Hannibal

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Francesca Neri, Giancarlo Giannini, Ray Liotta

Producers: Dino De Laurentiis, Edward Saxon, Martha De Laurentiis, Ridley Scott
Writers: David Mamet, Steven Zallian

Running time: 130 minutes

Upon revisiting Ridley Scott's "Hannibal", it really is amongst the most terrifying, horrific, complete, and coherent films. With the inexcusable bashing the film took on initial release, it is no wonder it never reached the pinnacle status it deserved as a true masterpiece of psychological thrillers.

Unfortunately, Hannibal had no chance whatsoever to clear itself from the macabre image it had picked up during the early hype. Sources in the industry spread rumours that Jodi Foster and certain directors had refused to touch the project because of the film's gruesome nature. From there, the film's image could only be tainted further, and all anyone cared to see was just how violent and gory it would be. The film industry continues to blow me away with its belligerent actions. It's a lot like the vicious food chain's killing cycle that keeps the animal kingdom balanced.

In fact, Hannibal is one of the few practically perfect films made in recent years. Perfection does come at a price, however; in order to produce such a high quality product, Universal had to call in some veterans: Director Ridley Scott, Musical Score from Hanz Zimmer, Director of Photography John Mathieson, writer David Mamet and a star cast including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman.

Aside from two slow-moving portions, the film is complete in every aspect. Everything is done correctly, even down to the outstanding cinematography as it conveys the appropriate amount of fear and unease, and together with the matching score it enhances the overall emotions of the various scenes. Through these little touches we see just how much time and effort has gone into the screenplay so that the audience is put through the various sensations. Some of these masterfully crafted scenes literally make the film - without them, it would not have the required psychological punch. Some of the quite exemplary scenes to take note of are Dr. Lecter's lecture on Judas, Starling's telephone conversation with Lecter, Lecter's letter to Starling, the evening sequence at the Opera, and the spellbinding ending. Through these scenes we see a whole new dimension to Lecter.

The heart and soul of the piece however is Hopkins, who of course won an academy award for the role in the 1991 debut in Silence Of The Lambs. Without such a high calibre actor portraying the character's complexity of psychotic dimensions, this series would have flopped after opening night. Hannibal is so established in popular culture that simply uttering the words 'Hello Clarice' in the Lecter tone makes most people tremble.

Also of note is a mesmerisingly brave performance by the supreme Gary Oldman as the hideously disfigured remains of an earlier Lecter Lunch. He is both visually and aurally beyond recognition and his is a bravura turn. However, Ridley and the screenwriters took a positive step forward in focusing this movie on Dr. Lecter's character development. Through the first film, we learned all that was possible about Starling. But even the faint at heart still wanted to know more about Hannibal; he had to be more than a simple psychopathic psychologist who liked to eat people. Frankly, in this instalment, Hannibal's character development is only beginning to touch upon the nightmarish monster he really could be.

Assuming that the readers of MediaEyeFilm have the sophisticated intellect to appreciate the work that has gone into Hannibal the film (and Hannibal the character), this is a highly underrated feature by any industry standards. If you can stand a couple of brutally honest and life-like scenes, get yourself a dvd - a trip through Dr. Lecter's psyche is a pretty wild two hours. In short, this film is one of the few able to create a genuinely high level of anxiety.