2001
Director- Ridley Scott
Cast- Julianne Moore, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Ray
Liotta, Frankie R. Faison, Giancarlo Giannini, Francesca Neri, Ċ½eljko Ivanek
Even
though Ridley Scott gave us (in my
opinion) the greatest horror-science fiction movie ever (Alien), his name is
not the first on anyone’s lips when thinking of horror directors. His style
lends itself to epics like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. Horror, by its
nature, works best on a personal level.
In this
sequel to Silence of the Lambs, we follow Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster in
Lambs, played by Julianne Moore here), now a 10 year veteran of the FBI. Her idealism
has been worn away by dealing with politics and bureaucracy.
Gary
Oldman plays a truly wretched villain, Mason Verger. Verger is an unrepentant pedophile
who has avoided prosecution because of his family’s extraordinary wealth. Years
ago, after an encounter with Hannibal Lector, he was left horribly deformed and
paralyzed. He has spent the years since plotting his revenge.
Lector
(Anthony Hopkins, reprising his greatest role ever) has spent the last 10 years
incognito, avoiding the spotlight. He has killed an academic in Italy in hopes
of replacing the man when the job opens.
Starling
gets in hot water with the FBI after a bust turned into a shootout with several
dead. She is used as a sacrificial lamb and tossed to the wolves. She is
hounded by a Justice Department pencil pusher (Ray Liotta) who wants his own
petty revenge against Starling for refusing his sexual advances. Verger sees
this as a chance to lure Lector into the open by using Starling as a bait. Verger’s
plan works and Hannibal comes out of self-imposed exile to help Starling, in
his own very violent way.
The
biggest obstacle that this film faces is that it’s not Silence of the Lambs.
That film won 5 Oscars and made Anthony Hopkins a household name. It would be
unfair to expect Hannibal to live up to that. Red Dragon (the prequel to
Silence) attempted to recreate the look and feel of Silence but only succeeded
in reminding you that it wasn’t Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal at least tries
to be its own film.
Whereas
Silence relies mainly on ambiance and character study, Hannibal spends more
effort on overt shock. There are several gruesome murders none more so than
when Hannibal has his victim eat their own brain! The most unsettling thing in
the film though is Gary Oldman’s incredibly realistic make-up. He is truly
horrifying, like a bloody car accident. You want to look away but your eyes won’t
let you. Ridley Scott’s penchant for epics comes in handy as the story moves
back and forth between America and Italy and follows multiple gradually
intersecting storylines.
So if
you are expecting Silence of the Lambs, you will be disappointed. If on the
other hand, you’d like a competent suspense film with good performances and
gore, Hannibal will satisfy you.
Side note- If you want a really different (and very good)
film watch Manhunter (the first film version of Red Dragon and the first
cinematic appearance of Hannibal Lector) I highly recommend it.
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