themanchuraincandidate.docx

themanchuraincandidate.docx

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themanchuraincandidate

TheManchurianCandidate

（Politicaldrama）（1962）

©2004byRaymondWeschler

MajorCharacters

Raymond…………………………………………..LaurenceHarvey

AsoliderintheUSarmywhoiscapturedduringtheKoreanWar（1950-1953）,whoislatercelebratedasanAmericanwarheroforhavinghelpedhimselfandhisfellowsoldierstoescapefromtheenemy.

MajorBennettMarco……………………………FrankSinatra

Raymond’scommandingofficerwhohadrecommendedthathereceivetheCongressionalMedalofHonor,butwhoslowlybecomesconvincedthatRaymondwasnottheherothatheandothershadthoughthewas.

Mrs.Iselin………………………………………….AngelaLansbury

Raymond’smom,whoisabossy,mean-spiritedrichRepublican

whospendsmuchofhertimecomplainingaboutcommunists.

SenatorJohnIselin………………………………..JamesGregory

Raymond’sstep-father,whoisastupidright-wingRepublicanwhospendsmuchofhistimecomplainingaboutcommunistsintheUSgovernment（HeresemblestherealSenatorJoeMcCarthyofWisconsin）.

Rosie………………………………………………….JanetLeigh

Abeautifulandsomewhatmysteriousyoungwoman

whoMarcomeetsandsoonfallsinlovewith.

SenatorThomasJordan…………………………..JohnMcGiver

AliberalRepublicanSenatorwhoisapoliticalrivalofSenatorIselin.

Jocie……………………………………………………LeslieParrish

SenatorJordan’scuteyoungdaughter,whohadmetRaymondbefore

heenteredthearmy,andwhobecomeshisgirlfriendafterhereturns.

YenLo…………………………………………………KhighDhiegh

Theevil（butkindoffunny）ChinesespywhoisinchargeofbrainwashingRaymond,MarcoandtheotherAmericansoldierswhowerecapturedduringthewar.

Chunjin………………………………………………..HenrySilva

AUSarmyKoreantranslator,whoisactuallyaChinesespy,whoreturnstotheUSafterthewarinordertoworkforRaymondasahouseboy（cleaner,cook,driver,etc）

PlotSummary

Thisisaclassicfilm,andagreatreflectionoftheanxiety-filledtimesinwhichitwasproduced.ItisthestoryofagroupofAmericansoldierswhoarecapturedduringtheKoreanWar,andsecretlytakentoManchuria,China.There,theyarebrainwashedbyagroupofcommunistChineseofficials,whohavelearnedthelatestinmindcontrol,thesubconsciousandmodernpsychologyfromtheirRussianallies.Afterjustafewdays,thesoldiersarereleased,butbecauseofthebrainwashing,theymistakenlybelievethattheyhadescapedinahardfoughtbattle,andthatRaymondwastheherowhowasmostresponsiblefortheirfreedom.

Inreality,allofthemhadbeendruggedandpsychologicallymanipulatedbeforebeingreleased,andRaymondinparticularhadbeenchosentolaterserveasaspyforhisChineseandRussians“bosses.”Ofcourse,becausenobodyknowswhenthey’vebeenbrainwashed,Raymondistotallyunawareofwhatheisdoingandhowheisbeingused.Thus,hecomeshomeaspartAmericanwarheroandpartcommunistrobot.

Intheyearsafterthewar,MajorMarcobeginstohavethesamenightmareabouthisexperienceinKorea,andslowlyrealizesthatinfact,Raymondwasnotarealwarhero,butabrainwashedcommunistkillerwhowasnotawareofhisownactions.NobodyinthearmyseemstobelieveMarco,butasothersoldierssoontellofthesamenightmaresandconfusedmemories,itgraduallybecomesclearthatsomethingterriblewashappening,andthatinfact,Raymond’sChineseandRussiancontrollersweregoingtousehimtonotonlyspy,butto

doeverythingtheycouldtotakecontroloftheAmericangovernment!

…

SomeBriefbackgroundabouttheKoreanWarandtheColdWar:

TheKoreanWarwasfoughtbetween1950and1953,andwasthefirstmajorbattlebetweentheAmericanleadcapitalistWestandtheRussianleadcommunists.ThecommunistChinesefoughtactivelyonthesideofthecommunistNorthKoreans,andtheAmericanshadenteredthewarindefenseoftheSouthKoreans.Inthisfilm,itwastheChinesewhotaketheAmericansprisonerandsendthemtoChineseManchuriainordertobebrainwashed（ManchuriaisalargeprovinceinNorthernChina

Forthisfilm,moreimportantthantheKoreanWaristhepresenceoftheColdWar,thegreatbattleforinfluenceandpowerintheworld,betweenthecapitalistUnitedStatesandthecommunistSovietUnion.Inthe1950s,manyAmericanswereconvincedthatcommunistswereeverywherewithintheUSgovernment,andsomepoliticians（especiallySenatorJoeMcCarthy）builttheirentirecareersonscaringpeopleintosuchabelief.ItiswithinthishistoricalcontextthatTheManchurianCandidatewasmade,andultimately,thefilmitselfisagreatreflectionofAmerica’sgreatestfearsduringthosetenseColdWaryears.

