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CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 06/01/07
Bad to the Bones
by scott castle
Hannibal Rising
Screenplay by Thomas Harris
Based on his novel
 
 
Novelist Thomas Harris' ill-advised attempt to explore the origins of his iconic serial killer Hannibal Lecter plays like a laundry list of psychological suppositions designed to explain the homicidal psychiatrist's actions in the other three chapters of the film franchise. Each scene finds young Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) taking another step toward monsterhood, from the cannibalistic killing of his baby sister (Helena Lia Tachovska) by a gang of World War II deserters to his subsequent hunting and slaughter of said war criminals a decade later. The story plays like college freshman's term paper on psychology and fails utterly to understand that the character's greatest asset is the audience's horrified ruminations on what could have made him so monstrous. Indeed, the very fact that Hannibal Rising goes so far to justify his abhorrent actions undermines the fact that Lecter is loved by audiences for being a villain. Eventually, the caretakers of cinema's (and literatrure's) most memorable creations will learn that backstory is something to build upon and—like the foundation of a house —is not a finished product for purveyance to the consumer. Producer Martha De Laurentiis and director Peter Webber dote on Harris' freshman screenplay but, as usual, the press-shy author himself fails to appear.
Hannibal Rising
The Weinstein Company
Rated R; 117 min.
$29.95
Buy it now
Scott Castle is one thesis shy of a master’s degree in film. He’s written two short films, four television scripts, and a handful of short stories. He lives in Los Angeles.
Hannibal Rising courtesy The Weinstein Company
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