Playing him for less than 20 minutes earned Anthony Hopkins an Academy Award. He topped the American Film Institute's list of film villains. He has served as a model for serial killers both real and fictional, and made it impossible to order Chianti without a sinister hiss.
These are only the most well-known impacts of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal psychiatrist of The Silence of the Lambs."" Lecter is one of the most captivating characters in film history, an untouchable manipulator who is always ahead of the main character. His power lies not in his intelligence, but in his mystique""he is the embodiment of the dark side of human nature.
It is the removal of that mystique which dooms ""Hannibal Rising,"" the latest installment to the franchise. Starring French actor Gaspard Ulliel as a young Lecter, the film takes him out of his glass-walled cell and turns him into the protagonist""a role that, despite the strength of the character, he does not fit.
The film tracks Lecter's past, beginning with his childhood in Lithuania where he is orphaned as a result of World War II. Taken captive by a gang of German deserters, he is forced to watch them kill and eat his sister Mischa when they are stranded in a blizzard. He escapes and flees to Paris as a teenager, locating his aunt Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) and begins to study medicine.
From there the film progresses into a fairly basic tale of revenge as Lecter tracks down the deserters and begins to pay them back. He pursues his revenge in an eye-for-an-eye fashion, which leads to his sadistic nature and his cannibalism. Having been inspired by his aunt's samurai roots he cuts off their heads, and inspired by her chef he eats their cheeks.
To his credit, Ulliel rises to the challenge of playing Lecter. His portrayal is magnetic, with a refined voice and a smirk that will likely lead to typecasting as a sadist in future films. His charm is not equal to Hopkins'""at times it borders on smarmy""but he gives off an aura of being completely in control, aware of his evil actions and reveling in their results.
Unfortunately, director Peter Webber is not content to let Ulliel's portrayal stand alone, inserting little details that remind the audience what Lecter is going to become. Subtleties like his skillful drawings and passion for classical music are acceptable, but when Ulliel dons a samurai face mask in a clear parallel to the elder Lecter's restraints, it feels like the filmmakers are hitting the viewer over the head with a ""Silence of the Lambs"" DVD.
Its position as a prequel spoils ""Hannibal Rising."" There is no sense of urgency to the film, no question that Lecter will take his vengeance or become a greater evil than the deserters at the end. The thrills that come from the film are solely based on Lecter's brutality, which is exciting but feels wrong in the greater context. Lecter, who in one instance talked a man into eating his tongue, should keep his hands clean and kill offscreen.
While entertaining at times, ""Hannibal Rising"" will most likely join ""Hannibal"" as a disappointment to the Lecter franchise. This is a film that would have worked better as a stand-alone thriller. Every time viewers are reminded of who this young Lecter will become, it reduces that image. Lecter should remain an enigma""not a Nazi hunter with a samurai sword.
