Bentley University

The Manchurian Candidate - Fall 2024 International Film Series

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Wilder Pavilion, 165 Adamian Academic Center, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 02452

The Manchurian Candidate 2004, U.S. 129 min., directed by Jonathan Demme is the first film in the Fall 2024 International Film Series. The film will be introduced by Political Science Lecturer, Joshua Yesnowitz. 

Tuesday, Sept. 24; 6:30pm; Wilder Pavilion, AAC and on Zoom: meeting ID 982 6026 1991

The Manchurian Candidate (2004-U.S.-129 min.) directed by Jonathan Demme

Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) suffers nightmares, related somehow to his experiences in Kuwait in 1991. But only when he’s approached by Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright) does he realize he’s not alone in his psychic turmoil, and begin to suspect that there’s more than meets the eye to the much-vaunted heroic acts allegedly performed by Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) when they were ambushed in the desert: much vaunted because Shaw, with not a little ‘encouragement’ and ‘help’ from his fiercely ambitious mother, Senator Ellie Shaw (Meryl Streep), is running as vice-presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. Marco’s dreams don’t disappear, but Melvin does – at least until he’s found drowned in the Potomac... Here is an America where truth, democracy and proper ethical considerations are imperiled not by Cold War enemies but by unbridled late capitalism itself; dynastic ambition, hollow patriotism, meaningless slogans, the fueling of fear and paranoia, media complicity and puppet figureheads under the influence of shady, self-serving global conglomerates are the order of the day.

 

Bentley’s Fall 2024 International Film Series is made possible with generous support from the Department of Global Studies, the Department of English and Media Studies, the Valente Center for the Arts & Sciences, the Bentley Library, the Office of Sustainability, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Media and Culture Labs & Studio, and the Academic Technology Center.

Event Details


Zoom: meeting ID 982 6026 1991