November 2006 - Horrorphile

Horrorphile

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Horrorphile - November 2006

Care for some more CHIANTI?

November 30th 2006 22:19

Or perhaps another helping of lima beans? They go so well with the rare and succulent flesh on your plate I so lovingly prepared. It’s so delicious to have guests for dinner, I must say. And, may I add, your taste is impeccable.

Yes, you guessed it, the fifth chapter in the criminal life and wayward career of psychiatrist and exotic chef extraordinaire Hannibal Lector will hit cinemas next year. Hannibal Rising is scheduled for release in Australia on February 15th.

It is a prequel and tells of the early years in Hannibal’s life, from his childhood in Lithuania to his teenage years in France and up to his time in America. It is a dark tale of tragedy and loss, but most significantly, revenge.

Producer Dino de Laurentiis, who brought Manhunter (1986), Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002) to the screen (but not The Silence of the Lambs, 1991), says “It is a revenge story that shows why he became a cannibal, but he kills people audiences want to see killed. So while there is a natural revulsion, the sympathy toward Hannibal remains …”

Author Thomas Harris hurriedly penned the novel, which had several original titles (Behind the Mask: The Blooding of Hannibal Lecter, The Lecter Variations, The Story of Young Hannibal Lecter) and then requested to write the screenplay as well, which surprised Laurentiis, who discovered Harris had enough material in the first draft for two movies.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD! (But don't worry the flesh is fine!)

The story tells how Lecter was born in the late 1930s into a wealthy Lithuanian land-owning family. His parents were killed by the Nazis when he was six and during the harsh winter of 1944, he and Mischa, his elder sister, had to fend for themselves. They lived in a barn until starving soldiers found them. The men decided to eat one of the children and chose Mischa because she was fatter, killing her with an axe.

It was a truly defining moment for Lecter, a moment of extreme psychological trauma and horror that would gnaw away at him for the rest of his life.

The move is directed by Peter Webber (The Girl with the Pearl Earring) and stars mostly unknowns. Playing the adolescent Lecter is newcomer Gasbard Ulliel, while sultry Gong Li will play Lady Murasaki, the woman who takes in the young Hannibal after his escape from an orphanage and unwittingly becomes a pawn in a revenge plot of Hannibal’s.

This all sounds frightfully tantalising, with the movie’s mouthwatering locales and the tale’s delectable moments of horrific perversity. From the stills it looks like production values are high and the mood and atmosphere will be suitably dark-hued and prickly, like the outer flesh of a well roasted lamb.

young Hannibal Lecter practicing his carving skills

The Hannibal Lecter saga is undoubtedly cinema’s most sophisticated villain franchise. I trust the filmmakers have made sure the cutlery remains as polished and sharp as ever.

Now, how about that glass of Chianti …?

* the images on this page are courtesy Universal Pictures

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