TheMajorRanksintheUSMilitary:

Itwillbeeasiertounderstandthisfilmifoneisfamiliarwiththefollowingwords,whichoccurfrequentlyandrefertothevariousranksorlevelsintheUSArmy,inapproximateorderfrommostpowerfultoweakest:

General

Sergeant

Major

Captain

Colonel

Lieutenant

Corporeal

Private

SomeWordsandExpressionsthatYouMaynotKnow

RaymondShawreturnsfromKoreaasadecoratedwarhero.

Comeon,Serge,Gertrudebuyyouabeer.

“Comeon”isthemostversatilephrasalverbinallofEnglish,meaningeverythingfromhurryupto,asinthiscase,bereasonable.“Serge”isshortforSergeant,whichisahighrankintheUSarmy.

What’ssobadaboutit?

:

:

Tricky.Swampallaround.

Ifasituationis“tricky,”itisdifficultorpossiblydangerous.A“swamp”

isawetlandcoveredbywater,grassesandwoodyvegetation.

Nobodysaidanythingaboutquicksand.

Atypeofloosesandinwhichanythingthatgoesonitstartstosinkintoit.

Thenext200yards.:

:

Reject.It’snottacticaltotravelforwardinasingleline.

A“yard”isaunitofmeasurementaboutthreefeetlong.Ifsomethingis“tactical,”itisthoughttohelpadvanceageneralplanorlargerpurpose.

Ok,passtheword.

Onewayofsaying“tellotherpeople.”

Thenationjealouslyguardsitshighestaward

forvalor;TheCongressionalMedalofHonor.

Apowerfulwordmeaninggreatbraveryorcourage.

With5,770,000menengaged,only77menweresohonored.

Inthiscase,“engaged”meansactivelyinvolvedin（ofthemillionswhoservedintheKoreanWar,77wontheCongressionalMedalofHonor）.

StaffSergeantRaymondShaw…wasflownfromcombatdirectlytoWashingtonD.C.,tobedecoratedpersonallybythePresidentoftheUnitedStates.

A“staffsergeant”isapositionorrankinthearmy.“Combat”

referstotheactualeraoffightingduringawar.

ThepresenceofanyMedalofHonorwinneris

sufficienttobringGeneralstotheirfeet,saluting.

Ifsomethingis“sufficient,”itisjustenoughforwhatisneeded.Inthiscase,a“General”isahighrankingmemberofthearmy,and“tosalute”istobringyourhandtoyourforeheadwhileaddressingasuperiororsomeoneinthemilitary.

Senator,howaboutastatement?

Animportantwordforanofficialremark

ordeclaration,oftenmadetothenewsmedia.

TheSenatorisRaymond’sstep-father.

Yourstep-fatheristhehusbandofyourmom,butnotyourownfather.

Youorganizedthisthreeringcircus.

Literally,agiantcircuswiththreelargetents,butmoregenerally,anyplannedeventthatisconsideredridiculous,oftenbecauseitisahugewasteofmoneyandtime.

You’vebeenamessthelastfewmonths.

Ifapersonisa“mess,”theyareusuallyinverybadphysicaloremotionalstate,orhavinggreattroublejusttakingcareofthemselves.

Say‘cheese.’

Theonewordthatpeoplearesupposedtosaywhentheir

pictureisbeingtakensothatitwilllookasiftheyaresmiling.

Why,youpublicitysick….boob.

Ifapersonis“publicitysick,”theydesperatelywanttobeinthenews.

A“boob”isaslangwordforastupidperson（andforafemalebreast）.

Who’skiddingwho?

Onewayofsayingthatnoonereallybelieveswhatisbeingsaid.

You’vegotitallfiguredout,haven’tyou?

“Tofigureout”aproblemistofindthesolution

toit,usuallyafterthinkingaboutitquiteseriously.

Hiscitation,attestedtobyhiscommandingofficer,CaptainBennettMarco,

andtheninesurvivingmembersofhispatrol,readinpart…

Inthiscase,a“citation”isanofficialstatementofrespectforhavingdonesomethingbrave,andifastatementis“attestedto”bysomeone,itisclaimedtobetruebythem.Asoldier’s“commandingofficer”istheleaderwhoisinchargeofthem,anda“patrol”isagroupofsoldiers.

….:

Displayingvalorbeyondthecallofduty,didsinglehandedlysavethelivesofninemembersofhispatrol,capturinganenemymachinegunnest…

“Todisplayvalor”istoshowgreatcourage.“Thecallofduty”isanofficialwayofreferringtowhatisexpectedofapersoninaparticularjoborposition.Todosomething“single-handedly”istodoitwithoutthehelpofothers,anda“nest”ofenemysoldiersisagroupofthem.

…andtakingoutintheprocessafullcompanyofenemyinfantry.”

Inthiscase,“totakeout”agroupofenemysoldiersistokillthem,

and“infantry”isamilitarywordforanysoliderwhofightsonfoot.

Hethenproceededtoleadhispatrol,whichhadbeenlistedasmissing

inactionforthreedays,backthroughtheenemylinestosafety.

“Toproceedto”dosomethingistostarttodoit.Ifasolideris“missinginaction,”theycannotbefound,andmaybedeadortakenprisoner.“Enemylines”referstothefarthestadvancethatenemysoldiershavemadeintoanareaofland.

Anythingtotakethepainoutofcampaigning.

Inapoliticalcontext,“tocampaign”istoendlesslytravelaround

makingspeeches,tryingtogetvoterstovoterforyou.

He’snotacommunist,mother.Asamatteroffact,he’saRepublican.

Inthisfilm,a“communist”isabelieverinthepoliticalsystemoftheoldSovietUnionandChinaduringtheColdWa