A video essay about the brilliantly invisible directing style of "Sleuth" (1972), directed by the great and greatly underrated Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the play by Anthony Shaffer and starring Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine and Alec Cawthorne.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz is one of the greatest screenwriters of all time ("All About Eve" just might be the best script ever written) but if you try to find information about his visual style you'll be met with nothing but disappointment. Critics predominantly call his technique unremarkable and overly dependend on dialogue.

I believe, however, in what I see, not in what I'm told. And when I see Mankiewicz's films I see a master of staging and framing. He blocks his actors with versatility, arranges the set with efficiency and shoots everything from the most informative and unobtrusive angle. He is a definite equal to Howard Hawks.

// Join me on Patreon:   / moviewise  
// Follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/MrMoviewise


#videoessay #cinematography #filmmaking


Consort for Brass - Classical Rousing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Danse Macabre by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: http://incompetech.com/