John Frankenheimer's new film, "Ronin," is an action-adventure film, laced with intrigue and suspense. But "Ronin" cannot hold a candle to Frankenhemier's masterpiece, "The Manchurian Candidate."
A selection of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movies, "The Manchurian Candidate" is an absolutely enthralling tale of brainwashing and murder. The story begins after Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) returns from the Korean War a reluctant, highly decorated hero. He detests all of the hoopla, and he especially hates his mother.
Shaw's mother (the wonderfully manipulative Angela Lansbury) has turned his fame into a political weapon for her new husband, U.S. Sen. John Iselin (James Gregory), who is obviously based on Sen. John McCarthy of the famous House on Un-American Acitivity Committee hearings. Mrs. Iselin is the manipulative mastermind behind the bumbling senator - the source of comic relief in the film.
Problems begin when troops in Shaw's outfit begin to have nightmares about what happened in Korea. None of them can remember what Shaw did to earn the medal, but they all spout the exact same eerie rhetoric when asked about the incident. One of Shaw's troubled troops, burnout Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra at his best) begins an inquiry to what really happened. As he digs deeper and deeper he unwinds the gruesome tale of treachery and brainwashing.
As far as propaganda films go, this one is phenomenal. When the film was released in 1962, America was embroiled in the Cold War; Communism was everyone's great enemy, and the McCarthy hearings struck fear into the hearts of citizens everywhere.
The beauty of this film is that it is not necessary to have experienced the paranoia to fully enjoy the crisises that occur.
What gives the film its timelessness is the fact that Communism is merely used as the backdrop to the story. The real heart of the story involves the way the two soldiers are coping with life after their extraordinary experiences in Korea. Sinatra is at his dramatic best as the soldier who uncovers the truth about what really happened.
As he exposes the brainwashing scheme, we as viewers are allowed into the soldier's minds to experience the indoctrination. These scenes are where the movie shines; we are also allowed to witness what is happening from the vantage point of the torturer. Frankenheimer does an impeccable job in the flashbacks. Similar techniques were used in 1996's "Lone Star."
Two love stories also urn concurrent with the main storyline. Janet Leigh, of "Psycho" fame, plays the woman who is able to draw Marco out of his funk while Leslie Parish struggles with Raymond, her beau.
In a year when there have been more lists than you can shake a stick at, add this to the list of movies you must rent.
09-30-98
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