Manchurian Candidate

Manchurian Candidate

2004

1962 

There are two versions of "The Manchurian Candidate."  They are both based on the cold war.  

Manchurian Candidate 1962

Director: John Frankenheimer

Cast:

Khigh Dheigh- Dr. Yen Lo

James Edwards -Cpl. Allen Melvin

Douglas Henderson -Col. Milt

Albert Paulsen - Zilkov

Barry Kelley - Secretary of Defense

Lloyd Corrigan - Holborn Gaines

Robert Riordan - Benjamin K. Arthur

Frank Sinatra - Maj. Bennett Marco

Laurence Harvey - Raymond Shaw                                                                                                                                   
Angela Lansbury - Mrs. Iselin

Janet Leigh -Eugenie Rose Chaney

James Gregory - Sen. John Yerkes Iselin

Henry Silva - Chunjin

Leslie Parrish - Jocelyn Jordan

John McGiver - Sen. Thomas Jordan

Genre: Suspense thriller

There are two versions of "The Manchurian Candidate." They are both based on the cold war. In this film a son of a right wing political family is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

Trailer 1962

This version of Manchurian Candidate is in black and white. The graphics in this version are also not as good as in the version that was done in 2004 as it is a lot older.  Both of them differ slightly in the way the story is told. This trailer is effective as too much is not revealed about the film. The text also goes along with the film effectively and makes the audience want to come an view it early as it says that if you turn up late you won't be able to understand what is going on. 

Manchurian Candidate 2004 

Director: Jonathan Demme

Cast:

Ted Levine - Colonel Howard

Miguel Ferrer - Colonel Garret

Dean Stockwell - Mark Whiting

Charles Napier - General Sloan

Jude Ciccolella - David Donovan

Tom Stechschulte - Governor Robert "Bob" Arthur

Pablo Schreiber - PFC Eddie Ingram

Anthony Mackie- PFC Robert Baker III

Robyn Hitchcock - Laurent Tokar

Obba Babatundé – Senator Wells

Zeljko Ivanek - Vaughn Utly

David Keeley - Agent Evan Anderson

Denzel Washington - Major Bennett Marco

Liev Schreiber - Congressman Raymond Prentiss Shaw (the "Manchurian candidate")

Meryl Streep - Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw

Kimberly Elise - Eugenie Rose

Jon Voight - Senator Thomas Jordan

Vera Farmiga - Jocelyne Jordan

Jeffrey Wright- CPL Al Melvin

Simon McBurney – Dr. Atticus Noyle

Bruno Ganz - Delp

Ann Dowd - Congresswoman Beckett

Trailer 2004

The later Manchurian Candidate is set in Kuwait which makes it more appropriate and immediate for the viewing audience. The suddenness of the sound as soon as the video comes on screen creates a more dramatic effect as well as the fast Cuts leaving the audience guessing what is going to happen next and why it happened. The text used in the middle of cuts is also effective as it tells the audience that little bit more about the film by instructing them to pay more attention. For example it uses the words "look closely" and "listen carefully." The sound of the heartbeat in the background near the beginning of the trailer ads to tension during the trailer. 

The big names in the film industry are also shown, such as Denzel Washington, this is a good marketing technique and will appeal more to the audience as they may want to watch the film more if a well know actor is in it.

This film seems to appeal to an older target audience but it may appeal to some younger viewers. 

This clip is quite emotional due to the graphics of the pictures shown which are upsetting, the images also tell the audience that the film has something to do with what happened during a war. The pictures are effective in the way they create emotion. Continuity editing in this clip is also effective and is done well, as it uses slow cuts any mistakes would have been more noticeable. Also as the clip progresses the cuts appear to become faster which creates a more dramatic effect, this is a good effect to use in a thriller as most thrillers use dramatic scenes.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the best film directors/producers. He includes the conventions of a thriller in his films sucessfully. The Manchurian Candidate is sucessfull in using some of these conventions. For example, it uses suspence as the veiwer is left not knowing certain things in parts of the film. Such as what parts are dreams and what parts are reality. Other things however are left out such as the use of a red herring. The film also does not use a MacGuffin. 

Overall the film was not that enjoyable and could have included more conventions of a thriller.