The Manchurian Candidate

1962 US
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Str: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh

This disturbing movie depicts totally madding world from the view
point of a brainwashed person.
This rather unrealistic movie (suprisingly, on the package of the VHS tape, there are such descriptions like "Once Unbelievable", "Now Unthinkable", these are absolutely right) is, nevertheless, engrossing. No one would be able to swallow such a story as an American wartime hero eventually turns out to be a kind of time bomb brainwashed for future use of communist conspiracy, the part of which his own mother is responsible for. Moreover, this mother is disguising herself as the most determined anti-communist, and manupulates her husband, as well as her own son, as a puppet. Madness this movie is showing becomes clear at the brainwashing scene where, from the point of view of the captured American platoon members, the figures of interrogating communist members alternate with the ones of women lecturing horticultural lessons. To tell the truth, when I firstly watched this scene, I totally lost the story even though I knew the scene was supposed to be in the nightmare of a person involved in the interrogation (Frank Sinatra). What's this? What have those women got to do with the story? After I noticed the movie was more or less depicted from the view point of a person whose sanity was in question, I also noticed there would be no point in watching it in such a way as seeking a rational explanation in every scene. Probably, those figures of women might be representing mother figures of that captured members. I guess, in this movie, mother figures might be playing important rolls considering the fact the main character of the movie (Laurence Harvey) seems to be always obsessed with his own mother's figure. And, using the terminology of psychology, this mother figure, I can surely say, is not a sublimated one, but rather a primordial figure usually accompanying the image of gorging everyting else. Therefore, no wonder his emotional realm seams to have been devoured by this mother, and narrowed down to a very thin surface. Can you believe there actually exists such a person who, after telling a small joke, overreacts with sheer surprise and delight to the fact he could actually deliver a joke, which he, by himself, has long been thinking would never be possible? Anyway, before preceeding any further, it would be necessary to explain the story even if it is completely implausible.
What a story! Anyone who believes the story must be also crazy.
The Manchurian Candidate starts with the scene where an American platoon including the aforementioned future day's hero (effectively played by Laurence Harvey) and Frank Sinatra is trapped by a communist troop in Korean War. Then, they are brought into, instead of an usual prison camp, some kind of special facility where bizzare brainwashing process is under practice. The main target of this process is for Harvey as far as we can know from the story. During this process, he strangles one member of his own platoon, and shoots to kill another as instructed by a communist hypnotist. Furthermore, as it will turn out later, some kind of trigger mechanism is implanted into his mind. This mechanism is such that, when he has been told to play a solitaire game with a trump set, and has caught sight of the queen of diamond, he will become under control of communist command. After the brainwashing process has been completed, they return to the United States with Harvey being a war hero of having rescued his own platoon members except the two actually he, by his own hand, killed, completely oblivious to what has actually happened in Korea. Meantime, his sinister mother (played by Angela Lansbury) is trying to get political power by installing her husband, who is, actually, her puppet, as a candidate for presidential nomination, and utilize his own son as a killer to eliminate her enemies. But, things doesn't go straight as she thinks it would. For, Sinatra becomes aware something is wrong, because he always wakes up by having been tormented by recurring nightmare, and it eventually turns out that other member of the platoon shares the same nightmare. One day, he notices that Harvey acts strangely after he has played a solitaire game, and knows the presence of a sinister conspiracy. He tries to get rid of this carefully embedded subconscious contraption out of Harvey's system. Then, finally the day comes when this whole conspiracy should be carried out. Showing her son the queen of diamond, this unearthly malevolent mother tells him about critical mission he must perform, and he takes a rifle, and goes to the place his target is to make a speech. Further than this I'm not going to tell, lest it spoils the fun of those who have never watched this movie.
The Manchurian Candidate might not be a closed story, but rather
open-ended one. Because also Frank Sinatra might be a
brainwashed time bomb.
