Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and
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This course examines Michael Mann as a unique and distinctive filmmaker within Hollywood and its traditions. We will consider Mann as a filmmaker of transitions, for example between analogue and digital cinema, between classical Hollywood genres and contemporary form, and in terms of his narrative content between industrial capitalism and globalised networks. Mann’s cinema is defined by its thematic interest in solitary characters whose identity and purpose stem from their extreme competence at what they do, yet who are also always tied back to a wider collective group in some fatalistic form. His characters are professionals bound by codes of conduct, yet increasingly outpaced by the world they inhabit, caught between fading structures and emerging systems. His films also can be defined as extremely stylised, creating almost abstracted visual and sonic environments through cinematography, mise-en-scène, and synthesiser scores, while at the same time being driven by a meticulous eye for authenticity and realistic textures of speech, action, and setting. We shall explore and analyse further these characteristics of his filmography and their consequences, in order to better appreciate and situate Mann’s body of work within wider contexts.
What will we cover?
The course will explore Michael Mann’s filmmaking career through analysis of key works, including Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), Heat (1995), Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015).
Topics will include:
Mann’s position at the end of New Hollywood and his relationship to that era’s style
The influence of television, technology, and digital experimentation on his style
Mann’s visual and sonic signatures: nightscapes, reflective surfaces, electronic soundscapes
Crime, capitalism, and professionalism as recurring thematic concerns
The shift from hierarchical power structures to networked, global systems in his later films
The course will also consider Mann’s broader influence on contemporary cinema and television, including his impact on filmmakers working in crime, thriller, and digital aesthetics.
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
Understand Michael Mann’s place in American film history and his relationship to New Hollywood and contemporary cinema
Analyse key stylistic features of Mann’s filmmaking, including cinematography, mise en scène, sound, and digital aesthetics
Interpret Mann’s films as responses to historical, technological, and economic change
Develop a critical appreciation of Mann’s cinema as both genre filmmaking and modern social commentary
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for anyone with a strong interest in film who would like to deepen their understanding of contemporary cinema, film style, and authorship. No prior academic study is required, though some familiarity with film analysis will be helpful. The course will be accessible to newcomers while also offering fresh perspectives for those with existing knowledge of Michael Mann or American cinema.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Short clips from the films will be provided, as well as reading materials. The class will be structured around a combination of PowerPoint presentations, clips, and class discussions.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
The tutor will show extracts from films and you do not have to obtain them.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Please look also for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Dr Jean-Baptiste de Vaulx has taught at Royal Holloway, University of London, and currently is an associate lecturer at University College London. His fields of teaching and research focus on world cinema, international film history, film festivals and cinephile film cultures. He has published articles and book chapters on varied topics including child characters in Iranian cinema, the theme of home in the films of Lucrecia Martel, the Japanese new wave director Hiroshi Teshigahara, and the history of world cinema programming on Channel Four.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
product
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/masters-of-cinema-michael-mann3018796Masters of Cinema: Michael Mannhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/masters-of-cinema-celine-sciamma-hf397-1080.jpg6969GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Film studies/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Film studies/Masters of Cinema22851177158020911228511771580<p>Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and solitude within an increasingly abstract, technologised world. The course situates Mann’s work within Hollywood history while also treating it as a lens through which to understand contemporary cinema and the modern world.</p>003018781Masters of Cinema: Michael Mann6969https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/masters-of-cinema-celine-sciamma-hf397-1080.jpgInStockDaytimeSatKeeley StreetAvailable coursesOne-off onlyWeekend2026-05-02T00:00:00+00:00Beginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allMay 2026Culture, history & humanitiesHF4246969Masters of Cinema: Michael Mann554569Jean-Baptiste de Vaulxmasters-of-cinema-michael-mann/hf424-2526<p>Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and solitude within an increasingly abstract, technologised world. The course situates Mann’s work within Hollywood history while also treating it as a lens through which to understand contemporary cinema and the modern world.</p>0000-Available|2026-05-02 00:00:00<p>This course examines Michael Mann as a unique and distinctive filmmaker within Hollywood and its traditions. We will consider Mann as a filmmaker of transitions, for example between analogue and digital cinema, between classical Hollywood genres and contemporary form, and in terms of his narrative content between industrial capitalism and globalised networks. Mann’s cinema is defined by its thematic interest in solitary characters whose identity and purpose stem from their extreme competence at what they do, yet who are also always tied back to a wider collective group in some fatalistic form. His characters are professionals bound by codes of conduct, yet increasingly outpaced by the world they inhabit, caught between fading structures and emerging systems.<br/>His films also can be defined as extremely stylised, creating almost abstracted visual and sonic environments through cinematography, mise-en-scène, and synthesiser scores, while at the same time being driven by a meticulous eye for authenticity and realistic textures of speech, action, and setting.<br/>We shall explore and analyse further these characteristics of his filmography and their consequences, in order to better appreciate and situate Mann’s body of work within wider contexts.</p><p>Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and solitude within an increasingly abstract, technologised world. The course situates Mann’s work within Hollywood history while also treating it as a lens through which to understand contemporary cinema and the modern world.