#10, The Manchurian Candidate

Please take note that unless I specify otherwise, the films I'm reviewing are probably going to be the original versions, and not whatever remakes of questionable quality happen to have been created since then. A good example is this film, The Manchurian Candidate. I say this because more than one person thought I was referring to the recent version with Denzel Washington (which I have not seen) when I was talking about this one.

But on to my words of wisdom. This was another film I enjoyed for the most part, though the repetition of useless female leads in films, especially like this, is starting to bother me more and more. Especially in the middle of the 20th century, you could take any blond female actress in Hollywood and stick her in any female lead in any film, and one could not tell the difference, either between the actresses or the characters they played. It's always the same character, contributing the same nothing to the story, doing nothing but providing a romantic interest for the lead character. At best, as is the case in films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, she will sacrifice everything that makes her interesting by becoming subordinate to the male lead. It's disgusting, really, and I think that I'll dedicate an entire post to the topic in the future.

But I digress. The Manchurian Candidate. Good film, despite the distracting presence of Janet Leigh, whose role is made even more indecipherable by the bizarre scene on a train where Maj. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra), first encounters her. Of particular note, I thought, was the performance of Laurence Harvey as the brainwashed Raymond Shaw, forced by a Communist program to carry out a number of rather disturbing assassinations, including an attempt on the (presumably Republican) Presidential Candidate running against Shaw's idiotic father in the primaries. Easily the most human and genuine character in the film, I couldn't take my eyes off of Harvey whenever he was on the screen, and was actually touched by his performance towards the end of the film. Also of note were the bizarre and rather disturbing "garden party" sequences, alternating and sometimes combining the perspectives of the hypnotized soldiers and the communist leaders "viewing' them. This section is easily the best in the entire film, combining disturbing and threatening images and concepts with a rather innocent and dull backdrop. It's very unsettling, and sets the tone for the entire film.

The rest of the film is good, though not spectacular. Sinatra delivers a good performance, there is good cinematography (one out of focus shot of Sinatra, especially, towards the end, while accidental, creates a wonderful tone), with a good story and good direction. There are a few moments, as I've suggested, that are rather extraordinary, especially for the type of film The Manchurian Candidate is, and all in all it is far better than one might expect. It does suffer, though, from a few instances of temporal uncertainty, odd cuts, and bizarre and cryptic dialogue. The premise of mind control, while unsettling, is also sort of loose in a few points, and I was really quite disappointed when a few of the villains disappeared early on. Also, Angela Lansbury, as Mrs. Iselin, Shaw's mother, delivers a performance on par with Harvey's, but the exact motives in her character seem bogged down in the desire to provide a twist towards the end. Nonetheless, a superb film.

Highlights: Extraordinary performances by Harvey and Lansburry, individual moments of conceptual and cinematic brilliance, an engaging story that is quite emotional at moments.

Downers: A worthless female lead, moments of uncertainty or where the premise weakens.

7.5/10