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DVD Corner: ‘Manchurian’ remake is hard hitting
Mac Olsen
for Spotlight
Rated 14A by Canadian Home Video Rating; 2 hours, 9 minutes; $9.95 for single-disc DVD and $28.95 for Blu-ray at www.columbiahouse.ca
Conspiracy and hard hitting drama are at the heart of director Jonathan Demme’s remake of ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ and they work very well.
The movive stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Shaw.
Whereas the 1962 movie reflected the Cold War era, the 2004 movie reflects the post-Cold War era of corporate globalization, but it keeps the political intrigue of Washington the original had.
Shaw and Marco served as soldiers in the first Gulf War in February 1991. They and their platoon were captured by Iraqi forces and taken to a secret location in occupied Kuwait. They became known as the Lost Platoon.
Years later, Shaw is hailed as a hero for getting his men back to friendly lines and is the recipient of the Medal of Honor. However, none of the survivors can remember what happened to them in Kuwait.
Behind the scenes in Washington, there are efforts to make Shaw the vice-presidential nominee. Shaw’s rebuffs the idea initially, but soon, he becomes the pawn of Manchurian Global and their brainwashing techniques.
Meanwhile, Marco, who is still serving in the military, has recurring nightmares about what happened in Kuwait and learns Shaw is also suffering from the same thing.
They talk and Marco decides to contact the surviving members of their platoon. But he’s thwarted at every turn, including the murder of one ex-soldier, as well as by his superiors, as they think he’s become mentally unstable.
In Washington, Eleanor Shaw uses her political influence to make her son the vice-presidential nominee. It doesn’t sit well with Senator Thomas Jordan (played by Jon Voigt) and he discovers a secret which he tries to use against the Shaws.
When Raymond learns of the secret, he again decides to distance himself from the presidential campaign. However, in a surprising twist, his mother uses the same commands Manchurian Global programmed him with to do her bidding.
Things go from bad to worse, as Marco also falls under her control too. But Shaw and Marco realize what is happening to them. Their nightmares suddenly become clear, revealing a horrible truth about what happened to them in Kuwait, setting the stage for a dramatic climax.
If the brainwashing techniques explored in this movie could be equated with post-traumatic stress disorder, then the performances of Washington and Schreiber should be counted among the best. They convincingly project the suffering their characters feel.
Streep also gives a great performance, portraying a single-minded woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her ambitions.
Overall, the 2004 remake of ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ deserves 4˝ stars out of five for great performances and bringing the storyline into the 21st century.
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The Manchurian Candidate
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