The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate, made in 1959, is a political thriller based on a novel about the son of a prominent US political family, who is brainwashed and turned into an assassin against his own will, working for the communist party.

This  is the poster advertising the film around the time it was made, suggesting that if someone shows up five minutes late, they will not know what is going on, suggesting that the film is very in depth and a lot of attention will be required from the audience in order for them to have the best experience from the film.

As briefly mentioned earlier, the main idea of the plot of The Manchurian Candidate is the son of a prominent, right-winged political family has been brainwashed to become an assassin as part of an international communist conspiracy.

The film has a modern remake as well, made in 2004 and directed by Jonathan Demme.

It is suggested that the modern version of the film is more sophisticated than the first one, which is to be expected as they have more technology to work with, however it is still important to remember that without the original the modern version could not exist, meaning it still has a lot of value in the film industry.

There are also contrasting ideas shown about society as a whole from the two versions of the same film, the older version shows obvious signs of racism, for example, ''mysterious and dangerous men from the east'' as well as an Asian servant and a single token black soldier.

The modern film eliminates these ideas of racism, showing a multi-racial society as well as a black protagonist.

In some ways that may not be immediately obvious, The Manchurian Candidate follows the recipe for an archetypal thriller. Lt Ben Marco is represented as the resourceful hero who initially did not want to be involved in any of the things he had to go through, having to use his resources and wit to regain his sanity and unravel his past.

He is represented as a tough character who has the respect of seemingly weaker men. Due to his service in the army, he is accustomed to danger and not afraid to assault his problems head on.

The film utilizes a number of different thriller sub-genres, these include; political thriller, paranoid thriller and psychological thriller.