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Writer
Thomas Harris' first novel was Black Sunday, which was made
into a movie starring Bruce Dern. The movie was released in 1977.
It's the one about the crazy Vietnam Vet (aren't they all?) who is
wrapped up in a plot to bomb the Super Bowl from the Goodyear Blimp.
From what I gather. I haven't read the book or seen the movie. Many
years later, he wrote his second novel, Red Dragon, which was
enough of a sucess for a producer to buy the rights, and make a movie
of it. That movie, Manhunter, was released in 1986, and generated
little money, but a fair amount of critical praise. Red Dragon
was the book that featured the first appearance of Hannibal Lecter.
The novel The Silence of the Lambs followed Red Dragon,
and further developed the Lecter character, and then. . .well, you've
seen the movie that was made from that. And then the novel Hannibal
was written almost expressly to allow another Hannibal Lecter movie
to be made. The movie wasn't great. It was okay. It was pretty. It
generated enough money to justify another Hannibal Lecter movie. So,
they decided to try out Red Dragon as a film again. And the
movie has been pretty damn sucessful so far.
About Manhunter/Red Dragon: The main plot is basically the
same as "Silence": there's a crazy man out killing
people in weird and perverted ways. The FBI is stumped/scared, and
they send an agent to Forensic Psychologist Hannibal Lecter (who is
also a crazy killer- but incarcerated) to try and convince him to
help them "profile" the killer. He plays head games with
the agent, helps them out with cryptic clues, and the good guys win
in the end.
The "original" film of Red Dragon, Manhunter, is
a deeply flawed film.. At the time (and apparently, still) some critics
lauded its style and atmosphere. Yes, it is soaked in MOOD - in that
Miami Vice sorta way - with the soundtrack/score to match.
Naturally, since M.V. producer Michael Mann directed Manhunter.
He's made much better movies since - rent The Insider for proof.
Manhunter had one thing going for it: good Actors. The lead guy from
C.S.I. (William Peterson) in the "Clarice Starling"
role, the fantasy girl from Brazil (Kim Greist) as his wife,
the mobster from Get Shorty (Dennis Farina) as the FBI boss,
the female V.P. candiate from The Contender (Joan Allen) as
the killer's blind love intrest, and Dr. Guggenheim from Rushmore
(Brian Cox) as "Hannibal Lektor". Then, they were a cast
of unknowns, but talented unknowns. Manhunter suffers from
a low budget and a muddled narrative. Apparently, the novel had only
a few pages of Hannibal Lecter in it - and he only gets a few minutes
of screen time - which is fine. It's not about him. That's appropriate.
Except - a LOT of Will Graham's (Peterson) character and motivation
is based on his history with Lecter - which is not well explained.
The actor playing the killer "The Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan)
is extremely creepy and weird - which is perfect, and apparently,
true to the novel. Unfortunately, the motivation for his killings
is vague and poorly explained. It's got something to do with low self-esteem/self-image
and writer/painter/philosopher William Blake. That's about it. Manhunter
can be credited for being the first "forensic science/profiler"
movie, a trend that caught on about 10 years later with . . .well,
if you don't count "Quincy". . .every other (odd/even) cop
drama on TV.
Red Dragon - 2002 - is a good movie. Unlike Manhunter,
it tells a clear story. Unlike Manhunter, the murder victims
(entire families) live in the sort of houses average people live in
- not the kind Don Johnson does (I imagine). Edward Norton plays Will
Graham, Harvey Keitel plays his boss, Ralph (don't call me "ralph")
Fiennes is the killer, Emily (Breaking the Waves, Punch-Drunk-Love)
is the blind girl, and (duh) Anthony Hopkins is You-Know-Who. And
they all do a bang-up job. The guy who wrote "Silence" (Ted
Tally) wrote the screenplay, and the guy who directed "Rush
Hour 1 & 2". . .directed. REALLY. It's a solid movie.
Motivation and plot are clear (except for one scene), the acting is
either good or great, director Brett Ratner does well enough that
he never has to work with Chris Tucker again, and Hopkins builds on
the francise that insured he'd never again be in a Jackie Collins
TV miniseries. You learn a lot more about Hannibal (and Graham) than
Manhunter offered. Of course, that is thanks to a script that
highlights the Hopkins role more than the novel did. That's okay.
I enjoyed it, despite the fact that I'd seen Manhunter 5 months ago
and knew (mostly) how everything went. It was nice, especially because
it confirmed a lot of things that I only guessed at from the earlier
film (and imagined could be done better). It's amazing what 16 years
and a huge budget can do.
Red Dragon is not better than The Silence of the Lambs.
If it had come out first, maybe we'd think about it differently. But
it didn't - and "Silence" is the quinessential Hannibal
Lecter movie. (Let us not even get into a "Jonathan Demme vs.
Brett Ratner" track.) If you want to see Anthony Hopkins chew
up scenery and a decent thriller (especially if you haven't seen Manhunter
- but even if you have), check out Red Dragon.
[side note: actor Frankie Faison is the only person to be in every
"Lecter" movie - he has been "Barney the Orderly"
in all the Hopkins movies - and was a police officer in the climactic
scene in Manhunter.]
IAN
- OCT 12, 2002
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