The Screen Addict | The Lecter Legacy
I have three framed film-posters in my home – Die Hard (1988), Carlito’s Way (1993) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Films that meant the world to me growing up, and continue to amaze me every time I revisit them.
In this post, I want to single out TSotL and the films and TV series its subject, Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter, spawned.
My first viewing of TSotL was completely unplanned. My parents had rented the VHS tape and I had spotted it lying around, but because it did not have Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone on the cover, I was not immediately interested in watching it.
However, there was something about the unusual image of a woman’s face with her mouth covered by some kind of bug that intrigued me. It was not like I really had anything better to do at the time, so I decided to give it a whirl anyway.
My father once told me that if a film does not grab your attention within the first five minutes, it is probably not worth watching at all. TSotL was the first film that made me understand that theory. From the very first frame, TSotL sucked me into the story and did not let go until the credits rolled over Hannibal Lecter disappearing into a crowd, after mentioning to Clarice that he was “having an old friend for dinner”.
It was truly a formative experience for me – TSotL taught me to see films in a completely different way. More than any other film I had seen up to that point in my life, it made me understand how great storytelling works. To this day, I can think of very few films that can match the way suspense is meticulously built up in Jonathan Demme’s masterpiece.
Case in point – the face-switching sequence in which Lecter manages to escape his temporary holding facility by cutting of and using the face of one of his guards. Describing the scene almost makes it sound like a cheap slasher-film, but the way Demme and his expert collaborators execute this sequence, elevates it into the realms of high art.
Also – come to think of it – it might have actually been the film from which Face/Off (1997) scribes Mike Werb and Michael Colleary got the idea for their script… Who knew? TSotL really is F/O avant la lettre!
All joking aside – for me, the sequence still ranks as one of the truly great moments in cinema, right up there with Verbal Kint shape-shifting into Keyser Söze, and Jack Woltz waking up next to Khartoum’s severed head. I will do a separate piece on unforgettable scenes soon, because it was really hard to mention only two.
TSotL was an unmitigated triumph. Raking in almost $275 million around the world while winning the ultra-rare top five Academy Awards – Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster for best lead, Demme for directing, Ted Tally for best adapted screenplay, and of course best picture. It is at the time of writing of this piece still one of only three films to have ever achieved that exceptional honor.
Who exactly owns which characters from Thomas Harris’ four source novels featuring Hannibal Lecter, has always been topic of extensive debate. Basically, the rights to Lecter, Starling et al. are split between M.G.M., The Dino De Laurentiis Co. and Harris himself. This licensing labyrinth makes it no easy feat to create content involving any of the characters, and might also be the reason it took more than a decade for Hollywood to adapt Harris’ follow up to TSotL.
When an agreement was finally reached however, the result was extremely satisfying. In the early Aughts, Italian super-producer Dino De Laurentiis approached Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator (2000) to offer him directorial reins on Hannibal (2001). Thinking he was being offered another historical film, Scott initially declined. After De Laurentiis clarified he was talking about Lecter, Scott took the job on the spot.
I adore Hannibal. I saw it in theatres three times, and I revisit it at least once a year. I cannot think of any other filmmaker who would be more qualified to direct a sequel to TSotL than Ridley Scott, except for maybe David Fincher. Legend has it however, that the reluctant ruler of the serial-killer genre – Se7en (1995), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), The Killer (2023), Mindhunter – turned down the offer.
Although it veers wildly from the novel, I think Hannibal is just stunningly scripted, filmed, acted and scored. It takes an erudite filmmaker like Ridley Scott to so faithfully frame Florence – not to mention direct an original mid-movie opera from scratch. And let’s please not forget the infamous brain-eating scene, surely one of the most disturbing sequences ever to be put on film. It had me squirming in my red velvet cinema-seat for sure.
Hannibal was a monster hit, grossing a whopping $350 million on an $85 million production budget. Additionally, it still is one of the most profitable R-rated films ever made. Unsurprisingly, De Laurentiis immediately started work on another chapter in the Lecter saga – Red Dragon (2002).
De Laurentiis had previously adapted Harris’s first novel that features Hannibal Lecter during The Eighties, changing the title to Manhunter (1986). David Lynch was initially hired to direct, but after a falling out with De Laurentiis, he was replaced with the then relatively unknown Michael Mann. The film lost money, which explains why De Laurentiis chose to pass on TSotL.
For the 2002 remake, De Laurentiis approached – believe it or not – Michael Bay, but when the Emperor of Excess declined, the Italian Mogul settled on Brett Ratner.
Look, I understand it may not be appropriate to say anything even remotely positive about Brett Ratner. If it is true what people say he did – that’s right dear readers, I do not acknowledge a trial only by media – he deserves to be banished from Hollywood forever, and maybe even thrown in prison. But in the interest of this piece, I want to recognize his significant contribution to the Lecter saga.
I actually met Ratner when I was pre-buying scripts at film markets, and he brought a very young lady with him to the meeting. He introduced her as his girlfriend, and I am sure she was. Looking back on the situation today however, there definitely was an extremely uncomfortable quality to it all. I was too ignorant to recognize it at the time though, so shame on me.
Purely looking at his skills as a filmmaker however, I think Ratner is a highly accomplished director who has made several pretty awesome films. I very much enjoyed The Family Man (2000) and After the Sunset (2004) and yes, I even liked X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). The unsettling irony is that I think more people are going to attack me for saying Ratner is a good director, than there will be folks who will get angry with me for speaking positively about an alleged sex-offender.
I think RD is an excellent film. It is exactly what you want to see following the unnerving realism of TSotL and the visual splendor of Hannibal. It is definitely more of a popcorn film, but I do not mind that at all. It boasts a truly spectacular cast and Ralph Fiennes definitely gives Anthony Hopkins a run for his money with his portrayal of Francis “The Tooth Fairy” Dolarhyde.
One of my favorite scenes happens towards the end of the film. When Lecter’s prison psychiatrist Dr. Chilton announces that a young woman from the FBI has come to see him, Lecter replies: “What is her name?” Cut to black and roll credits.
Chilton is of course referring to Clarice Starling, and the sequence neatly ties RD to TSotL – which was released 11 years earlier but features events that take place after Brett Ratner’s film. Now this might very well have been the result of a rights issue, as M.G.M. owns the Starling character. To be honest though, I really don’t care what the real reason was for not actually mentioning Clarice, because the scene works so well without it.
After one more film about a young Hannibal Lecter – Hannibal Rising (2007) which obviously didn’t feature Anthony Hopkins – the Lecter Legacy transferred to television. In recent years we saw Mads Mikkelsen successfully disprove the theory that some films and / or parts are not “remakeable” with NBC’s Hannibal, and Rebecca Breeds further develops Starling’s story in CBS’ Clarice.
I am happy with an expansion of the Harris Cinematic Universe for years to come – in film or otherwise. The four books revolving around Lecter feature many interesting – and often disturbing – characters, some of them hardly touched upon in adaptations so far. It does make me a little sad though, that we probably won’t see Hopkins reprising his signature role again. The actor officially retired The Cannibal after RD, and it would make no sense to do another film or TV show anyway.
At least once every year however, I can’t resist popping in the DVD again to see Hannibal marvel about eating someone’s liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti…
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict