Public Enemies - discussion guide

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Summary

Do you plan for your future? John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), America's first Public Enemy Number One, lived his life fast, frenetic – and short. He had a brief criminal career, just fourteen months long. He could rob a bank in 1 minute 40 seconds, as he would admit quite openly. His robberies were audacious, and for this he attracted the admiration of the public. He was a public celebrity, and he lived like one.

His accomplishments also made him an enemy of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), who would become the first director of the FBI. Hoover tasks Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) with apprehending Dillinger and his gang, and assigns him to head up the field office in Chicago. Michael Mann, well-known for squaring two strong male leads against each other, engages Purvis and Dillinger in a deadly battle of wits.

Hoover urged his agents to ’take off the white gloves‘, to interrogate relatives as they hunted down Dillinger, to create informants at any cost. The nascent FBI risked appearing more ruthless than the criminals themselves. In contrast, Dillinger's popular appeal only grew. Who were the real public enemies?

Background

Public Enemies is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by Brian Burrough. Both chart the fast-paced fourteen months from when John Dillinger was released from Indiana State Prison in May 1933 to his death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago in July 1934. These same months, at the height of America's Depression, were a time of intense activity of bank-robbing gangs like Dillinger's. The timing is not surprising. Much of the public blamed the banks for handling their money badly and precipitating the financial crisis. Like a lopsided Robin Hood, Dillinger robbed from the rich, but few noticed that he didn't give to the poor. His notoriety also came at a time when cinema was growing as a popular past-time, and some films of the age starred characters based on Dillinger himself. Since this time, Dillinger's story has been the subject of at least three feature-length films and numerous documentaries.

Michael Mann has become known for the intensity of his films, often set in stark urban environments. His reputation as a master of his craft is well deserved, and Public Enemies was an ideal project for Mann. He and cinematographer Dante Spinotti (long-time Mann collaborator) re-create the cool, muted colours of the atmosphere in the Depression-era American mid-west. Many scenes were shot in their original locations, each carefully re-constructed by Mann and his team. The effect is that we aren't even aware that we're watching the 1930s. We're in the 1930s, entering the lives of Dillinger's gang and their pursuers.

Questions for discussion

1. What were your first impressions of John Dillinger's character?

2. How does Michael Mann build a sense of being involved in the action? How effective are his methods?

3. How did Melvin Purvis feel when he shot Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum)?

4. When Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) asks about Dillinger's job he replied, ‘I rob banks.’ What are the key features of the gang's robberies?

5. Why does Dillinger turn down a potential kidnapping job? What does this show about his relationship with the public?

6. For what reasons does J. Edgar Hoover face pressure from the Senate committee? What primarily motivates Hoover?

7. How is the professionalism of Dillinger and his gang contrasted with the initial inexperience of the Chicago Bureau of Investigation?

8. Purvis: ‘What keeps you up nights, Mr Dillinger?’
   Dillinger: ‘Coffee.’
   
   What does the meeting between Purvis and Dillinger at the jail in Lake County reveal about each character? Which character did you want to succeed?

9. How would you describe Dillinger's attitude to the authorities?

10. What changes do we see in Dillinger's character when he meets Billie Frechette?

11. Dillinger: ‘The only thing that's important is where somebody's going.’
    Frechette: ‘Where are you going?’
    Dillinger: ‘Anywhere I want.’
    
    Is Dillinger's attitude to his future reckless or realistic?

12. ‘We're having too good a time today. We ain't thinking about tomorrow.’ (John Dillinger)
    
    Why is this an attractive lifestyle? What problems accompany it?

13. Jesus said words that sound similar to Dillinger's, but with a very different meaning. He said, ’Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’ (Matthew 6:33–34). What security is there in this approach to the future that Dillinger's lacks?

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