought a new cinematic sensibility to television dramas.
His return to the small screen now is part of a broader migration of big-name talent as adult drama opportunities shrivel in film. But it was still a surprise to many in the industry when it was announced in June, because of the company Mann will be keeping with "Luck." David Milch, the creator of " NYPD Blue" and "Deadwood," is the screenwriter, and Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte lead the cast.
Mann and Milch, who each have an executive producer credit on "Luck," have been described as talented tyrants when it comes to putting their visions on the screen. "They're very respectful … but, as Michael describes it, 'not great with committees,'" said David Lombardo, the HBO programming president who brought the pair together. Hoffman, who is not exactly meek himself, says he sits back and watches it all.
"The sharing of the paintbrush is always a tenuous thing," Hoffman said. "In film, the writers hand over the paintbrush, but in television the directors have less power. But with this one, Mann is more active because he's not just a one-time director, he is the [executive] producer of the show too. It's exciting to see Mann do some scenes there and then talk to Milch and Milch is glowing because it's just wonderful work."
Milch was uninterested in any projected clash-of-egos subplots: "There are challenges in every collaboration, and a challenge is an opportunity in disguise." When asked what Mann brings to the project, Milch did have a glow in his growl. "He brings what he brings to every piece of work of his that I've seen. He's an extraordinary shooter. Michael realizes the visual possibilities of the material with a compression and an intensity that is very, very gratifying. The final product is extraordinary."
The return of Mann to television has another subplot. He is regarded by peers and critics as a signature director of his generation, but Hollywood studios aren't banging down his door after his most recent films. The 2006 film "Miami Vice," a remake of the television show with very little evidence of that heritage, was seen as a creative misstep, and it grossed a lukewarm $164 million worldwide (its production budget was $135 million). "Public Enemies" in 2009 pulled in $214 million around the globe but did not live up to commercial expectations or even award-season hopes for a film starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.
Fair or not, Mann also has that industry reputation as a bulldozer personality and exhausting perfectionist. Asked if he feels misunderstood or misrepresented, he gave a shrug that was pure Humboldt Park, the tough Chicago neighborhood where he grew up. "Oh, I wouldn't know. Do I care? We're human beings, we care. But I don't really dwell on that. I confess I'm pretty ambitious about what I do, so I don't spend a lot of time looking at that."
Mann is by no means surrendering his big-screen directing pursuits. He has two projects — a European period-piece set after the end of serfdom and a tale set in the future that would be his first science-fiction project — so, like Martin Scorsese and "Boardwalk Empire," the "Luck" pilot might be more creative tourism than career tilt. Mann said he went for a ride with "Luck" for one reason alone: "Milch's script is one of the best I've ever read."
The style of 'Vice'
In the 1980s, "Miami Vice" brought a cinematic sensibility to television. Its neon glow, MTV soundtrack and pastel audacities established Mann as a true stylist. That reputation grew in film, in which, with months of preparation and then endless takes, the director could find the precise compositions he wanted visually and the street authenticity he insists on for his characters.
