Review of Hannibal (2001) by Javor B — 18 Jun 2011

Hannibal Lecter is one of the greatest cinematic or literary characters in history, which is what makes this film so unbearably disappointing. Ridley Scott completely mishandles the character simply by careless shooting.

Jonathan Demme, and the generally laughable filmmaker Brett Ratner opted to film Lecter so that he looks directly into the camera (or into the audience's eyes) which made his presence unnerving and genuinely terrifying.

Here, he's shot like any other character with the material. Also, Scott opts for graphic depictions of violence and perverse close-ups of the brutal slayings rather than leaving the violence fairly offscreen, as both Demme and Ratner did.

To top it off, Julianne Moore, who is typically terrific, gives a flat performance in a role that won the previous actress an Oscar. The real problem here, above all, is that Lecter works when used minimally.

The moment the focus is set on him for a prolonged length of time, he loses his effectiveness. It's a rare case where the less we know about this person, or the less we see him, the better.