Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Kevin N — 03 Mar 2011

Political thrillers don't come any slicker or smarter than this; John Frankenheimer's suspenseful masterpiece, about internal invasion by consequence of the Korean War, hasn't age a bit but instead acts as a general suggestion of what-if's that we all seem to be afraid of, no matter the year.

There are a number of phenomenal performances in the film, particularly by the bizarre mother-son combo of Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury, but all of the actors are given a helping hand by Frankenheimer, a director who really knows how to photograph people in unique ways.

The sequences of the film seem as shocking now as they ever could have; it's impossible to breath when Raymond Shaw fatefully enters the Jordan household, or during the breathtaking finale. It's a difficult thing to make something so scary this contemporary and at the same time ensure its timelessness, but this is it- the product of a complicated imagination and perfect execution.