new "Manchurian Candidate" is sent by Halliburton-like company...

[villager]

There was some discussion about the "Manchurian Candidate" remake coming out, raised in GD... For the cinephiles among DU, some interesting excerpts from the review which already ran in "Variety..."

The Manchurian Candidate

By TODD MCCARTHY


Crammed with enough creepy contemporary vibes to keep conspiracy theorists occupied through the November election, Jonathan DemmeJonathan Demme's new take on "The Manchurian Candidate" absorbingly and sometimes mesmerizingly validates the initially questionable idea of remaking one of the certified classics of the '60s. Structurally and thematically similar to John Frankenheimer's original but entirely different in style, feel and nuance, this political thriller about a brainwashed soldier being positioned for the White House provides a delectable network of dramatic tripwires that teases the mind and quickens the pulse. This is brainy popcorn fare that, given its outstanding cast and exploitably relevant content, should play well with all audiences through the summer and beyond, even if a couple of commercial doubts linger; the original, despite wide acclaim, disappointed on initial release, and it's possible the story's real-life implications may cut too close to the bone.

Despite its basis in the Richard Condon novel and George Axelrod script that drove the 1962 film, Demme's picture, with its ambiguous mood and unsettling tension, also recalls Alan J. Pakula's shadow-world suspensers of the '70s: "Klute," "The Parallax View" and "All the President's Men." By outfitting the superbly insinuating basic story with a battery of up-to-the-minute concerns that readily feed on present fears and suspicions, Demme and screenwriters Daniel PyneDaniel Pyne and Dean GeorgarisDean Georgaris inject new life into a recently dormant genre -- the paranoid thriller -- that talented filmmakers might do well to revisit more regularly.

After making his biggest career stumble last year with "The Truth About Charlie""The Truth About Charlie" (a remake of another cherished '60s title, "Charade""Charade"), Demme has bounced back with a picture that, in unexpected ways, stands as a companion piece to "The Silence of the Lambs." Both films, in the end, are about mind control and manipulation, about the diverse ways that evil can be instilled in well-intended people. The two works bore deeply into the heads -- literally, in this case -- of their central characters, to scary effect in both instances.

<snip>

In terms of dramatic trajectory, this new "Candidate" wisely retains Axelrod's immaculate construction while reconceiving the nature of individual scenes and source of the overriding evil. The "Manchurian" element in the original referred to the region of China and the communists' brainwashing of American soldiers; here, in typical post-'60s conspiracy theory style, the enemy lies within, specifically with a huge corporation called Manchurian Global (read Halliburton) that specializes in servicing the military.

So instead of Frankenheimer's surreal gatherings of Red operatives and proper society ladies where Yank G.I.s murder their buddies on command, Demme offers a not-implausible world where a splinter-sized implant can not only alter a subject's emotions, but unconsciously force them to do another's bidding. Such is Manchurian's intent once Shaw is in place a heartbeat from the presidency.

<snip>

Soundtrack is laced with background references to U.S. military incursions in such places as Indonesia and Guinea as well as incidents of domestic violence. As the action pushes relentlessly toward the climax, which like the original takes place at a huge political rally with an assassin lurking in the rafters, the layers of conspiracy and questions about how far the complicity extends have been pushed to their limits by scripters who have added character twists that impact decisively on the ending.

more at www.variety.com (subscription site)

[jeff30997]

1. Sounds good to me.

[villager]

2. me, too!

n/t