The Manchurian Candidate
Dir: John Frankenheimer
1962
*****
Some argue that John Frankenheimer's adaptation of George Axelrod's novel isn't a pure one but I would argue that everything that is Frankenheimer's is an addition, rather than an omission. The visuals are nothing short of stunning. So many scenes stand out but the Garden Tea party/Communist seminar has to be the most effective in what is a very serious satire. On paper it's ridiculous, and it is ridiculous but it does go some way to show just how politics and the way people think and are lead to believe things can often be far from sensible. It's possibly one of the greatest, albeit alternative, Coldwar films of all time. Frank Sinatra had the film reinstated in 1987 as a helpful reminder should anyone miss the message, a message that should always be in the public's collective conscious. It's so much more than just political paranoia, conspiracy or assassinations either, it's one big satirical and subliminal masterpiece and the king of thrillers.