"Why don't you pass the time with a game of solitaire?"

The Manchurian Candidate was definitely not what I was expecting. It was without a doubt the most twisted and original story that we've seen this semester. Although some of the other films were out there (White Zombie) this satire was filled with moments that were completely ridiculous as well as heartbreaking. This is a perfect example of a film that was without a doubt ahead of its time. I found myself not being able to concentrate on the technical aspects of the film simply because I was trying to follow the story. The story is surely what makes this film so engaging and a huge reason why it is considered a classic. With it's incredible performances, interesting undertones regarding communism, momism, and behaviorism, and overall engaging plot, The Manchurian Candidate is yet another one of my favorites this semester.

I just wanted to get one thing out of the way before I focus on the main points of my blog. The first thing I noticed about the film was the fact that it was black and white. I wasn't sure why this film was shot in black and white seeing as how color had clearly been established and used by the sixties and this I'm sure was a very huge film at the time. I know that certain films use this technique to create a particular mood or reinforce their message and maybe that's what the filmmakers were trying to do. I'm not certain but my guess would be that it was a stylistic decision that made the movie seem more like it was part of the times, a technique that is used successfully in very few other films (Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove).

With that note aside, I really wanted to focus on the story. Wow! Talk about a movie with so many twists and turns. The sheer number of exciting and memorable moments in this film is somewhat overwhelming. Not to mention, for how serious and sad it was at points, this movie was hilarious. One of my favorite moments of the film was when Raymond's mother, in an attempt to make things easier for her husband to carry out her demands, tells him that there are 57 Americans that have been found to be communist, a number which is triggered by his use of Heinz ketchup (57 varieties) in the scene. I actually found it difficult to distinguish what humor was intended and what we found funny simply because it is nearly 50 years later. Scenes like the karate fight were so over the top I couldn't help but crack up. Even the scene where Raymond kills his new wife and her senator father, although shocking, was somewhat humorous (I mean come on, I heard people laugh when Raymond shot the senator through the milk carton). Once again, I don't know if these particular scenes would've seemed funny back then but they are rather humorous today.

Although some of the more intense scenes could be looked at as being comical, I was surprised at the amount of violence that was in the film. The number of times people were shot in the head (particularly the exaggerated and bloody death of soldier Bobby Lembeck) was shocking. I know before we began watching it was mentioned in class that the film was fairly controversial after the assassination of JFK a year later. But this film had to have been controversial when it came out.

Another thing that really surprised me was the performances, particularly Frank Sinatra's. I can honestly say that he was very very good in this film and I went into it expecting the opposite. I'd never seen any of his films before. I actually don't think I was aware that he acted at all. But his performance was a delightful surprise.

Aside from the wonderful humor and incredible performances, there are so many memorable moments in The Manchurian Candidate. One of my favorite scenes in the entire film was the main “brainwashing” scene where all of the captured American soldiers are being controlled and programmed by the communist leaders. The most interesting part of this scene is how the filmmakers showed the soldiers being brainwashed into thinking that they are sitting in front of a bunch of old women while in reality they are actually being discussed and studied by the military. The scene is perfectly edited, cutting these two completely opposite situations together, forcing us to see things in a particular way much like the communist leaders are doing in the film.

What I found most interesting in the article Kiss Me Deadly: Communism, Motherhood, and Cold War Movies was the section on momism and its relationship to communism in during the Cold War. Before discussing about Philip Wylie, Rogin states that during the Cold War, Truman and his supporters claimed that the communist party "was a secret, international conspiracy to overthrow American government… and its members committed espionage." This idea is what The Manchurian Candidate centers on, with the communist government targeting Raymond and his men to brainwash in order to carry out their wishes.

Along with the brainwashing that is done to the American soldiers in the film, a similar type of brainwashing is done by Raymond's mother to Senator John Iselin. If there is one character that I hated in the film it had to have been Mrs. Iselin. Her character perfectly reflects the ideas that Wylie expressed with his theory of momism.    

According to Iselin, mom "was a self-righteous, sexually repressed, middle-aged woman" that "got men to worship her and spend money on her instead." Mrs. Iselin's dominant and manipulative behavior in The Manchurian Candidate is exactly this type of figure. Many of the films that we have seen so far this semester have discussed, although not always obviously, the role of women in society. The relationship between Mrs. Iselin and Senator Iselin reminded me of Jim's parents' relationship in Rebel Without A Cause. The wife called the shots, at some points even humiliating the husband. Unlike Rebel, there is without a doubt sexual tension between Mrs. Iselin and her son. Rogin mentions the scene in which Raymond's mother passionately kisses her son before the final scene of the film. When I first saw this I felt so uncomfortable, swearing that there was something strange behind Mrs. Iselin's actions.

The question was raised in class if this film was serious or satirical. I think it’s a little bit of both, but I can’t help but lean towards the satirical. There are moments that make this a very serious story such as the killing of numerous people and the tragic death of Raymond Shaw. But everything that happens in this film is so over the top and there are so many quirky moments that take us away from the seriousness and make us feel like we are watching something completely ridiculous. The main reason why I would lean more towards satire is that, while watching the film, I felt the story could have been told in a very serious way but the world was filled with characters and situations that just seemed off. I think that much of this comes from the amount of humor and exaggeration. Every moment where Raymond is led astray due to the queen of diamonds trigger makes us laugh because we know exactly what he’s going through and no one else does. Moments such as when Raymond walks into a lake and when he suddenly marries his ex-lover simply because she was wearing a queen of diamonds costume makes us laugh and allows us to recognize the over the top satire of this potentially serious story.