The Manchurian Candidate [M]

After returning home from the Korean War Sergeant Raymond Shaw receives a most honorary decoration: the Medal of Honour for heroically saving his platoon after they had been captured and taken to Manchuria in Communist China. Although commanding Captain of the platoon, Bennett Marco, recommended the decoration he soon begins to have strange nightmares and the details of what really happened in China start to become hazy. Convinced that there is something off about the whole business, Marco sets up an investigation unit and soon discovers that Raymond has been brainwashed into the perfect weapon for an elaborate political assassination plot centring around his ruthless mother and bumbling Senator stepfather. 

Based on Richard Condon’s novel of the same name, The Manchurian Candidate is a fantastic, really fantastic political thriller that sparks and fizzes with satire and viperous political comment. Originally released in 1962, the film actually was plucked out of circulation when Frank Sinatra bought the rights in the 70s. His close friendship with President John F. Kennedy and Kennedy’s admiration of the book gave it the green light. We wouldn’t have this thrilling and satirical masterpiece without it. 

After returning home from the Korean War Sergeant Raymond Shaw receives a most honorary decoration: the Medal of Honour for heroically saving his platoon after they had been captured and taken to Manchuria in Communist China. Although commanding Captain of the platoon, Bennett Marco, recommended the decoration he soon begins to have strange nightmares and the details of what really happened in China start to become hazy. Convinced that there is something off about the whole business, Marco sets up an investigation unit and soon discovers that Raymond has been brainwashed into the perfect weapon for an elaborate political assassination plot centring around his ruthless mother and bumbling Senator stepfather. 

Straight off the bat I have to say that this is an example of a very cleverly constructed screenplay. George Axelrod manages to tell a thrilling and quite disturbing story that’s made up of a shitload of layers and tell it with only a very gradual ascension to the climax. The opening and the setup alone take us to over halfway through because the story itself is quite complex and harbours so many questions and issues to think about. Although it seems as though nothing is actually happening, the 2-hour running time really doesn’t seem to exist because the underlying intrigue of whom these characters are and what they are going through and trying to achieve is just so compelling! The film’s thrill and spills aren’t necessarily overtly seen; rather the audience feels them: like someone’s watching you from an unseen vantage point or following you at a distance. It’s brilliant. 

The intrigue of this film in terms of a thriller comes in a multitude of variations. Primarily it’s a political thriller set during the Cold War where Communist-paranoia was sweeping through the United States. Underneath the various political comments, it’s a psychological thriller exploring the idea of the monstrous-feminine, a son’s relationship with his mother and stepfather, and the psychiatric exploration of dreams and the unconscious mind. There are also strong questions and comments on the notion of free will and the soul, and the character of Raymond Shaw in particular can even be seen as a very vague precursor to Alex in A Clockwork Orange. 

Both Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey as mother and son deliver deliciously engaging performances with an Academy Award nomination being the fruit of Angela’s labours as the evil mother. Both Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh join the ranks in a strange casting choice, but nevertheless deliver performances that are intriguing, albeit a little weird in character. 

Starring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish, John McGiver, Knigh Dheigh, James Edwards, Douglas Henderson, Albert Paulsen, Barry Kelley, Lloyd Corrigan, and Madame Spivy, The Manchurian Candidate is a wonderful political thriller filled with conspiracy, murder, psychiatrics, drama, suspense, and mystery. I absolutely loved it. There are a few signature shots that link the film to the French New Wave movement, making it a uniquely different film in commercial American cinema. It’s pretty magnificent!