Working with cinematographer Dante Spinotti, Michael Mann rejected traditional realism in favor of an "expressionist manner" intended to exteriorize the internal torments of the characters. The film is famous for its deliberate use of color:
: A cool, intimate blue is used to signify scenes of safety and domesticity between Graham and his wife. subtitle Manhunter.1986.720p.BluRay.x264.[YTS.AG]
At the heart of the film is Will Graham (William Petersen), a retired FBI profiler whose "gift" is a dangerous level of empathy that allows him to adopt the mindset of a killer. Mann frames this not as a superpower, but as a spiritual and psychological burden. Graham is a "streetcorner existentialist," a man who must "get comfortable with finding himself within the monstrous" to solve the case. Mann frames this not as a superpower, but
: Sickly greens and purples dominate scenes involving the "Tooth Fairy," creating an atmosphere of "apprehension and dread". Working with cinematographer Dante Spinotti