If you missed my first post where I explain what this is and how I’m scoring things, here you go, and if you missed where I talked about my Monday posts, click here.
When a story has a good villain, it's a game changer. While I do think that having a villain can be a storytelling crutch that replaces actually knowing how to write conflict, good storytellers use a well-developed villain to enhance an already interesting conflict. As I continue to watch through the AFI Top 100, there will be a number of iconic villains that I’m sure I’ll have to talk about. The Manchurian Candidate features a villain that I think we have lost to time, but I’m here to give them some appreciation.
Before I get into that, however, I have some thoughts about how I should be writing about these movies. Sometimes, it’s easy to complete my thoughts about the film without really giving anything away about the plot of the movie, or in some cases the plot is not really something that can be spoiled, so it isn’t an issue. Sometimes the movies are bad and to save you all time from sitting through it, I’ll spoil the plot. Then, we get into the issue we have now, which is that The Manchurian Candidate has a lot of elements that are revealed as you watch that build tension, and spoiling those would, I think, take away from a first viewing of the movie.
This is a movie you should watch.
I loved this movie.
However, I don’t know if I can write what I want to write if I don’t spoil some really awesome reveals, so if you don’t want anything spoiled, you might want to stop now.
Ok, now I can get into the villain, Eleanor Shaw, played by Angela Lansbury. Mrs. Shaw is the mother of one of our main characters, Raymond Shaw, and is married to Raymond’s stepfather, Senator John Iselin. When we are first introduced to Eleanor, she is welcoming her son back from the Korean War, as Raymond has been flown home to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Raymond is upset that his mother has turned his homecoming into a publicity stunt for Senator Iselin, who Raymond is not fond of. This gives us a very early glimpse into the idea that Mrs. Shaw is a woman who likes to be in power, or at least close to power. As we learn more, we see that Senator Iselin has become the spokesperson for the Red Scare, claiming that he has knowledge of several US officials that are Communist Party members, which is an idea that is being fed to him by his wife. Turns out, and I’m jumping ahead here, that Eleanor herself has been working with the Communists, and has allowed her son to be hypnotized into becoming an assassin for the combined Chinese-Soviet efforts to infiltrate the US with Communism.
She is pure evil, all she wants is power and doesn’t care who she has to use to get it, and it is freaking awesome. Angela Lansbury sells it all perfectly, and it really brings this movie up a level for me.
I want to talk about it more, but it’s time to jump to the categories:
Entertainment Value- 2/2
I seriously recommend you watch this movie. Seriously, watch it. It’s probably my favorite that I’ve discovered on the list so far.
Correctness- 0/2
That being said, it definitely has its share of issues. There is a character in this movie name Chunjin, a Korean spy, who is played by a Venezuelan man. The last time I looked at a map, those places were in different continents, so no points earned here.
Influence- 2/2
The politics of this movie may not have aged the greatest, but there was a remake in 2004 with Denzel Washington, so the film has some cultural staying power.
“Rewatchability”- 2/2
I almost HAD to watch this movie a second time. Not because it was confusing or because I missed something, but because it was so well done that I wanted to watch it all happen again, and see the little details I didn’t catch the first time now that I knew how it played out. I might have actually liked it more on rewatch. I will be watching it again, more than once.
Technical Score- 2/2
The acting in The Manchurian Candidate is really great. I already mentioned Angela Lansbury, and she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. This movie stars Frank Sinatra, yeah, that Frank Sinatra, and he also gives a noteworthy performance. The movie looks great, sounds great, and all put together works to create a truly thrilling film.
Overall- 8/10
This may not have scored the highest on the scoring rubric, but as I said before, it is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it, or watching again if you have.
You can stream The Manchurian Candidate on Amazon Prime Video.
Hasta luego,
Josh
Up Next: #66 Network (available to rent)