Mann 'not slavishly attached to actuality'

Michael Mann has said that he does not care about making scenes in his historical films identical to how they occured in real life.

The director's new movie Public Enemies has drawn praise for its realism from author Bryan Burrough, who wrote the factual book on which it is based.

However, Mann said at the press conference for the film: "I don't feel a slavish adherence to actuality. It's only when it's magical, or when it means something do you go there.

"The magic of being able to shoot in the real Little Bohemia in Manitowish, Wisconsin was superb. For Johnny Depp to be in the same bed John Dillinger really was in, for him to be shocked awake by gunfire and see the ceiling that Dillinger saw was phenomenal."

Mann also explained that he had shifted some events chronologically and conflated characters for the film while preserving its sense of truth.

"I'm most interested in behaviour and how you think and how you feel. The key thing for me is authenticity. How they thought and why they thought the way they did," he added.