The Manchurian Candidate. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Written by George Axelrod (1962 screenplay), Daniel Pyne (screenplay), and Dean Georgaris (screenplay). Produced by Scott Aversano. Release Date: July 30, 2004. Country of Production: United States of America. Key Cast: Denzel Washington (Ben Marco), Live Schreiber (Raymond Shaw), Meryl Streep (Eleanor Shaw), and Jeffrey Wright (Al Melvin).
An army unit during the Gulf War is ambushed while on a recon mission. The sergeant of the unit, Raymond Shaw, miraculously saves the unit. After the incident, Captain Ben Marco, who was the leader of the unit, has several break downs after the incident, and constantly has dreams about an alternate reality that took place during the ambush. Marco tries to figure out what these dreams mean by talking to Shaw. Shaw, at this time, is running for Vice President. As the truth unfolds, Marco discovers that the entire unit had been brainwashed by a secret organization. Marco was destined to assassinate the president when he is elected, so that Shaw can take over. Marco stops himself in time, and shoots Shaw and his mother, one of the orchestrators of the plan.
An army unit during the Gulf War is ambushed while on a recon mission. The sergeant of the unit, Raymond Shaw, miraculously saves the unit. After the incident, Captain Ben Marco, who was the leader of the unit, has several break downs after the incident, and constantly has dreams about an alternate reality that took place during the ambush. Marco tries to figure out what these dreams mean by talking to Shaw. Shaw, at this time, is running for Vice President. As the truth unfolds, Marco discovers that the entire unit had been brainwashed by a secret organization. Marco was destined to assassinate the president when he is elected, so that Shaw can take over. Marco stops himself in time, and shoots Shaw and his mother, one of the orchestrators of the plan.
The Manchurian Candidate is a remake of a film of the same name, which was considered the first political thriller. The original film played on the audience’s fear of communism during the cold war. The remake uses the setting of the Gulf War and works with fears and paranoia of the military-industrial complex.
The obvious political messages behind the film reference to Dick Chaney’s connections with the Halliburton Company. Manchurian (the Halliburton stand-in) receives exclusive no-bid government contracts and is accused of price gouging. The film emphasizes the horrifying consequences of such a union by employing the torture-horror scenes. Not only is the military-industrial complex threatening on the level of political corruption, it also presents a physical threat.
Manchuria’s goal is to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Instead of doing this in an obtrusive way, the idea is that Manchuria works inside the system to subvert all of our rights.
To make the film as relevant as possible, though set in the Gulf War, several current events are referenced. In the world of the film, there are many terrorist attacks that take place. Shaw’s VP campaign focuses on the need to be “tough on terrorism.”
To make the film as relevant as possible, though set in the Gulf War, several current events are referenced. In the world of the film, there are many terrorist attacks that take place. Shaw’s VP campaign focuses on the need to be “tough on terrorism.”
I believe that the reason the film is effective in pinpointing the paranoia of the society is because it uses several visual cues to suggest the present time. There are constant news clips that feature things like a debate about touch-screen voting and an election where one candidate wins by 70% of the vote. Even though these news clips are not real, all news pieces (even if it is subconscious) are perceived as having some kind of merit.
The film’s stylistic elements become less visible as the film progresses, and as Captain Marco shakes off his brainwashing. In the beginning of the movie, the flashback scenes are very saturated, and stylish. The scene jumps are quick, and there are scenes that are spliced together (the quick jumps between the hotel scene and the closet). The camera is also constantly moving and shifting (the first scene where Shaw and Marco are talking to each other in the conference room). When Shaw is drowning Senator Thomas Jordan the camera switched to the point of view of Jordan.
As Marco wises up to the situation, the stylistic elements become less obvious, and in the end pretty much fade away altogether. The camera becomes steady and stops shifting around.
The acting in the film on the part of Denzel Washington also does its best to keep this same concept of becoming steadier as things are revealed to the character. The beginning of the film is so promising because of the questions the audience has about the sanity of the Ben Marco character. Yet he goes from being a half-crazed man, who is unsure of himself and unsteady, to a Jack Bauer character. Suddenly he’s able to outsmart anything and break all the rules for the greater good. I’m not sure weather this is intentional or not, but it ends up subverting a lot of the films messages. While the film encourages paranoia about the threat of a military-industrial complex, by having the main character overcome the plot against the American people almost single handedly, it weakens the threat.
The acting in the film on the part of Denzel Washington also does its best to keep this same concept of becoming steadier as things are revealed to the character. The beginning of the film is so promising because of the questions the audience has about the sanity of the Ben Marco character. Yet he goes from being a half-crazed man, who is unsure of himself and unsteady, to a Jack Bauer character. Suddenly he’s able to outsmart anything and break all the rules for the greater good. I’m not sure weather this is intentional or not, but it ends up subverting a lot of the films messages. While the film encourages paranoia about the threat of a military-industrial complex, by having the main character overcome the plot against the American people almost single handedly, it weakens the threat.
Also, in the film Denzel somehow makes his eyes go slightly different directions in the begining. It's the lazy eye! Sadly, as the "Jack Bauer" in him takes over, his eyes line up again.
The film does not live up to the multidimensional meanings that are found in the original Manchurian Candidate. The plot feels flat by comparison.
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