I usually hate remakes. I usually hate the ideas of remakes. I say to people, “How would you feel if they remade your favourite movie?” Most people say they wouldn’t be happy. And yet we constantly rehash and remake movies. The only movies I think should really be remade are those that had a great idea or two but sucked otherwise. And even then, why can’t we just leave the past alone?

And sometimes, I’m just stupid. I thought the remake of Dawn of the Dead was equal to the original (in one respect it was actually better). So sometimes my antipathy towards remakes is unwarranted.

Tonight I watched The Manchurian Candidate. For those of you who know me well, the original ’62 Frankenheimer film is one of my favourite movies. I was appalled when the remake was announce. I was further appalled when it opened. I’ve been so very appalled for a while.

As I said before, I can be an idiot.

Demme opens his film with Wyclef Jean’s cover of “Fortunate Son.” This announces his intentions (and it’s a good cover to boot). Demme is not going to pull a strict Hollywood remake, rather he is going to keep the essential elements the same, as Jean does, but change much of the surroundings. My favourite covers are always ones where the song is changed somewhat drastically but it is still somewhat recognizable. Most movie remakes are more like the Wallflower’s version of “Heroes.” Know what I mean?

This new version has various different plot elements (Shaw replaces his step-father, Marco replaces Shaw’s original role to a certain extent). And though the film keeps intact the one thing I would change in the original, it is a new and interesting version of the same story. In some ways (due to advances in technology and a plot change which I won’t mention) it is actually more believable than the first one.

Incidentally, I see paranoia movies as political horror films. A personal favourite, The Parallax View, represents my view of them. Frankenheimer’s film is better than Pakula’s, but in the end, I find that Pakula’s rings more true (I just think of Oswald).

Anyway, Johnathan Demme has made at least one truly awful movie. And so I was worried. But he more than exceeded my expectations in this case. I am happy to say that in the last year I have seen two Hollywood remakes that were good. I hope that if and when more movies are remade, they are of this quality. This is not an endorsement of remakes however. I hope as few as possible are made in the future. And if anyone talks about remaking other paranoia classics, such as Seconds (also by Frankenheimer) or The Parallax View, I will still be disappointed.
8/10

Be seeing you.