Unlike Jacob’s Ladder, however, The Manchurian Candidate’s nightmarish quality ebbs rather than builds – but for the first hour or so, that air of paranoia remains positively electric.Ī sequence where Raymond falls under his masters’ control through a triggering phone call displays a masterful use of framing and lighting. Interestingly, Lyne’s film was also about soldiers unwittingly exposed to experimentation while serving for their country – in this instance, in Vietnam both films feature a protagonist haunted by their nightmares, and both are filled with an air of paranoia and dread.
In its evocation of post-war trauma as a kind of living nightmare, Demme’s film recalls Adrian Lyne’s underrated 1990 masterpiece, Jacob’s Ladder. Both films also happen to be about fear, distrust and the loss of the self – in Body Snatchers, by the incursion of alien spores from outer space, in the Manchurian Candidate, from a sinister global corporation. His use of handheld cameras, canted angles, queasily saturated colors and intense sound design recall another remake, in fact: Philip Kaufman’s 1978 iteration of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.
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Marco’s superiors chalk it all up to a case of Gulf War Syndrome Marco’s convinced something more sinister is going on.ĭemme’s Candidate may be based on a ’50s book and a ’60s movie – which saw Frank Sinatra in the Ben Marco role – but his 21st century update is pure ’70s conspiracy thriller. The only trouble is, the recurring nightmares suffered by Raymond’s traumatized war buddy Ben Marco don’t quite line up with the official account instead, his dreams are filled with strange experiments and horrific psychological torture. During a surprise attack one night, Raymond single-handedly defended his fellow troops from enemy fire on his return, he became one of a select group of soldiers to be handed the Medal of Honor. All-American politician Congressman Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) is on the cusp of taking the position of Vice President, thanks in no small part to his tale of bravery from the Iraq War. The 2004 Candidate’s plot is much the same as the old one, at least at first. No other film in the director’s body of work drips with quite so much clammy paranoia. It does, however, contain some of Demme and regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto’s most effective moments of suspense. The Manchurian Candidate, based on Richard Condon’s 1950s novel but more closely modelled on John Frankenheimer’s first adaptation from 1962, isn’t Demme’s best movie. Although Demme was by no means the first director to craft such shots – Hitchcock and Kubrick used fourth-wall-breaking looks to camera to powerful effect – their insistence and skilful deployment nevertheless makes them deeply unsettling. But there’s also the feeling that the characters are studying us, daring us to look away.
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In Silence Of The Lambs, FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and captured serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) don’t just stare, unblinking, at each other during their verbal sparring matches, but also directly at us.ĭemme invites us to study the faces of his characters, maybe hunting for signs of humanity or madness, weakness or cunning, innocence or pure evil. Michelle Pfeiffer often delivers her lines straight down the camera lens in Demme’s endearing comedy-thriller, Married To The Mob. Many of Demme’s films from his successful run through the ’80s and ’90s feature similar shots.
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