Monday, April 2, 2012
Manchurian Candidate
As our guest speaker suggested last week, The Manchurian Candidate makes many formal or cinematic choices in order to convey the protagonist's (Bennett Marco/Frank Sinatra) state of mind. For example, his mental confusion and instability might be seen in the blurry background of the scenery outside the train window. Can you think of another example in this film where a technical choice or cinematic decision helps to define Bennett Marco/Sinatra's state of mind? Or, if you can't think of a particular example, can you discuss any aspect of the overall film style and what you think it means?
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A great example of a technical element used to convey the character's confusion occurs during the dream sequences. The director/editors use cuts to show the confusion being cause by the gradual loss of conditioning. This has a dramatic effect on the scene. The result is as the dreamer starts to realize he is not actual at a woman's club so to does the film viwer.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to the out of focus images seen through the train's windows, are the images streaking by the car's windows, obscured as well by rain, as Rose tells Ben she has left her fiance for him. Likewise, at the beginning of the film's concluding scene, rain streaks down the window as Ben takes a moment to reflect out loud to Rose about the series of events and the life of Raymond Shaw. Additionally, almost every interior shot in the picture is brimming with cluttered activity, the plethora of books cluttering both Ben and Raymond's apartments being of particular interest as they serve to exemplify the complexity of the psychological disorientation being experienced by each of the characters respectively.
ReplyDelete^ Nicholas Kolasinski (reelclip)
DeleteA scene that shows marco's state of mind is the fight scene. Like in most fight scenes the scene is composed of many short cuts. This is meant to make the audience feel the franticness the characters are feeling. this scene is a little more unique because some of the shots are shot in the dutch angle, which is meant to show the psychological instability of the character.
ReplyDelete- Patrick Corcino
In the final scene of the film, Sinatra's character is seen in his home with rain obscuring the windows and a sharp focus on his figure with all else in the frame obscured. This shows his own introspectiveness reflecting on the events that have just occurred. While he does receive some level of closure with all loose ends tied up, he is not sure if it was truly worth it in the end.
ReplyDeletePeter Markoski
The Manchurian Candidate makes it clear straight from the beginning that Marco's state of mind is questionable. The first time the viewer sees him is when he is sweating and mumbling to himself on the bed during his nightmare. Then the dreams sequences clearly show his confused and uncertain state of mind. In general, the entire movie is more unconventional than most movies at that time and is completely opposite of the Classical Hollywood style. With strange conversations and unusual POV's, the jarring perspective of the movie makes the viewer slightly uneasy. This demonstrates the lack of stability that Marco's character has in his life, as well as addresses the current events going out during the time period such as McCarthyism and the Cold War.
ReplyDeleteWe as the audience from the very beginning of the film are overwhelmed with the instability of Marco's state of mind. Starting with the very first dreamscape scene with the women's club and him having to enact these atrocious crimes. Although we know it probably isn't an exact representation of what truly happened, its made clear that he has actually lived through some terrifying things in his time at war. We see it when he wakes up abruptly from the dream and he screams. Just as there are repeats of these dreamlike situations, there are also other moments in the film where the world around the character is made to seem obscured or blurred if you would, and where the director provides the audience with odd camera perspectives, just so that the audience knows that the character is experiencing some sort of mental anguish. It's a prominent part of this film therefore it is used many times throughout but I feel as though the dream sequences are the most effective way in which the state of mind are portrayed.
ReplyDeleteWhen Marco is home in his chair there is clutter surrounding him and his living space. There is piles and piles of books, while he sits in the middle of the mess. This scene gives the audience a view into Marco's mind. The books are this obstruction to the answers Marco is looking for, while the truth is within the center of himself. With distorted images in location the director uses this chaos to symbolize a deeper meaning for character.
ReplyDeleteZachary Nelson
During the "nightmare" scene, the director employs a series of quick edits, cutting back and forth between the Ladies' Gardening Club and the presentation by Dr. Yen Lo to the Soviet and Chinese military officials. The rapid cuts between the two scenarios serve to throw the audience into the same state of confusion that the indoctrinated soldiers are in, and it takes a few moments for us to even realize they're being indoctrinated at all. The disorienting nature of the editing highlights the confusion and mental instability of Marco, Shaw, and the rest of the soldiers, showing just how much damage the Soviet scientists have done.
