Hannibal
Sciffy and I were really looking forward to this movie, for months, ever since the first preview. We both read the book last year and were very curious to see how much of it's gruesome, yet fascinating tale they would include in a film. We have come to expect movies to be much shallower than the books they originate from, and we have come to expect Hollywood to shy away from some controversial scenes. But I have to admit, they did pretty good with this one. They left out several characters that were important in the book (like the lesbian bodybuilder sister and the first guy who gets eaten by the pigs), but they managed to sew up the holes quite nicely, so someone who has not read the book will not feel they have missed anything.
There are some elements of the ending that were disappointing, such as the way they handled the brain-eating scene. In the book, it was protracted and hidden for some time, and the revelation of what/who they were eating only became apparent as the detective's conversation began to deteriorate, much like the HAL computer in 2001, as the memory boards are removed, one by one... Also, Clarice seems to have thrown in with Hannibal by the end of the book, whereas that is left quite a bit more vague in the movie.
There are several well done scenes, so simple yet so chilling, that I have to applaud the director for his artistry. One such scene is the merry-go-round, where Hannibal just lightly brushes the edge of Clarice's hair. All in all, it is an excellent film, gripping and chilling, with a very satisfying ending for the one detective who betrayed Clarice.
Much has been made of the fact that the original actress did not come back to take on the role of Clarice Starling again, but frankly, the new actress successfully picked up where the other left off, and was not missed at all. That was a tough role to reprise, and it was very well done. Kudos.
Go see it in the theater. Then buy or rent the tape or DVD when it comes out. But if you have dinner before or after seeing the film, you may want to stick to a garden salad.
Scuttles
