THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
(contains a mega spoiler for a 56 year old film)
An accident of date of birth will forever shape how you approach some media. I'll never get the 80s woes about the McCoy era of Dr Who, for example, as by the time I got into Who it had been put on hiatus (no new Who at prime audience age for me!) and so I eventually saw it in the mid-90s shorn of all that contemporary angst. Meanwhile, none of the 40+ year olds got to see Jurassic Park as a 7 year old, which is sad. (Given DVDs mean anyone can watch Star Wars as a 7 year old now, providing that is their actual age, this doesn't really work in reverse!)
(contains a mega spoiler for a 56 year old film)
An accident of date of birth will forever shape how you approach some media. I'll never get the 80s woes about the McCoy era of Dr Who, for example, as by the time I got into Who it had been put on hiatus (no new Who at prime audience age for me!) and so I eventually saw it in the mid-90s shorn of all that contemporary angst. Meanwhile, none of the 40+ year olds got to see Jurassic Park as a 7 year old, which is sad. (Given DVDs mean anyone can watch Star Wars as a 7 year old now, providing that is their actual age, this doesn't really work in reverse!)
This does bring
up some right bonkers moments, like the idea of Charlie from Casualty
playing some IRA villains in Harry's Game and the like. Presumably
equally bonkers if that IRA villain became Charlie from Casualty.
However, what this brings up a sort of meta-shock. When the twist relies
not on the plot, but on your knowledge from future events meaning an
earlier film or TV event become all the more shocking. Like Charlie
shooting a guy in front of his kids.
One great film example of this is The Manchurian Candidate, the original film. Now, the plot has become as buzzword in society as Orwellian, but I want to focus on one person in particular. Angela Lansbury.
Now, I don't know about you, but my gran is a huge fan of Murder She Wrote, so I have been fairly accustomed to Jessica for as long as I can recall. I saw Beauty and the Beast in the cinema. I adored (still adore) Bedknobs and Broomsticks as one of the great Disney films. On screen, she has a long career of basically being the world's favourite surrogate gran or great aunt, with roles full of cunning but kindliness and honour.
So when Lansbury shows up in this film, as the mother of a returned POW, my generation know what we're in for. It's Angela Lansbury! She's brill! She'll probably solve this case and protect her son while she's at...
HOLY SHIT! SHE'S THE VILLAIN!
I didn't know the plot when I first saw this film, so that reveal really took me by surprise. And Lansbury is fucking terrifying as a loon, effortlessly deserving the Oscar nomination she got.
Elsewhere, the cast is universally great, and if Laurence Harvey is consumed by the other talents on screen it fits within the context. Some nice use of cinematography and a fairly gripping plot, and even Sinatra isnt that bad. On screen violence rare so that the few moments genuinely shock, but not as much as seeing the true villain.
Charlie being in Harry's Game is childs play next to that.
One great film example of this is The Manchurian Candidate, the original film. Now, the plot has become as buzzword in society as Orwellian, but I want to focus on one person in particular. Angela Lansbury.
Now, I don't know about you, but my gran is a huge fan of Murder She Wrote, so I have been fairly accustomed to Jessica for as long as I can recall. I saw Beauty and the Beast in the cinema. I adored (still adore) Bedknobs and Broomsticks as one of the great Disney films. On screen, she has a long career of basically being the world's favourite surrogate gran or great aunt, with roles full of cunning but kindliness and honour.
So when Lansbury shows up in this film, as the mother of a returned POW, my generation know what we're in for. It's Angela Lansbury! She's brill! She'll probably solve this case and protect her son while she's at...
HOLY SHIT! SHE'S THE VILLAIN!
I didn't know the plot when I first saw this film, so that reveal really took me by surprise. And Lansbury is fucking terrifying as a loon, effortlessly deserving the Oscar nomination she got.
Elsewhere, the cast is universally great, and if Laurence Harvey is consumed by the other talents on screen it fits within the context. Some nice use of cinematography and a fairly gripping plot, and even Sinatra isnt that bad. On screen violence rare so that the few moments genuinely shock, but not as much as seeing the true villain.
Charlie being in Harry's Game is childs play next to that.
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