The Manchurian Candidate

There are two different versions of 'The Manchurian Candidate' the film made in 1962 and the film made in 2004. Personally i prefer the 2004 film as it doesn't take as long to start getting inside your mind and making you think about how it is a phycological film in how it affects you and what you think is going on.

A main character is Major Ben Marco, he is a man trying to regain his sanity. Representation of a 'hard man' who is accustomed to danger as he has a history with the Army. The film utilizes a range of genres: paranoid thriller, political thriller, Greek tragedy and refers to the social context and tensions. Part of the film makes us think of something we call Oedipus complex, this is because of the inapropriate relationship with mother (Eleanor Shaw).
We start to think hat is the purpose of the film, was it made to entertain? I think it has an idea of mind control and how it can effect people and what they do. The director elaborates and makes the film alot bigger, darker, stronger and twisted than real life. He exaggerates the film and what happens to the characters, this helps to keep you viewing the film. When you ask yourself who has the power and who is the enemy, the Manchurian Company, Eleanor Shaw (the mother)?  The film brings to mind the question of how far the manipulation of the human mind can go in reality.

There are two main scenes in The Manchurian Candidate; 1) The murder of Senator Jordan and 2) When Major Marco shoots Raymond & Eleanor Shaw: The final scene.
1) This scene is different from the original murder of Senator Jordan in the 1962 film. In the 2004 film Senator Jordan is murdered by Raymond Shaw, he drowns him in the remote lake. The drowning creates a dream like state by the lake. Once Senator Jordan was drown his daughter (Jocelyne Jordan) runs into the water to see what is happening and Raymond turns on her asif he is under someone elses control and drowns her too. The director wanted the scene to symbolise the fact that the main characters were drowning in all of these brainwashing they dont know who they are truely anymore. The fog on the lake represents the look of clarity within the characters minds, they cannot think clearly from all of the unanswered questions floating in their minds. Their minds are overloaded with information and their dreams are ambivalent. The music is non-diegetic and it enhances the tension as Raymond approaches the lake to kill Senator Jordan; this is a key to thrillers. The simplicity in editing and making the chots close ups reflect how Raymond is at that time brainwashed almost in a hypnotic state.

2) The films climax comes to a head when Raymond realises his soul is corrupted by the implants and stories that have been planted in his mind, therefore he decides to sacrifice his life and his mothers to eliminate any possibility of being controlled, owned and operated. There is an Undercurrent of Greek myth because there is a myth about a Greek whos relationship with his mother was inapropriate just like the relationship between Raymond and his mother. There is also a Prominent picture of Mount Rushmore on the backdrop in the final scene. It invites the viewer to ask questions about past and present leaders and the thought of corruption.