Few movies are sought fit for a remake, but in the case of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), it presented an opportunity to update this classic political thriller into modern times. Producing a remake also presents the risk of losing the original message altogether. Both films begin with an American soldier who is essentially brainwashed into becoming an assassin utilized by his own political family, more specifically his mother, to infiltrate the presidency of America. Behind the brainwashing is the most feared villains of the time, communists in 1962 and multinational corporate interest in 2004. The basic plot takes viewers through a curvy road of uncertainty in what the outcome of the film will be or where the film will take them next.
…show more content…
This time in America was known as the second Red Scare. As Landon R.Y. Storrs stated in his work, “The second Red Scare refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s.” In the film, the villains are clearly communists. They are of Asian heritage and negatively speak on capitalism. Not to mention, they are dressed as foreign military leaders. One of the biggest contributors leading to skepticism in the government was the anxiety-causing tactic of McCarthyism. McCarthyism is clearly shown in the original film by the step-father of Raymond Shaw. Both the step-father and the mother of Shaw are guilty of accusing everyone and anyone who opposes them of being a communist. But, their family seems to be the only ones in close contact with the communists since she has given her son to them to play as a brainwashed assassin. The film has an oddly satire demeanor about communism. The communist villains are evil enough to plot and scheme the demise of America, but human enough to crack jokes and talk of it as a less than serious matter. This has an interesting effect on the minds of audiences, all the sudden the idea of communist infiltrating American politics doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. This movie is pure and simple fearmongering, meant to raise suspicions on corrupt …show more content…
In the 1962 version, Major Marco’s strong military reputation seems to gain him the respect of those around him with ease. During this time in American history, military leaders were overly serious figures who did not operate under false premise. This makes convincing his comrades that something fishy is going on with the campaign being run by Shaw’s family an effortless task. Because of this, viewers see Major Marco fewer times than in the remake. The focus, instead is on Shaw, allowing viewers to feel empathy for
This time in America was known as the second Red Scare. As Landon R.Y. Storrs stated in his work, “The second Red Scare refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s.” In the film, the villains are clearly communists. They are of Asian heritage and negatively speak on capitalism. Not to mention, they are dressed as foreign military leaders. One of the biggest contributors leading to skepticism in the government was the anxiety-causing tactic of McCarthyism. McCarthyism is clearly shown in the original film by the step-father of Raymond Shaw. Both the step-father and the mother of Shaw are guilty of accusing everyone and anyone who opposes them of being a communist. But, their family seems to be the only ones in close contact with the communists since she has given her son to them to play as a brainwashed assassin. The film has an oddly satire demeanor about communism. The communist villains are evil enough to plot and scheme the demise of America, but human enough to crack jokes and talk of it as a less than serious matter. This has an interesting effect on the minds of audiences, all the sudden the idea of communist infiltrating American politics doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. This movie is pure and simple fearmongering, meant to raise suspicions on corrupt …show more content…
In the 1962 version, Major Marco’s strong military reputation seems to gain him the respect of those around him with ease. During this time in American history, military leaders were overly serious figures who did not operate under false premise. This makes convincing his comrades that something fishy is going on with the campaign being run by Shaw’s family an effortless task. Because of this, viewers see Major Marco fewer times than in the remake. The focus, instead is on Shaw, allowing viewers to feel empathy for