When I said the story was implausible in the first paragraph, I didn't mean such kind of hypnotic practices were impossible. On the contrary, as I will explain later, such technique is actually being employed even in ordinary advertisement. But rather, I meant, in order to kill political enenies, why such a megalomaniac scheme as shown in this movie should have been required, and her son sacrificed. Hardly believable. Yet, I think this question would be somewhat answerable if it was supposed that, not only Laurence Harvey, but also all of the rest of the platoon members including, of course, Frank Sinatra would be time bombs, though it isn't explicitly suggested within the plot. Anyway, it would be more natural to think the communists would have taken full advantages from what they could utilize than to think they would have been satisfied with just one person. I read someone else's review saying Janet Leigh whom Sinatra has met on a train would be his operator. I don't know for sure about this. It could be. Anyway, as there is no explicit suggestion for that, it's totally up to viewer's imagination. Yet, one thing is clear; that is, there is no reason to deny also Sinatra might be a time bomb whose triggering mechanism is different from Harvey's. This surely suggests the story might not be completed by the end of the movie, or rather it might be the beginning of another story. In other words, The Manchurian Candidate might not be a closed story, but rather open-ended one.
This movie could topple down the wall separating from madding
chaos of uncertainty the secure foothold of our ordinary life by
which we can believe we are doing whatever we want.
The most disturbing aspect of the movie resides in the point it could conjure up such kind of suspicion in audience's mind that whatever we are considering to be our own thought might not be our own at all, by showing us characters who stand in marginal realm beyond which usual firm basis of self-affirmation would surely crumble down. For example, we are quite susceptible to subliminal technique usually employed by an advertisement industry. As there are many titles about this subject such as the ones written by Wilson Bryan Key, I spare elucidating it here. But, this whole sphere related to subliminal technique certainly leads us to such questions; is what we are usually considering to be our own thought actually our own? Or even, are there actually the things we can claim as our own thought? While we are unaware of those questions, empirically it will be quite all right. But, once we have noticed the presence of such problems, it will render us into quite a neurotic situation. Of cource, it's highly unlikely that ordinary persons will be manipulated like Harvey in ordinary situations. Yet, still the questions remain. For example, we won't be able to know exactly what extent we are manipulated by so-called public opinion when we vote. Manipulation isn't only about such a direct one like Harvey's case, but also, and in many cases, indirect. This movie's most disturbing aspect concerns this point; that is, it could topple down the wall separating from madding chaos of uncertainty the secure foothold of our ordinary life by which we can believe we are doing whatever we want.
Thanks for marvelous performances of Laurence Harvey and Angela
Lansbury.
Finally, I would like to mention superb performances of main players. Usually, I don't mention whether a given player in a given movie is acting superb or not in any review except with a very brief statement. Because, to tell the truth, I think I'm not qualified to discern good performances from bad ones, except extremely clear-cut cases. Besides, acting isn't my primary concern in reviewing movies, though good performances are good in any way. However, in this movie's case, not to mention those superb performances especially given by Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury would be inappropriate for reviewing this movie. As for Laurence Harvey, though I haven't watched so many of movies he is in, there is no doubt in that he is quite a strange actor. For, he is one of the most difficult actors for audience to feel sympathy for. But, that is his very strength. In a scene, he talks to Sinatra how he was lovable while he was in love with a senator's (played by John McGiver) daughter. It's quite amazing a known war hero is desperately explaining how he could be lovable. If acted by another player, this scene would have lured unexpected laughs. And, by his coldness, audience could surely feel his dreary life oppresed by the presence of his monstrous mother. As for Angela Lansbury, her portrayal of a sinister mother is extremely effective. There is one thing that is absolutely sure, and no one would dare to deny, about this movie; that is, no one would like to have such a mother like her in this movie. Essentially, all of her talking are monologues, so never dialogs. She wants to dominate everything, and devour everything. This is obviously reflecting the image of devoring mother, which will certainly hinder the emotional growth of her son. As for Frank Sinatra, I don't know what to say. Yet, one thing is evident; that is, the movie, being unable to deliver his usual wisecracks, must have been not as much fun for him. That's just a joke. And, I'm glad to know Janet Leigh has succeeded in recovering from the trauma caused by the traumatizing experience of Psycho. That's another joke. But, anyway, I can say this disturbing movie is one of the most chilling suspense movies ever made, even if it's not for everyone.

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