The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

  The Manchurian Candidate (2004) is a remake of the film of the same name in 1962, which was the film version of a novel of the same name made in 1959. The novel was a political thriller about the stepson of a political family, who has been unknowingly brainwashed, and thus is controlled into performing assassinations to benefit the Communist Party.
  The 2004 film was Directed by Jonathan Demme. It's stars were Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep and Kimberly Elise. The film plot is similar to the plot of it's origin, but with some minor differences to account for more modern times - troops were brainwashed in the Gulf War (a more recent event). The threat presented was the power of big, global companies and the danger to the system of democracy we have (we, as an audience, would relate to this better than if the threat were from Communism).The film's plot also plays on the mind of the audience, as it can be asked, "How far can this concept of brainwashing be extended to reality?".
  The film's resourceful hero is Major Ben Marco, who is trying to find the truth and regain his sanity. The film presents him as hardy and masculine, and having the respect of many other men. He is used to danger and his history in the army presents him to be brave.

  There are a few scenes in the film which particularly stick out in the viewers' memories. The death of Senator Jordan was one. It differs from the older film in that more symbolism is used. In the old version of the film, the Senator is simply shot. In the newer version, he is drowned in a lake. There was a fog around at the time, which could be said to exaggerate the dream like state in which Raymond (the brainwashed 'assassin') was in at the time. The director had also said that he wanted this scene to symbolize the fact that the main characters were 'drowning' in a way.

  Another key scene was where Marco shoots Raymond and Eleanor. The film reaches it's climax when Raymond finally realises that his mind has been altered beyond recovery, and so decides to sacrifice himself rather than be used as a 'puppet'.
  There is also an undercurrent of the Greek myth of Oedipus - Eleanor was depicted to have an attraction towards Raymond. The film opted to display this with just a kiss to appeal to the censors (in the book, she uses her son's brainwashing to have sex with him).
  My personal preference would be the second, more modern film. It appealed to me more due to the fact it contained more recent things, and therefore things were easier to understand.