The Manchurian Candidate was made when the Cold War was at its peak; consequently,
its theme, tone and subject matter was commensurate with the kind of fear and
paranoia that defined that particular era in the 20th century, and
continues to be prescient in today’s context too. Speaking about the plot for this
nerve-racking political and conspiracy thriller would be giving away the
surprise elements of the film, so I’ll keep it as succinct as possible. A group
of soldiers engaged in Korea are ambushed while on patrol. A few months later
they return to hero’s welcome, with Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), the
son of an icy, domineering and over-ambitious lady (Angela Lansbury) who he
passionately hates, being given the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Simultaneously, Capt. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra), who had personally
recommended Shaw’s name, starts getting bizarre dreams involving all those who
were there under his command, and despite considering Shaw as the “kindest,
bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life”, he
becomes convinced everything is not as it appears to be – least of all, Shaw
himself. The film dealt with such topics as brainwashing and thought control to
supplement the tale of international political conspiracy, and the end result
of the brilliantly enacted (and at times, far-fetched) movie was both incredibly tense and highly
disturbing. The recurrent dreams that start plaguing Marco would rank among the
most disorienting and disconcerting sequences ever filmed, as would the
dangerous relationship shared between Shaw and his mother. The strange and
ominous first meeting between Marco and the seemingly mysterious Rosie (Janet
Leigh), however, ought to have been expanded upon.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Political Thriller
Language: English
Country: US
4 comments:
Great review, I haven't seen the film in ages but will have to give it another watch after reading this post
Thanks. Yes, it sure is worth a revisit.
a great movie indeed - the sequence with the soldiers and the gardenia club or whatever it was - still packs a surreal punch, but depictions of the bad guys heavy-handed and corny now with their bad skin and disheveled sweatiness.
the political conspiracy angle - you have to wonder how much of that may be true nowadays
The dream sequences were among the most brilliantly done sequence I have ever seen. Yes, depiction of the "bad guys", so to speak, was a bit heavy-handed, but it was kept at a bare minimum and hence wasn't too big a concern for me. As for the political conspiracy angle, at least the brainwashing and thought-control part seems entirely relevant today - in fact even more so than it was then.
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