The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Manchurian Candidate | |
|---|---|
 The Manchurian Candidate Theatrical Poster |
|
| Directed by | Jonathan Demme |
| Produced by | Jonathan Demme Ilona Herzberg Scott Rudin Tina Sinatra |
| Written by | Novel: Richard Condon Screenplay: Daniel Pyne Dean Georgaris |
| Starring | Denzel Washington Meryl Streep Liev Schreiber Jeffrey Wright Jon Voight Bruno Ganz |
| Music by | Rachel Portman |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Editing by | Carol Littleton Craig McKay |
| Distributed by |  Paramount Pictures UIP |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 2004 |
| Running time | 129 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | USD$80 million |
| IMDb profile | |
The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American film based on the 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, and a reimagining of the previous 1962 film. The film stars Denzel Washington as Ben Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier, Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Congressman from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate, Jon Voight as Tom Jordan, a U.S. senator and challenger for vice-president and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Shaw, also a senator and mother of Raymond Shaw.
Tagline:
- Everything is under control.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
While the plot still centers on a candidate brainwashed with the involvement of his mother and her own political aims, the mechanics of the story and the parties involved are quite different in cases.
The movie has Shaw (Schreiber) himself as the vice-presidential candidate; Marco (Washington), also brainwashed but not fully aware of it, as the assassin; Eleanor Shaw (Streep), as a power-hungry and ruthless politician (a Senator from New York). The film attempts to adapt itself to the modern world by having the brainwashing conducted by Manchurian Global, a large multinational private equity fund and government contractor (widely assumed to be comparable with the real world global private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, or sometimes the oil and military services contractor, Halliburton), with the aim of expanding corporate influence as well as government contracts for themselves. Instead of capture during the Korean War, and being brainwashed by communists, Marco and Shaw's unit is captured during the first Gulf War (Desert Storm), and brainwashed at a secret Manchurian Global facility. The film also plays on the issues of the 2004 presidential campaign (it was released that same year), such as the War on Terror.
The incredibly friendly first meeting between Eugenie (named Rosie in this movie) and Marco is retained almost verbatim, and made realistic when it is discovered that she is an FBI agent assigned to monitor him. It is Rosie who then discovers Marco after the altered assassination (who kills Shaw, having just won the election, as opposed to the original where the assassination takes place just before a candidacy declaration). Unlike the original, where Shaw commits suicide after killing Iselin, the assassin (Marco) is subdued before he can do so.
After hospitalization and conditioning, Marco helps the feds locate the abandoned island facility where he and his unit were brainwashed. In the original version, the question of whether the Communists' brainwashing technology could be used again is never addressed, and they simply disappear from the story.
The motives behind the brainwashed assassination plot in the 2004 version are more straightforward than the collusive politics of the original version: a corporation desires increased influence over government, so brainwashes a candidate who can be made pliable to their wishes.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Denzel Washington | Major Ben Marco |
| Meryl Streep | Senator Eleanor Shaw |
| Liev Schreiber | Congressman Raymond Shaw |
| Jon Voight | Senator Thomas Jordan |
| Kimberly Elise | Rosie |
| Vera Farmiga | Jocelyne Jordan |
| Ted Levine | Colonel Howard |
| Miguel Ferrer | Colonel Garret |
| Dean Stockwell | Mark Whiting |
| Jeffrey Wright | Al Melvin |
| Simon McBurney | Dr. Atticus Noyle |
| Bruno Ganz | Delp |
| Tom Stechschulte | Governor Robert Arthur |
| Robyn Hitchcock | Laurent Tokar |
| Obba Babatunde | Senator Wells |
| John Aprea | Rear Admiral Glick |
| Roger Corman | Mr. Secretary |
| Al Franken | TV Commentator |
| Bill Irwin | Scoutmaster |
| Adam LeFevre | Congressman Healy |
| Charles Napier | General Sloan |
| Tracey Walter | Night clerk |
[edit] Awards and Nominations
2005 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)
- Nominated - Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actor (Film) — Liev Schreiber
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actress (Film) — Meryl Streep
- Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role — Meryl Streep
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actor — Jeffrey Wright
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actress — Kimberly Elise
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture — Meryl Streep
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- The Manchurian Candidate at the Internet Movie Database
- The Manchurian Candidate at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Manchurian Candidate at Box Office Mojo
Caged Heat • Crazy Mama • Fighting Mad • Handle with Care • Last Embrace • Melvin and Howard • Who Am I This Time? • Swing Shift • Stop Making Sense • Something Wild • Swimming to Cambodia • Haiti: Dreams of Democracy • Married to the Mob • The Silence of the Lambs • Cousin Bobby • Philadelphia • Beloved • Storefront Hitchcock • The Truth About Charlie • The Agronomist • The Manchurian Candidate • Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Julia (1977) • The Deer Hunter (1978) • Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) • Manhattan (1979) • The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) • Sophie's Choice (1982) • Silkwood (1983) • Falling in Love (1984) • Out of Africa (1985) • Plenty (1985) • Heartburn (1986) • Ironweed (1987) • A Cry in the Dark (1988) • She-Devil (1989) • Postcards from the Edge (1993) • The Bridges of Madison County (1995) • Marvin's Room (1996) • Music of the Heart (1999) • The Hours (2002) • Adaptation. (2002) • The Manchurian Candidate (2004) • Prime (2005) • A Prairie Home Companion (2006) • The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
