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Who's
hot, it's Ridley Scott.
The
director can seemingly do no wrong at the moment. Oodles
of Oscar nominations for his last film Gladiator
and safe in the knowledge that his latest, Hannibal,
took nearly $60 million on its first weekend of release
in the States.
Not
that Hannibal has had a smooth ride. Scott wasn't
even first choice director. He came in when Jonathan Demme
ruled out taking charge of his Silence of the Lambs
sequel.
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| If
you say I'm not scary I'll eat my hat |
A
bigger blow was the decision by Jody Foster to opt out
of another pairing with Anthony Hopkins. Her character,
Clarice Starling, has been taken over by Julianne Moore.
She does a good job, but there'll always be purists who'll
wonder how different the character's evolution would have
been with Foster playing the part.
That
said, Hannibal delivers big time. With Scott you
know you'll get a visually stunning movie. With Hopkins
recreating his role as Hannibal Lecter, you know you'll
get restrained menace. What Hopkins has done, however,
is give his character a touch of humour. See how an innocent
phrase like "okey dokey" can be transformed
by a man still partial to the odd human organ!
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| What's
that Clarice, your heart's on fire - let's not waste
it, we'll have it on toast |
Tension
is the name of the game. There was plenty in Silence
of the Lambs and Hannibal is no exception.
The
plot concerns Mason Verger (Oldman), who was hideously
disfigured in a previous encounter with Lecter. He wants
revenge. Put bluntly, he wants Lecter to die slowly and
horribly. The fact he's a multimillionaire helps him launch
a manhunt.
Also
on Hannibal's trail is Starling. Where the film comes
undone is in trying to develop the strange relationship
between the FBI agent and fugitive. The difference between
how Foster could've portrayed the character and how Moore
does, is always in the back of your mind.
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| Give
me back my heart you bully or I'll have your guts
for garters |
Given
it's predecessor, Hannibal is going to be a runaway
success. As third in the series (Brian Cox played the
original Hannibal in Manhunter) it's probably better
than could be expected. There's already talk of a prequel
(a reworking of Manhunter under it's original book
title Red Dragon).
Talking
of books, if you've read Hannibal, don't expect
the end of the film to reflect the end of Robert Harris's
novel - this is Hollywood after all.
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