Public Enemies

Ein weiteres Opus, in dem Christian Bale die zweite Geige spielt. Das hat mich überrascht. Das ist auch einer der Gründe, warum Michael Mann nicht die Perfektion seines Klassikers Heat erreicht hat, wo die Protagonisten auf dem gleichen Niveau waren. Der Star ist hier Johnny Depp, bzw. sein Dillinger – ein harter Bankräuber, der sein Herz Marion Cotillard geschenkt hat. Die Mängel der Digitalkamera (die billige home-made visuelle Seite, die Störungen) nehme ich auch als Handicap wahr – das, was in Cloverfield funktioniert hat, weil es ein Spiegel der gegenwärtigen Entwicklung der Technik und eine Definition eines neuen Subgenres ist, kann in einem Gangsterfilm aus den 30er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts nicht funktionieren. Die positiven Seiten: Ein harter Retro-Krimi mit dem genialen Depp, der sein A und O ist; die Regie, welche den Film mit Grazie serviert. Saftige Schießereien, eine hochwertige Ausstattung und hochwertige Kostüme, ausgezeichnete Dialoge zwischen Depp und Cotillard. Mann skizziert die Atmosphäre der Zeit brillant. Der Film hat einen düsteren Noir-Charakter und ist eine Hommage an die goldene Hollywood-Ära. Public Enemies ist nicht so tief wie Heat, aber auch nicht so leer wie Miami Vice. Er befindet sich irgendwo dazwischen. Und obwohl ich mehr erwartet habe, bin ich zufrieden. (01.07.2009)

There’s no need to hide it under a mountain of text, when one word is enough to describe Public Enemies to the tee: borefest; maybe extended with the adjective digital. It’s hard to say why this flat gangster flick needed to be so long, when not a single one of the protagonists develops in any noticeable way (Purvis has only goal for the entire film and Dillinger doesn't evolve at all after meeting Billie). The biggest problem is how uninteresting both of the main characters are; what can you do when you don’t have anyone to root for (because both of them can be seen negatively) and you don’t give a toss about their fates? A weaker 6/10. (18.08.2009)

A "Michael Mann film" with everything there is to love and hate about it. It's probably going to have a hard time getting through the movie theaters, judging by the reaction of the Johnny Depp fans sitting next to me when I was sitting in there, but it's a hot contender for the title of "film of the year." (10.07.2009)

Mann mach dort weiter, wo er in Miami Vice aufgehört hat - in der rohen und ungeschönten Filmemacherei, wo der scharfe Ton sowie das naturalistische Bild einer Digitalkamera wiedergegeben wird. Wieder einmal weiß er sich wunderbar mit Musik zu helfen, welche den Sequenzen den entsprechenden Drive sowie eine Atmosphäre verleiht. Leider scheiterte die Absicht, ein Heat-Modell der 1930er Jahre zu erstellen, am Drehbuch sowie an Christian Bale. Ich weiß nicht, wer mehr daran schuld ist, aber Depps Halunke spielt die erste Geige und der gute Mann des Gesetzes vermag es überhaupt nicht, mit jedweder Problematik und Zweiheit zu widerstehen. John Dillinger hat hier sein großes Solo und Michael Mann verbeugt sich getreu seinem eleganten Gentlemannaturel vor den Gangster-Melodramen mit Schnurrbart aus der Vergangenheit. Das funktioniert großartig, einschließlich des Schlussteils. Dillingers Motiv als letztem Vertreter der galanter Räuber, welche von einem unauffälligen Mafia-Unheil gerollt werden, verleihen dem Film eine gewisse Tiefe. Zweieinhalb Stunden lang haben es die Public Enemies geschafft, mich zu unterhalten, weil hier Depp und Cotillard in den Kleidern einfach klasse aussehen wurden und Mann mitten ins Geschehen hineinzutauchen vermag. Jedoch dieses Magische etwas fehlt hier - in diesem Falle wäre dies die irritierende Spannung zwischen Gesetz und Verbrechen, Gut und Böse. Dillinger und Purvis sind beide viel zu eindeutig, um ein solch explosives Paar wie Hanna und McAuley zu bilden. (01.07.2009)

