I tried to promise myself I would read every book before watching the movie. Well, there was exception, since I had already seen Red Dragon before I even got it from the library. But then I thought, oh what the hell, I can watch the movie first. And if I watch the movie first, it doesn't make me, you know, so critical towards it. If I read the book before the movie, I'm just going to be thinking how the movie is different. You know, it happens every time. So I thought, I can watch the movie. And I thought, it's probably pretty damn good - since everyone who's seen it says. Well, not everyone, but you get the idea. People who like Hannibal, like this movie, and the book if they've read it. I've hardly seen a fan say anything bad about this one. And even though I've tried to strictly watch movies in the order they were published, I've made an exception here about it too, since I started with Red Dragon. If we look at all the movies with Hannibal Lecter, the first one to watch is Manhunter. If we look at the movies with just Anthony Hopkins in it, this is the first one, Red Dragon takes place before all these, but it's published last. So... anyway...
The text behind the movie said, "Weirdly erotic, thrilling and intimate." I accepted those the last two of those adjectives very gladly.
Thrilling? Of course it's going to be thrilling. If it wasn't going to be thrilling, there's no point in making the movie. I felt my heart beating in my throat and I nestled under the blanket. First I thought I was going to spend tonight awake, not able to sleep, but it wasn't scary that way. And that's good, I've spent too many nights wide awake because of movies. Silence of the lambs was thrilling in the most perfect way possible. You're a bit scared while watching the movie, and a little bit afterwards. ... Well that thing you feel afterwards probably isn't fear, it's something else. Partly excitement partly... something that can't be put down in words. *
Intimate? Well yes, Clarice basically let Dr. Lecter inside her head and all that. So it's intimate in that way, and it was really well done. Clarice Starling is told not to tell anything about herself to Hannibal Lecter. And still, Dr. Lecter gives her a choice: Hannibal helps her with the case, if she tells her something about herself. Quid pro quo. And you watch it, and you know that Starling isn't supposed to say anything at all, and you now Lecter is just going to find her weak spots or something, but she still plays along. And that's another thin that's really thrilling, really intimate.
But I have to admit, I felt kinda suspicious about the "weirdly erotic" part. Why? I've watched the TV show, I've watched Red Dragon... There never was anything erotic there. But I guess that's the point, there's nothing that could be very erotic - apart from Dolarhyde and Reba McClane, but I'm not going there now, I'm going there when I've read Red Dragon. But think about Red Dragon and think about the tv-show Hannibal, what is there? There's Will Graham. Maybe people may find some kind of erotic charge between Dr. Lecter and Graham, but yeah, that's completely another thing, and I'm not going to say if it's all in their imagination or not. I think, the eroticism in Silence of the lambs was brought by the weird but yet erotic charge between Dr. Lecter and Clarice Starling. And the point is, it was really weirdly erotic. It wasn't something so tacky and tasteless like it is, it wasn't strictly sexual charge, it was... There was something, and I don't know if I got a hold of it, but the weird charge is there between them, and it was hard to grasp.
I don't know what else to say. Of course there's the plot, and it's a very good plot, but the plot wasn't with us like it is in Red Dragon. The plot is there, but you pay your attention to something else just as much as the plot. It sort of rips your attention in half.* Buffalo Bill will never be as memorable as Red Dragon (or Toothfairy, whichever you prefer after the movie / the book), but there was something about him. Maybe he should've been there more - but maybe he shouldn't. I can't say surely, until I've read the book, and I know exactly how it is.
The movie was just as right as I expected. You, however, may be expecting... very high rating for this movie. Damn right. But to be honest, maybe I expected a bit more Hannibal. I thought this movie would be more about him than the case FBI was on, but no. But then again, I'm not disappointed. I'm not disappointed one bit, because I know what happened in the movie, and I know what's the next movie / book going to be about. Of course I can't say anything here and ruin you the surprise, but yeah. And maybe I don't need more Hannibal. If I want backstory, I got Hannibal Rising, and the TV show also, even if it isn't as canon as I'd like it to be. But still. Maybe it's good we don't get too much Dr. Lecter at once.
* These things are only how I feel about the movie, so I could be promising you too much. If you've seen the movie and don't agree with me, or if you watch it expecting the same rush and are disappointed, don't sue me for false information or anything like that. I'm not currently capable of telling straight facts I'm telling how I feel about this movie, because this movie caused me the strongest effect I've ever had towards a movie so yeah.
No comments:
Post a Comment