 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
The Manchurian Candidate
Directed by Jonathan Demme
 Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw
I haven't seen the 1962 original suspense thriller The Manchurian Candidate starring Cranky Franky but I have it on good authority (the boyfriend!) that it's a cracker of a film.
Director John Frankenheimer set a high standard and it would take an exceptional director to achieve the near impossible - a cracker of a remake. Thankfully Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme is just that man and the 2004 version of The Manchurian Candidate starring the extremely talented and classy Denzel Washington is a fantastic political thriller.
In the original film the world was in the grip of the Cold War and the enemy were the Chinese Communists. Screenwriters Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris have transferred the action to the present day with a far more insidious and contemporary enemy - the almighty corporation.
Denzel Washington stars as Captain Bennet Marco. In 1991, just prior to the Desert Storm, he and his squadron were crossing Iraqi controlled Kuwait when they were ambushed. Marco was knocked unconscious and it was up to staff sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) to save the day and his fellow comrades. Unfortunately two US lives were lost in the ensuing battle, but Raymond Shaw's gallantry saved the rest of the unit and resulted in him being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour.
Time warp forward to the present day Raymond Shaw who, with the backing of his ambitious mother, Senator Ellie Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep), is running for vice president against the favourite candidate Senator Thomas Jordan (Jon Voight). Bennet Marco is now a Major in the US Army public relations and travels around the country recounting what happened and singing the praises of Raymond Shaw.
After one such lecture he is waylaid by one of his former soldiers, Corporal Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright). The man is a shadow of his former self. Haunted by disturbing nightmares he can't explain, the ex-soldier is desperate for answers. Are they just suffering from Gulf War Syndrome or did something far more sinister happen to them in Kuwait?
When Bennet begins to suffer from the same terrible dreams he knows there is only one person who can help him: Raymond Shaw.
The Manchurian Candidate is a very effective and topical conspiracy thriller. Masterfully directed and acted, it will have you feeling as befuddled and confused as poor major Bennet Marco until all is revealed in a nail biting finale.
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