Miami Heat in the thirties where the first half is rather slow (even for Mann) but the second half more than makes up for this in genius. Production design? Pricey. Atmosphere? Such that money can’t buy. P.S.: If you ever read King’s short story “The Death of Jack Hamilton", you’ll have come across similar characters. (03.07.2009)

I approached Public Enemies with distrust despite the names involved because I had read some fairly negative criticism before watching the film. Fortunately, it was only prejudice because I had the honor of watching one of the most interesting films in the gangster genre in the last 10 years. If I don't give it five stars, it's only because the competition in this area is very high; very few periods and genres are mapped as well as the world of American gangsters in the 1930s. Johnny Depp plays his narcissistic and fame-craving Dillinger with ease and gusto, and his surroundings also consist of interesting characters with good casting. The portrayal of the love relationship falls a little flat, and I can imagine a more charismatic and charming actress in the lead role. It also plays a role that Dillinger's partner was only a passive element in his life; those desperate women from the movies Bonnie and Clyde or Mesrine: Killer Instinct, who directly participated in the robberies, are simply more appealing to the viewer. The film's strengths are its music and professional direction. Overall impression: 85%. I can't help but add that, compared to Scarface, which has a much higher rating, Public Enemies is a superior spectacle in terms of filmmaking. It's like comparing a tank to a Kia... (14.12.2009)

I don’t know if it makes any sense to play a trailer to an audience about the movie they are about to watch, but since it’s a well-made trailer, no harm's done. The fact that Mann is a perfectionist and shot the movie precisely in the locations where the events took place probably doesn’t need a further explanation, but because of this Public Enemies gains an indescribable atmosphere, that captured me from the beginning and didn’t let me go until the door closes, which happens to be the ending shot of the movie. The digital camera was able to squeeze something different from a “retro" gangster movie than I’m used to. On top of that, Mike knows how to surprise in very unexpected places and sometimes he creates something memorable from a very ordinary scene. And I haven’t even started about the action sequences. To put a movie about bank robbers into hands of a man responsible for the best ever scene about robbing a bank was a golden move. Mostly, they are presented in a “matter of fact" kind a way, but executed with an absolute virtuosity and the icing on the cake is a shoot out in (hands up, patriots ;-) Little Bohemia. Depp and Bale are both awesome, Depp maybe a bit more, but also maybe because he gets more space in the story. The music, as usual with Mann, is perfectly selected and Elliot Goldenthal almost like he’s picking up on his previous collaboration with Mann. I hope there’ll be a purely orchestral soundtrack too. Despite having a lot of common, another Heat isn’t happening, but that’s logical. Every good movie should be unique. (09.07.2009)

Johnny Depp, Christian Bale und Marion Cotillard in einer Neuverfilmung eines modernen Vorkriegs-Gangsterfilms? Perfekt. Es ist nur schade, dass der Link zum Buchvertrieb fehlte und der Roman "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34" (2004) nicht auf Tschechisch erschienen ist. (11.09.2022)

Another gem with heart and conceptual depth that many people (in the cinema, but also on FilmBooster) won't understand and will only see what is visible at first glance: a standard and routine crime story with a handheld camera and raw shootouts with a minimum of emotions. Michael Mann is still the same, but the film is incredibly cool and well thought out. A slightly weaker version of Heat, more intimate and unfortunately set in the 1930s. (25.07.2009)

Einerseits die digitale Kamera (das verstehe ich überhaupt nicht, letztendlich habe ich mich daran aber einigermaßen gewöhnt), eine langwierige Handlung und ein paar historische Ungenauigkeiten, andererseits perfekte Schauspieler*innen, hervorragend aufgenommene Schießereien, verdammt spannende Szenen und Goldenthals magische Musik. Public Enemies ist ein guter, ein sehr guter Film. Aber kein perfekter Film. Falls Michael Mann so etwas wie Heat aus den 30er Jahren drehen wollte (in Hinblick darauf, wie sympathisch/unsympathisch Dillinger und Purvis dargestellt werden, halte ich es für sehr wahrscheinlich), ist es ihm nicht gelungen. Das hat ja aber sowieso keiner erwartet. (12.03.2013)

