Jonathan Demme and the Making of 'The Manchurian Candidate'

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

Bets around, bets around.

Let's go, Jameson.

Everybody in? Atkins, Atkins?

SOLDIER 1:

Oh, come on, man, let's go.

MELVIN:
No, man, your sister

didn't send me that check yet.

[SOLDIERS LAUGHING

AND CHEERING]

[SOLDIERS CHATTERING]

No, this is how you play the...

This is how you play Texas Hold 'em.

SOLDIER 2:

You just told us how to play it!

This is how you play Texas Hold em.

SOLDIER 3:
Will you flip another card.

This is the fourth f***ing...

SOLDIER 4:
Four of a kind.

SOLDIER 5:
What do you got, Melvin?

Yo, Melvin, man,

what you gonna do,

you gonna play the cards

or you gonna hatch them?

I ain't gonna hatch them. I need to

run out to the ATM real quick.

[SOLDIERS LAUGHING]

There's gotta be a...

Gotta be a 7-Eleven

out there somewhere.

Let me get two.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[RAP MUSIC PLAYS

ON RADIO NEARBY]

MAN:

So why don't we just go directly in.

Right up this route, straight in.

Yes, well, I see the captain

enjoys the road less traveled.

No, the captain enjoys

not going down the highway,

dragging his ass so every Tom, Dick

and Qaddafi can take a whack at it.

It's very bad here.

It's bad here, it's still bad here.

And I've heard it's bad

right down here.

- Bad everywhere, huh?

- Yeah.

Mines?

Tricky. Swedish-made.

[GROANS]

The man didn't say anything

about mines to me.

Sergeant Shaw.

- Sergeant.

- Sir.

Rolling in two minutes.

Yes, sir.

You okay?

RAYMOND:

Yes, sir.

Two minutes.

SOLDIER:

Yo, give me two cards, man.

[BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS'

"LOVE'S GONNA GET'CHA" PLAYS]

[MUSIC STOPS]

RAYMOND:

Captain says we're moving out.

So...

[SOLDIERS LAUGHING]

Hey, that cat needs a friend.

And a hug.

MARCO:

It was just before Desert Storm.

We were on a routine recon

inside Iraqi-controlled terrain,

assessing enemy troop strength

for what Saddam Hussein promised

would be the mother of all wars.

I'm in the lead vehicle

with Sergeant Shaw

and our guide, a civilian contractor.

The night is clear.

Stars, but no moon.

[TIRES SCREECHING]

Ambush!

Hang on.

[SOLDIERS YELLING]

Exit the vehicle.

On me! On me!

Get a flare up, sergeant.

[MACHINE GUNS SHOOTING]

Enemy dismount! Go after, go after!

Stay left!

SOLDIER:

Covering, covering, covering!

INGRAM:

Bear right!

Move it, move it, move it!

[SCREAMS]

TOKAR:

Captain Marco!

[GRUNTS]

BO Y:

Sir?

Was you scared?

Scared? Well...

...there was really no time

to be scared.

With complete disregard

for his own life,

Sergeant Raymond Shaw

engaged single-handedly

an entire company of the enemy.

Sergeant Shaw was awarded

the Medal of Honor.

I signed the recommendation myself.

- Yes, sir.

- Um, uh,

were you wounded?

MARCO:

I was, I was injured.

Concussion, lost focus.

Sergeant Shaw, he took command.

MAN:

Major?

MARCO:
Yes.

- Did your unit sustain any casualties?

Yes. PFC Edward Ingram,

PFC Robert Baker III

were killed.

Now, the Medal of Honor,

Congressional Medal of Honor,

is the highest award that any soldier

could aspire to.

What these brave men

that I've talked about today did

should never be forgotten.

Since 1917, there have only been

out of a total of 30 million

Americans at arms.

Who knows.

Maybe one day,

one of you fine young men

will earn that medal

in defense of this great nation.

Yes.

Major Marco,

on behalf of Troops 1094 and 1128,

just wanna thank you

for coming to speak to us

about the Medal of Honor

and about your interesting experiences

in the armed forces.

MARCO:

Thanks for listening.

Thank you very much.

You ever wish it had been you?

I'm sorry, excuse me?

Won the Medal.

Been... Been the hero.

Well, sir, I'm just...

I'm just proud that I was there.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

- Major Marco?

- Yes.

Al Melvin, sir.

Corporal Melvin.

From your unit, Desert Storm.

Corporal Melvin. How you doing?

I have these dreams, sir.

- Dreams?

- Yes, sir.

Kuwait. It's you and me,

Ingram and Baker and...

...Raymond Shaw.

Okay.

See, I remember it happened

like you just said,

and then...

...I don't.

Well...

...we had it pretty rough

over there, Melvin.

That was a long time ago.

Memories shift.

Do you have dreams, sir?

Everybody has dreams, corporal.

No, not these.

No, I don't.

I write it all down.

You know, like, every night,

right when I wake up,

I try to get it down.

It doesn't always come together,

you know,

not everything that I can remember.

Maybe you should go

to the V.A. Hospital,

talk to one of the doctors.

- I've been to doctors, man.

- Okay.

I'm just... I'm just...

I'm just a little stuck, sir.

Because I remember, okay, Shaw...

Shaw, okay...

Shaw saving us, right...

...but that doesn't make sense,

because...

...that should've been you.

Okay, if Shaw is in the Hummer...

...the Toyota is here...

All right. Just get up, get up.

Listen, it's...

That's over with. That's done.

Okay? You gotta move on.

What I was hoping is that,

you know, maybe...

You need some money

or something?

- No, no, sir.

- Wait a minute.

I don't need your money, man.

All right. It was great to see you.

[MELVIN BREATHING HEAVILY]

CASHIER:

Paper or plastic, sir?

TV REPORTER:

With public anxiety being rekindled

by the events of Bloody Friday,

with the war on terror continuing into

yet another year, no end in sight,

the worries just continue to grow.

Polls indicate that

more and more voters

are concerned with

personal family safety,

with economic security,

fearing more and more jobs

going overseas

or being taken by

illegal immigrants.

They're concerned with the quality

of air and our water,

the degradation caused by the

rollback in environmental regulations,

by religious and racial polarization,

with the drumbeat of body bags

coming from all over the globe.

The American people are ready

for a new agenda.

But because this party is so

divided on so many issues,

the choice of a vice presidential

nominee may very well be

the unifying factor for delegates

at this convention.

MAN [ON TV]:
And if this respect

propels me toward the nomination

as your vice presidential candidate,

I will be greatly honored.

We need to look inward,

attend to our own house.

The danger to our country is not only

from some terrorists at large,

terrorists who, by the way,

we've helped engender

with 20 years

of failed foreign policy.

No, the real danger

is from suspending civil liberties,

gutting the Bill of Rights,

allowing our fear

to destroy our democratic ideals,

because once we start overturning

our constitutional protections,

our enemies have won.

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Raymond? Oh.

- There he is.

- Darling. Shoo.

What, were you gonna make me

stand out there like room service?

I asked downstairs and Miss Freeman,

your wrangler, helpful Miss Freeman,

she said you were up here

practicing your speech.

I don't honestly understand why

you insist upon

isolating yourself, Raymond.

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