| His Genius UNDENIABLE. His Evil UNSPEAKABLE. His Name... HANNIBAL Release Date: 16/02/01 Certificate: 18 Official Website Director: Ridley Scott Producers: Dino De Laurentiis, Edward Saxon, Martha De Laurentiis & Ridley Scott Screenplay: David mamet & Steven Zallian |
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| Fresh from his return to form with Gladiator, Ridley Scott helms this follow-up to 1990's classic Silence Of The Lambs. Like it's predecessor, Hannibal is based on a novel by Thomas Harris, and features the characters of the cannibalistic Doctor Lecter, and his nemesis, FBI agent Clarice Starling. Whereas Starling was last time portrayed by Jodie Foster, here she is played by Julianne Moore, as Foster refused to return. Ten years on, Starling is a successful FBI agent, having shot and killed more people than any other female agent. |
| Moore plays Starling as a much more confident character than Foster did. The latter had a penchant for showing all her emotions much of the time, which seemed unsuitable for an FBI agant, even a rookie one. The scenes of Starling shooting and running are the only times Moore really hits her stride though. She's a particularly insipid and unattractive character, especially compared to Sir Anthony Hopkins, who oozes gravitas in the title role. Starlings's plight is not helped by the endless scenes of her sitting in an office listening to dialogue from the first movie. |
| As in The Slience Of The Lambs, Lecter's presence dominates the movie, even though he doesn't have anywhere near the screen time as Foster. Here, again, he overshadows all, until he finally makes an appearance. A major difference between the two movies is the way the former instilled a feeling of disgust and unease with the character of Lecter, he was clearly a threat, even locked in a small glass cell. In Hannibal, though, you just don't get the same impression. He gets all the best lines, and a cool wardrobe. The fact that he's a serial-killing cannibal is treated as more of an in-joke, and the |
| audience is encouraged to root for his escape. Other characters, who are sexist, or greedy, are somehow painted as more unattractive than Hannibal. The final scene, however, brilliantly turns all that on it's head, and brings home the nature of his evil. The colours here are much richer, especially the scenes in Florence, contrasting with the more harsh, clinical lighting of Silence Of The Lambs. There is no sense of urgency here either, no race against time to save an innocent victim. The whole thing feels more like another episode in an ongoing story than a movie in its own right. It does however boast an excellent man-eating pigs scene, the like of which Guy Ritchie can only dream about in his half-arsed Lock, Stock follow-up Snatch. A beautifully shot movie, but which is mainly held together effortlessly by Sir Anthony. Probably won't get an Oscar this time though. 7/10 |
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