(2001) ****
As we begin Hannibal, ten years after the events of SOTL, Starling and Lecter’s lives are about to change dramatically, and intersect once again. Lecter has been slowly but surely working his way towards a gentile, scholarly life in Florence, when a suspicious and greedy Italian policeman and a wealthy former victim endanger this agenda. Starling, through no fault of her own, is in disfavor with the FBI. Betrayal and revenge are prominent themes here, and you don’t need to have seen the movie to guess who will eventually win out, though you may not quite guess how.
I know I am bucking mass and critical opinion here, but I have to be honest and admit I like this movie. Yes, it is gory and disturbing; yes it is a departure from Thomas Harris’ book; but in its favor, it is well filmed and very well acted; the departures from the book make it if anything more palatable (so to speak); and most importantly, we get to revisit Starling and Lecter, two compelling and unique fictional characters. Both stay true to themselves in this movie, and I was glad to spend a couple more hours with them.
13 comments:
That's why I like you AC, you are willing to buck the trend. I didn't like the movie, but I DID like watching Hopkins play Lecter again. I also really liked Giancarlo Giannini, he played the cop as a sympathetic figure who crossed the line as a misplaced act of love.
You are right there with Shark, just behind Cat...way to Horrorthon!
miko, please say why you didn't like hannibal (i can think of a dozen reasons but would love to hear yours). i assume you have read the book?
I liked this movie too! Way to stick it to all those stuck-up hoity-toity horror snobbaroos on this blog. (I'm talking to YOU JPX & Octopunk!)
Has anyone else reviewed this in year's past?
thanks for the validation johnny, though of course i encourage dissent as well. i'm wicked impressed you have the juice to even comment today, after consecutive nights carousing with two of your favorite bands!
Interesting. I'd always avoided this one due to the mass panning. I'll have to give it a chance.
I liked this as well, at least I did at the time I was watching. I should probably revisit it since it's been awhile. I remember being surprised that I actually liked Julianne Moore as Starling.
AC, been thinking about my response for a little while, gonna try to answer without writing a book...
Hannibal, both the book and movie, didn't ring true to me.
I felt like Lecter's fondness for Starling came from his seeing someone who had suffered childhood trauma and taken a completely different path than his own (as he had suffered as a child as well). While I believe there was attraction, I think their relationship also spoke to whatever made him become a Shrink in the first place.
Starling had a connection with Lecter, perhaps for the same reasons (or maybe replacement father-figure?), but (especially as played by J. Foster) there was never a hint of leniency in SOTL. She was an ultra-disciplined women, and while their discussions veered off her preset course, the goal was never lost...she was trying to find Buffalo Bill.
I know some will say she became disillusioned with the FBI in Hannibal, allowing for the sea-change in their relationship, it just didn't seem right to me. Her problems with the Feds were the result of persons within the agency, not the Bureau itself.
I felt like the whole "is she drugged or falling for Lecter" story line was impossible to accept given what we knew of her from SOTL. Her discipline and personality may have allowed her to FEEL sympathetic towards Lecter, but never to act on those feelings.
That was it, the rest (revenge from the rich sicko, Hannibal punishing those that had hurt Clarice) was great, but once I couldn't accept the relationship between the main characters, it was over for Hannibal and me.
(Goddamn, I am a wordy SOB, sorry.)
Nice review AC though I have to say that I didn't like the movie. I probably would have liked it better had I not read the book.
thanks for clarifying miko! i can understand that rationale.
catfreeek, care to chime in with the reason(s) you didn't like the movie?
don't worry, i'm not in danger of suicide-by-meat-tenderizer-on-the-bare-ass if people disagree with me. :)
I won't elaborate more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone but the ending of the book was so much better for me. That's why I said I probably would have liked the film if I hadn't read the book.
thanks catfreeek!
I did not read this book which was kind of odd considering how much I loved SOTL. I started it and couldn't get into it. When the movie came out and was panned I figured I made the right decision.
May end up having to read it and see it just so I can make an informed decision!
Haven't read it or seen it (yet). But... no Jodie Foster! Big bummer!
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