ReplyDeleteWhile Marco is sitting in the chair in the train the lack of an establishing shot shows his inability to notice his surroundings as he is usually able to. This is also meant to confuse the audience as the audience isn't aware of what's going on offscreen. The lack of an establishing shot makes the audience feel disoriented and might capture the feeling Marcos himself is having. The train scene being a reversal of the train scene in North by Northwest shows the contrast to the expected scene.
ReplyDeleteIn general, The Manchurian Candidate is a kind of political thriller film about the Cold War. The overall film combines with the political irony and the suspense story. The director use many short cuts to make the film's atmosphere very compact. In addition, there are some drama effect in the film. On the other hand, the film use many clues to make the audiences feel mess. This film can be classic in this kind of films. In the beginning, the dream sequences show Marco's state of mind in the scene. Some of the film's camera angle using the Dutch angle. These make the Manchurian Candidate become the unique in that time Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteHis mental confusion and instability might be seen in the blurry background of the scenery outside the train window, a similar scene is seen in the dream sequence. The way it starts with the tea party and then switches to the conference of the officers. As the dream proceeds it gets weirder and weirder the tea party and the conference is mismatched and that makes the mental confusion and instability of the characters clear. The dream sequence in also in different perspectives the African soldier as his dream about an African tea party. Then like the train the car scenes are also have blurry backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteAnother cinematic decision that helps define Marco's state of mind is evident in the very beginning of the train scene, when we first see Marco trying to light a cigarette. We then see Leigh's character watching him, but the two aren't together in the scene at first. Rather than use a traditional establishing shot, Frankenheimer deliberately shows Marco alone, shaken and isolated from the rest of the world. When we do become aware Leigh, the effect is off-putting, as we realize that she is the one who notices (and subsequently pursues) him - a break from traditional Hollywood gender roles. In this scene, Marco is not only portrayed as isolated, but somewhat feminine. It is clear from this scene how weak he feels from the nightmares and uncertainly he has experienced since returning from war.
ReplyDeleteTowards the end, when Marco realizes where Raymond is and what he plans to do, the immensity and movement of the crowd represents the chaos he feels. The eager buzz and horde of people settling into their seats directly mirror his need to do the exact opposite -- to stop Raymond as soon as he can and make sure he doesn't tell anyone along the way. The whole sequence builds tension for viewers and we're tempted to think he'll ably make it on time. We see the tumult unfold amongst the crowd after Raymond fires his gun and this might also reflect Marco's own inner turmoil.
ReplyDeleteIn the dream scene, the director tries to show two realities in the same sequence. The first is the one which the soldiers are indoctrinated to believe - that they are attending a conference about plants hosted by a group of women. And the second being the actual reality- that they are seated at a communist conference. There are rapid cuts between these two realities so there is no spacial orientation for the viewer and there is a constant change from one reality to another . This technique allows the audience to understand the confusion the soldiers are facing.
ReplyDeleteThe scene in which Raymond comes to confront his mother, but she instead turns the tables on him shows the sense of a power struggle due to the fact that neither of the characters make eye contact with one another at all. The choice to place Raymond in the foreground while having his mother remain in the background suggests that she is manipulating him and bending him to her will.
ReplyDeleteIn the first scene we see how unstable and confused Marco is. As the camera slowly pans over to Marco, we see books scattered all over the place and stuff all over his night stand. The camera then lands on a twisting and turning Marco in his bed. He is sweating and mumbling to himself. The buttons on his shirt are undone and his sleeves rolled up. He is clearly unstable.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film The Manchurian Candidate, there are continuous visual references to Marco's state of mind. From the objects which crowd his living spaces to the aforementioned train scene, we're constantly reminded of Marco's emotions by looking at his surroundings. Probably my favorite instance of this is at the end of the film, where Marco delivers a somber soliloquy about Raymond Shaw. In this scene, there is a decided feeling of melancholy, which is reflected in the rain spattering on the window behind him.