</p><p>The course will explore Michael Mann’s filmmaking career through analysis of key works, including Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), Heat (1995), Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015).</p><p>Topics will include:</p><ul><li>Mann’s position at the end of New Hollywood and his relationship to that era’s style</li><li>The influence of television, technology, and digital experimentation on his style</li><li>Mann’s visual and sonic signatures: nightscapes, reflective surfaces, electronic soundscapes</li><li>Crime, capitalism, and professionalism as recurring thematic concerns</li><li>The shift from hierarchical power structures to networked, global systems in his later films</li></ul><p>The course will also consider Mann’s broader influence on contemporary cinema and television, including his impact on filmmakers working in crime, thriller, and digital aesthetics.<br/> </p><ul><li>Understand Michael Mann’s place in American film history and his relationship to New Hollywood and contemporary cinema</li><li>Analyse key stylistic features of Mann’s filmmaking, including cinematography, mise en scène, sound, and digital aesthetics</li><li>Interpret Mann’s films as responses to historical, technological, and economic change</li><li>Develop a critical appreciation of Mann’s cinema as both genre filmmaking and modern social commentary<br/> </li></ul><p>This course is suitable for anyone with a strong interest in film who would like to deepen their understanding of contemporary cinema, film style, and authorship. No prior academic study is required, though some familiarity with film analysis will be helpful. The course will be accessible to newcomers while also offering fresh perspectives for those with existing knowledge of Michael Mann or American cinema.</p><p>Short clips from the films will be provided, as well as reading materials. The class will be structured around a combination of PowerPoint presentations, clips, and class discussions.</p><p>The tutor will show extracts from films and you do not have to obtain them.</p><p>Please look also for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>Film studiesMasters of Cinemavirtual556945HF424NONESat02/05/2610:30 - 16:3010:3016:301 session1One-off onlyDaytimeWeekendKSKeeley StreetJean-Baptiste de VaulxBeginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allAvailable courses2026-05-02T00:00:00+00:00May 2026Culture, history & humanities6969Masters of Cinema: Michael Mannmasters-of-cinema-michael-mann/hf424-2526<p>Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and solitude within an increasingly abstract, technologised world. The course situates Mann’s work within Hollywood history while also treating it as a lens through which to understand contemporary cinema and the modern world.</p>0000-Available|2026-05-02 00:00:00<p>This course examines Michael Mann as a unique and distinctive filmmaker within Hollywood and its traditions. We will consider Mann as a filmmaker of transitions, for example between analogue and digital cinema, between classical Hollywood genres and contemporary form, and in terms of his narrative content between industrial capitalism and globalised networks. Mann’s cinema is defined by its thematic interest in solitary characters whose identity and purpose stem from their extreme competence at what they do, yet who are also always tied back to a wider collective group in some fatalistic form. His characters are professionals bound by codes of conduct, yet increasingly outpaced by the world they inhabit, caught between fading structures and emerging systems.<br/>His films also can be defined as extremely stylised, creating almost abstracted visual and sonic environments through cinematography, mise-en-scène, and synthesiser scores, while at the same time being driven by a meticulous eye for authenticity and realistic textures of speech, action, and setting.<br/>We shall explore and analyse further these characteristics of his filmography and their consequences, in order to better appreciate and situate Mann’s body of work within wider contexts.</p><p>Michael Mann is one of the most distinctive and influential American filmmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Emerging at the end of the 1970s ‘New Hollywood’ era, Mann occupies a paradoxical position: historically “out of time,” yet formally ahead of his moment. From Thief (1981) to Heat (1995), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015), his films explore crime, professionalism, masculinity, and solitude within an increasingly abstract, technologised world. The course situates Mann’s work within Hollywood history while also treating it as a lens through which to understand contemporary cinema and the modern world.</p><p>The course will explore Michael Mann’s filmmaking career through analysis of key works, including Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), Heat (1995), Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006), and Blackhat (2015).</p><p>Topics will include:</p><ul><li>Mann’s position at the end of New Hollywood and his relationship to that era’s style</li><li>The influence of television, technology, and digital experimentation on his style</li><li>Mann’s visual and sonic signatures: nightscapes, reflective surfaces, electronic soundscapes</li><li>Crime, capitalism, and professionalism as recurring thematic concerns</li><li>The shift from hierarchical power structures to networked, global systems in his later films</li></ul><p>The course will also consider Mann’s broader influence on contemporary cinema and television, including his impact on filmmakers working in crime, thriller, and digital aesthetics.<br/> </p><ul><li>Understand Michael Mann’s place in American film history and his relationship to New Hollywood and contemporary cinema</li><li>Analyse key stylistic features of Mann’s filmmaking, including cinematography, mise en scène, sound, and digital aesthetics</li><li>Interpret Mann’s films as responses to historical, technological, and economic change</li><li>Develop a critical appreciation of Mann’s cinema as both genre filmmaking and modern social commentary<br/> </li></ul><p>This course is suitable for anyone with a strong interest in film who would like to deepen their understanding of contemporary cinema, film style, and authorship. No prior academic study is required, though some familiarity with film analysis will be helpful. The course will be accessible to newcomers while also offering fresh perspectives for those with existing knowledge of Michael Mann or American cinema.</p><p>Short clips from the films will be provided, as well as reading materials. The class will be structured around a combination of PowerPoint presentations, clips, and class discussions.</p><p>The tutor will show extracts from films and you do not have to obtain them.</p><p>Please look also for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>Film studiesMasters of Cinemaconfigurable
20911580Masters of Cinemahttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/humanities/film-studies/masters-of-cinema1/2/285/1177/1580/20911/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Film studies/Masters of Cinema
