Hannibal

Is grossing out the same as scare? Did I flinch in this movie because of an unexpected shock, or was my stomach churning instead from the movie? Apparently director Ridley Scott thought that grossing out and scaring people are the same.

In the movie, Hannibal Lecter removes a man's skullcap, slices off a piece of brain, cooks it and feeds it to the same man. All of the scene is filmed, the pulsating, blood-red fleshy matter in his head throbbing while the victim slowly dies of blood loss and brain failure. Hannibal calmly says that the whole process is painless, which is true; there are no nerves receptors for pain in the brain.

However it isn't the fact that it looks painful and isn't that makes the whole scene quite creepy. It's the fact that this scene was the climax of the movie. A scene totally based upon guts and gore. The climax isn't made of the suspense that is typical of horror movies, where the victim kind of walks around aimlessly as the killer waits silently behind the door. No, for Hannibal, he's there waiting in your dining room performing what you never see in most horror films.

And so we have a movie that reminds me of the Cell. Lots of disgusting shock value scenes such as disemboweling a man and feeding another to rancid hogs, to scare the audience.

I don't agree with this type of movie as being "scary"; it?s more like repulsive and disgusting. However Hannibal, unlike the Cell, did have more suspense and plot.

So here?s the breakdown:

Plot and Characters

It's a good idea to have Hannibal Lecter come back. He's an intriguing, smart, killer that has a taste for high society and human flesh. Quite an original character, and very very well played by Anthony Hopkins. FBI agent Clarice Starling (played by Julianne Moore) is back as well, on the case to find Hannibal and stop him. She is a deep moody character, a strong female with an interesting past.

Overall the characters are well chosen. They have intriguing ties to one another and all have a dark sinister flavor to them.

The movie plot is a bit backward. Rather than FBI agent Clarice Starling find her killer, its more of the other way around. There isn't much of Clarice actively searching for clues to Hannibal, as there is of her trying to get into his mind, and figure him out. Most of what happens in the beginning, where Hannibal shows up in Rome, is all just introduction to show how deadly the man is, and why he must be caught.

It sets up for a nice chase, when Hannibal actually arrives and tension begins to stir. Someone else in the movie is trying to kill Hannibal, and although it?s quite obvious, it?s a nice way to make the movie unique. However all this good suspense is ruined by the ending which is quite anticlimactic. I'll state my reasons why at the end of this opinion if you don't want to ruin the movie.

Cinematography

Movie types, you're in for a nice treat. Excellent setting in Rome, some really dramatic lighting, and great camera angles. The camera flow is steady and not all jerky and predictable like in most horror films today. The scary moments aren't all bundled in typical places. Hannibal shows you how scary it is through the entire movie, not just scenes where the killer is stalking around. All the characters are equally vicious and disturbed, even the main character Clarice who seems somewhat obsessed with catching Hannibal. Ridley Scott is good at directing creepy films with a unique touch.

Soundtrack

Lots of use of classical music, which I can't name since I'm not a fan. Fits the whole cultured idea of Hannibal, and also makes the mood a bit eerie, since it doesn't use the standard shrieks and thumping that most horror movies use to set up a scream. The classical music puts a creepy serene touch to all of Hannibal's killings.

Bottom Line

A movie to watch? If you want something that is truly creepy and unsettling, yeah Hannibal will do the trick. It isn't a bad movie, but it isn't a movie that you're likely to want to watch again after you are through. The movie leaves a too shockingly permanent impact on me, I'll have to say this is one of the most memorable movies of this year that I want to forget.

My advice is to wait for it on DVD and video to rent. It's definitely not a movie for purchase, it doesn't really fit in a video collection I believe, unless you are a real fan of horror films, just rent.






****Warning Spoiler*******


Comments on final scene:

The ending shows that Hannibal is in love with Clarice Starling, and really doesn't seem to make sense, but explains why she isn't dead. In the final moments, when Hannibal is forced to make his escape from the Starling residence and Starling handcuffs herself to him in a bold attempt to get him arrested, he threatens to chop off her hand. She refuses and he chops off his own hand. That moment is his final act of love. He's then seen on a plane off to some other country with a bandage around his arm.

Okay, that is the most anticlimactic ending I have ever seen. One is that, Hannibal is ultimately smarter and deadly, but he completely jeopardizes his scary image in cutting off his own hand. Another is that Clarice Starling, after studying this guy for the entire movie and listening to his tapes, still can't outsmart him.

Ugh.

***End Spoiler***