ReplyDeleteas others have said before, the film is filled with visual references of Marcos stade of mind. Besides the train scene, I would say at the end as he looks out the window as it rains shows his state of mind at that point. The dream/flashbacks and how they go from the koreans to the ladies is also an example.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Tamayo
Many technical aspects of how the film was shot compliment what the characters are feeling and sometimes even say something about the time period they are depicting. The scene where Iselin accuses the military of being infiltrated by communists is a good example. Mrs. Iselin is in the same room, but instead of watching her husband she is watching the television. The camera starts viewing her watching her husband on television and then slowly rises to show Mr. Iselin in the background, speaking in the same room. This scene symbolizes the influence and manipulation of the media. Mrs. Iselin is watching the television because that's whats important: what is being portrayed on screen rather than what is happening in the room, because that is what everyone is going to see and that is what is going to give the Iselin's real power. Another example of the camerawork complimenting the themes of the story is the interrogation scene between Raymond and Marco. The shot of Marco from Raymond's point of view is out of focus, symbolizing his distorted point of view. Although this shot was beneficial to the film, it was an accident that was not intended to be put into the final cut. After filming Sinatra perform this shot, they realized the camera was out of focus, and decided to reshoot. But when they reshot, Sinatra did not give as good of a performance, so they opted to use the blurry shot instead.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the technical aspects of the film are based upon the idea that we deal with characters emotions. The camera work, the mood, the sounds, are all based upon scenes with Mr. Iselin, or are other main characters. The technical aspects surround the mood of the film, and very much compliment the emotions. Even with marco, we very much feel his anxiety through the camera work, thats not to take away from his acting skills, but everything is interalated in this film.
ReplyDeleteA few technical aspects display the uncertainty and lack of stability in Marco's state of mind. For example, the blurriness caused by rain streaking on windows, dutch angles, sharp and quick cuts represent the constant confusion and struggles going on within Marco's head. The film's dream sequences are perfect examples of the Marco's instability as shown through the opening of the film when he wakes up in a cold sweat, mumbling to himself.
ReplyDeleteI thought an interesting aspect of the film style was the incorporation of the martial arts scene into the middle of the film. As said in previous posts, the fight scene was cinematically very interesting because of how quick and jumpy the cuts were, in a way that invited the viewer into the jumbled up head of Sinatra's character. But the inclusion of a fight scene inspired by judo and jiujitsu, years before the martial arts craze of Hollywood began, was very symbolic in the film as a whole, commenting on the influence of Asian culture on our own culture, and how, in many ways, we are unable to escape the influence which Asian culture is beginning to have on us.
ReplyDeleteThe conditioning scene shows a lot of technical aspects of cinematography and story telling in order to create confusion and disorientation. It was an amazing scene where we (the audience) were seeing what the brainwashed soldiers were seeing, which totally solidified the fact that they were not in the right state of mind. This was further established when the scientist talks to the black soldier and we see that he believes the whole garden club is made of black florists. There are many other effects used such as blurriness, dutch angles and fast cuts used to convey confusion.
ReplyDeleteBefore Marco kills off his mother and her husband, we're not entirely sure what's going to unfold. The audience takes an ambiguous perspective because Marco who's brainwashed by the queen of diamonds, was instructed with two contradictory actions: to ignore the trans he's under from the queen of diamonds, and an assassination of his mother's political adversary. As Marco's raising his rifle we see a full shot of his profile, and above his head is a light bulb. The light bulb is a symbol of freedom from his enslavement to the communist party, or can be an idea unknown to the audience. Subsequently Marco surprises the audience and obliterates his mother.
ReplyDeleteThomas Perry
In order to show the protagonist's mental confusion, during the dream sequence, the director cuts back and forth. Through these back and forth cuts the audience is able to see both what the protagonist thinks is reality, and what is actually going on. While at first this is somewhat unclear, it soon becomes apparent that he is being hyponotized along with his fellow soldiers.
ReplyDeleteJohn Fankenheimet, the director of The Manchurian Candidate, took a lot of his ideas and cinematic choices from Hitchcock’s movies. It is as if his movie has a conversation with Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. This cinematic choice is specifically seen in the Train scene. I believe that the final scene, when Bennett Marco is running around looking for Raymond Shaw, and see’s that there is light escaping the little window in the corner. That shot of the little window, and the light that comes out of it demonstrates the little but still hopeful mind set that Major Bennett has in saving Raymond from his mother and the brainwashing.
ReplyDeleteOne scent that stands out to show Marco's state of mind is the dramatic fight scene. This was shot using many cut shots from different angles, increasing the tension for the viewer and depicting a sequence which allows the viewer to feel as if they are a part of the action. The thoughts and psychological questions on the characters minds are also apparent due to the use of these hectic type of film making. The parallels to Hitchcock are unprecedented and at a time where political corruption was common place a film such as this one sets the tone for the time period it was made.
ReplyDelete