I hate to do this to Mann, but I just can't rate higher this time. His Public Enemies is a stylish and very appealing film on the outside, but inside it’s desperately underdeveloped and unremarkable, passing only out of inertia and the memories of the great Heat, which is on a much higher level both in content and form, as it relies on a better script and can lean on De Niro and Pacino, whose personal rivalry is the strongest motif of the story. And that's what's sorely lacking here, because Christian Bale, however charismatic and convincing, is sidelined at the expense of Depp's gangster, who plays first fiddle and sets the pace of the story. The long runtime is also a bit of a problem, Mann uses it to create the right period atmosphere and to precisely outline the relationship between Depp and Cotillard, but it slows down the narrative and, something that’s especially noticeable, fails to establish a stronger relationship between the viewer and the main characters, so that we ultimately don't know who to root for. That said, the shootouts and the action sequences are excellent, Mann is at home there and no one can compete with him, as well as the musical score, the authentic cinematography and an the emotionally charged ending that at least partially redeems the reputation. After Heat I expected a lot, but I don't think it's possible to repeat such a film. 70% (07.02.2013)

Michael Mann is a directorial demon, no question about it. Public Enemies mainly tapped into his desire to experiment. However, the importance of this film is undeniable: surely no one will try shooting the 1930s with a digital camera again. It's just incredibly unfitting, and it makes the film look like a wilder Cops and Robbers. The film is also cyclical and undynamic. The viewer feels like they are seeing one scene for the third time. The lackluster or non-existent music doesn't even make it passable. However, the pleasant guitar playing in perhaps two scenes is all the more pleasing. The third thing is the lack of believable relationships between the characters. No spark, no believable flame. You can't buy Depp's love for the sultry dresser because he keeps acting like he just wants to bend her over and send her on the first bus to Mumbai, regardless of the bonds of friendship. I'm using a digital camera to explain it here too. The film simply evokes reconstruction and reconstructions aren't much used to relationships. But otherwise some of the scenes, especially the action scenes, are really great. The sound is perhaps the best I've ever heard in a film. The shootouts are really elaborate and intense. But in the end, there are fewer of them than I would have liked. (15.07.2009)

Michael Mann weiß, wie man spektakuläre Szenen dreht, wo viel geschossen wird. Darin wird der Heat unübertroffen bleiben. Die Geschichte von Dillinger bietet für einen solchen Regisseur ein ideales Sujet. Aber ich habe den Eindruck, dass das Potenzial nicht ganz ausgeschöpft wurde. Ich habe wohl viel mehr erwartet von einer so hervorragenden Besetzung und einer attraktiven Geschichte. Naiver Weise war ich wahrscheinlich auch auf der Suche nach einigen großartigen Dialogen zwischen Depp und Bale, von denen es nur einen gab und der mir wahrscheinlich für immer im Gedächtnis bleiben wird. Und natürlich meine geliebte magische und tolle Marion... (26.12.2022)

I can't help it somehow, I guess I'm under the shadow of "The Godfather", but this mafia film just didn't click with me. Not that Johnny Depp didn't try, Bale always tries, sometimes too much. Even Mann's direction is not bad, plus the digital, widescreen camera... Maybe if I saw it in the cinema instead of on a small screen, I would have enjoyed it more. It's well executed in terms of period details, but story-wise, the movie just didn't grab me. Maybe I watch too many films looking for the truth. (12.03.2014)

Actually, my first Mann, which I watched calmly to the end (and which I mainly wanted to watch to the end :)) The use of digital, the slow-motion shots, the great combination of period music and modern soundtrack + as always the excellent Johnny Depp in the lead role – all this makes Public Enemies an excellent, imaginatively made gangster film that lacks little for a maximum rating – in fact, I don't even know what. :)) But it simply not up to a pure 5 stars like Ridley's American Gangster. 80-85% (24.07.2010)