Michael Mann, 83, director of Heat and Collateral, was hospitalized Saturday after a weapon discharged while he was holstering it at a West Los Angeles gun range, according to TMZ.
The mechanism here is ego, not gravity. For four decades Mann has been the guy on the other side of the lens, telling other people where their fingers go on the trigger. At 83 he is still down at the range thinking he is the gun. He is the target. He has always been the target.
His people called it a superficial injury. The real injury is to the mythology. The man who turned a gunfight into an art form and staged the most famous car chase ever shot now owns one bullet that does not take direction. The range does not cut between takes. The range does not sign NDAs. The range just takes the round.
Mann Power has always run on control: every muzzle flash choreographed, every victim a working actor on a contract. On Saturday the one guy not on a contract got shot, and he was the boss. The rep statement, he is being released, is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The next line is going to be the one about Heat 4.
YOUR TURN: Should action directors be allowed the hobby, or is the range finally calling a Mann out at the whistle?
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