The Manchurian Candidate(Old and New)
The first film, made in 1962, was set around the Korean War. During this time, a 'brainwashing' technique, similar to hypnosis, was developed by the Soviets. A patrol of U.S soldiers fighting in Korea, which included Major Bennett Marco and Sergeant Raymond Shaw, was kidnapped by the Soviets. After being taken to Manchuria, false memories were implanted into the soldiers' minds, whereas Raymond Shaw could be completely controlled by triggering his subconscious. Finally, when they were returned to the American forces, they had no memory of this experience.
Back in America, Marco and the rest of the group believed that Raymond Shaw saved all their lives in combat, and Shaw received Medal of Honor. Anyone that was in the platoon, when asked what they thought of Shaw, would answer in the same robot-like manner : "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life. " But this was far from the truth, because he was actually hated back in the unit because of his coldness and arrogance.
Soon after, Marco began to have recurring nightmares about the time they were kidnapped. In his dream, he kept seeing two of his men being killed by Raymond Shaw. He felt really uneasy about this and tried to investigate, but the Army Intelligence he worked for urged him to forget about the whole thing. But however, he got his chance to solve the mystery with their support when he learned that another patrol member had been having the same nightmares and identified the same communist personnel.
As his investigation deepened, he learned that the communists planned to use Shaw as their special assasin who could obey their orders and would have no memory of what he had done. The subconscious trigger they used on him was the queen of diamonds in a deck of playing cards. Shaw's American controller was none other than his mother, who was working with the communists. She asked Shaw to assasinate the candidate for vice-president during his acceptance speech. She planned to push her husband (Shaw's stepfather) John Iselin as the new president.
Marco found a way to pull of all the plugs that triggered Shaw. Marco later thought he had failed, but Shaw indeed regained control of himself, killed his mother and stepfather and then himself at the party convention, thereby saving his country. He knew no one else could have stopped his mother, so he did it all by himself without Marco.
Now let me talk about the new version. The plots were very similar. A brain-washed candiate was still the center of the story. But the story had been somewhat modernized. Here, the brainwashing process was done by Manchurian Global, a large multinational corporation and government contractor. The aim was to expand corporate influence, and also government contracts for themselves. In the first film, Marco and his unit were kidnapped during the Korean war. In this one, they were captured during the first gulf war(1990-1991), and all brainwashed at a secret Manchurian facility. The brainwashing process itself had the more 'today' kind of look. Drilling brains, putting implants, weird metallic objects in the body? Definitely more scientific.
The big difference they made in this new movie was that Raymond Shaw himself was the Vice-president, and Marco was the assasin! And Eugenie Rose, in the old version, had no other purpose than to be Marco's sweetheart. But here, she was an FBI agent who was assigned to keep an eye on him. And Raymond Shaw's mother was not named Iselin, but Senator 'Eleanor Shaw'. But the similarity between the character from the old version was that they were both power-hungry and ruthless politicians.
Unlike the old version, the assassin (in this case) Marco was restrained before he could commit suicide. After he was re-conditioned, Marco helped locate the abandoned facility where he and his unit were brainwashed. Now this part, in the old version was never tackled, was it? Nobody questioned whether the communists would brainwash someone else.
And the reason for brainwashing was more clear in the new version. It was because the corporation wanted more influence on the government, so they used a brainwashed candidate who could be controlled according to their wills.
Characteristics
Main characters from both films were very patriotic, I think. In the first one, Shaw gave his life for his country. And he was a hero in Marco's book. He did the right thing just as soon as he was freed from the controls. In the new version, Marco, after his reconditioning, helped locate the brainwashing corporation. They would no longer have any control on the government.
My Thoughts
I prefer the original version, for some reason. It could have been Frank Sinatra, but I don't know. But really, both versions are really good. I had a great time watching them.
Back in America, Marco and the rest of the group believed that Raymond Shaw saved all their lives in combat, and Shaw received Medal of Honor. Anyone that was in the platoon, when asked what they thought of Shaw, would answer in the same robot-like manner : "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life. " But this was far from the truth, because he was actually hated back in the unit because of his coldness and arrogance.
Soon after, Marco began to have recurring nightmares about the time they were kidnapped. In his dream, he kept seeing two of his men being killed by Raymond Shaw. He felt really uneasy about this and tried to investigate, but the Army Intelligence he worked for urged him to forget about the whole thing. But however, he got his chance to solve the mystery with their support when he learned that another patrol member had been having the same nightmares and identified the same communist personnel.
As his investigation deepened, he learned that the communists planned to use Shaw as their special assasin who could obey their orders and would have no memory of what he had done. The subconscious trigger they used on him was the queen of diamonds in a deck of playing cards. Shaw's American controller was none other than his mother, who was working with the communists. She asked Shaw to assasinate the candidate for vice-president during his acceptance speech. She planned to push her husband (Shaw's stepfather) John Iselin as the new president.
Marco found a way to pull of all the plugs that triggered Shaw. Marco later thought he had failed, but Shaw indeed regained control of himself, killed his mother and stepfather and then himself at the party convention, thereby saving his country. He knew no one else could have stopped his mother, so he did it all by himself without Marco.
Now let me talk about the new version. The plots were very similar. A brain-washed candiate was still the center of the story. But the story had been somewhat modernized. Here, the brainwashing process was done by Manchurian Global, a large multinational corporation and government contractor. The aim was to expand corporate influence, and also government contracts for themselves. In the first film, Marco and his unit were kidnapped during the Korean war. In this one, they were captured during the first gulf war(1990-1991), and all brainwashed at a secret Manchurian facility. The brainwashing process itself had the more 'today' kind of look. Drilling brains, putting implants, weird metallic objects in the body? Definitely more scientific.
The big difference they made in this new movie was that Raymond Shaw himself was the Vice-president, and Marco was the assasin! And Eugenie Rose, in the old version, had no other purpose than to be Marco's sweetheart. But here, she was an FBI agent who was assigned to keep an eye on him. And Raymond Shaw's mother was not named Iselin, but Senator 'Eleanor Shaw'. But the similarity between the character from the old version was that they were both power-hungry and ruthless politicians.
Unlike the old version, the assassin (in this case) Marco was restrained before he could commit suicide. After he was re-conditioned, Marco helped locate the abandoned facility where he and his unit were brainwashed. Now this part, in the old version was never tackled, was it? Nobody questioned whether the communists would brainwash someone else.
And the reason for brainwashing was more clear in the new version. It was because the corporation wanted more influence on the government, so they used a brainwashed candidate who could be controlled according to their wills.
Characteristics
Main characters from both films were very patriotic, I think. In the first one, Shaw gave his life for his country. And he was a hero in Marco's book. He did the right thing just as soon as he was freed from the controls. In the new version, Marco, after his reconditioning, helped locate the brainwashing corporation. They would no longer have any control on the government.
My Thoughts
I prefer the original version, for some reason. It could have been Frank Sinatra, but I don't know. But really, both versions are really good. I had a great time watching them.
posted by vicky @ 1:56 AM
1 Comments:
At 3:45 AM,
The Ajarn said…
A brilliant piece of compare and contrast writing. It simply does not get any better in both descriptions and analysis. You are one impressive writer, Ms. Vicky! You write as well as any student I have ever had the pleasure of teaching at ABAC.
I will leave it as you have written it without comment. Your words are the best comments.
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