Hannibal Rising

In the hall of fame of movie monsters, there are the strange (Chucky), the frightening turned funny (Freddy) and then, there's the one movie monster that is, to me, the most frightening. He's the one movie monster that might actually exist, seeing him in that initial meeting, in Manhunter, was eerie and frightening, but not truly disturbing, that was reserved for the 1991 classic, The Silence Of The Lambs. In that movie, we met Hannibal Lector, a psychiatrist-turned-serial-killer, who was at once charming and scary. Hannibal was that evil monster who lured you in, even when all your instincts were screaming for you to run. Charming, intelligent and all of it was just the bait to get you close enough to hook you! Ever since that initial shock, the movie going public have been fascinated by Hannibal Lector, even remaking that first movie (Manhunter became Red Dragon) so that the evil Dr. Lector would be a bigger part of the movie lexicon. But, the question always remained, what tragedy could possibly happen to a person to make them into this kind of monster? Well, the new movie, Hannibal Rising, tells us the story behind the malevolent Dr. Lector and how he became the charming monster we movie lovers love to hate...or hate to love!



The story begins in 1945 Lithuania, young Hannibal and his parents are on the move between the Russians and Germans during the last days of World War II. In a small battle, Hannibal's parents are killed, leaving him alone in an isolated cabin to care for his young sister, Misha. When a group of looters happen upon the cabin, the immediately put the children in chains and begin searching for food. When they find themselves stranded in the cabin in the middle of a harsh winter, with no food, the prospect of starvation turn these already bad men, even worse! They drag Hannibal's sister outside and butcher her and eat her.

Now, flash forward eight years and an older Hannibal, who has been mute since the horror, escapes from behind Russian lines, travels to Paris where he finds the wife of his last living relative (an uncle who has died) and begins learning self-defense from her. The character who takes Hannibal in, the Lady Murasaki, feels contrived and seems to be there as a symbol of Hannibal's lost humanity, being that she's the one to teach him to use Asian arts for revenge and then advises against using these same talents to avenge the death of his beloved sister...which you know is coming from the very beginning of the movie!

The problem with Hannibal Rising is that Hannibal Lector, until now, has been the evil monster that we felt ourselves drawn to somehow. In this movie, Hannibal is the hero, while his actions might be morally ambiguous at best, they're still understandable and the people who he hunts and kills are far more frightening than young Hannibal. While explanations are given for Hannibals actions in previous (or chronologically later) movies, the story of the birth of a serial killer is not as strange and scary as you might expect, and turns the suave monster behind the clear plastic wall into a tragic figure who's really only avenging his family over and over.

I'm giving Hannibal Rising two out of four cigars,

because, while it's fun to have the original story teller (Thomas Harris) tell this tale of this most famous creation's origin, the movie itself is way too long and, what was sold as a horror movie, and, in all honesty, I expected far more sociopathic behavior than I got, it's still a good story, just not the one that I expected. And, the ending, which finds young Hannibal in Canada for one final kill, seems to be the beginning of the story that I really want to see, the tale of Hannibal Lector being an active serial killer in the U.S. and the story of his being pursued by law enforcement and his ultimate capture...the story that would seem to take place between this movie and Red Dragon...that's the story we're all waiting for!!! So, until next time, when I'll explain that liver and fava beans aren't a great meal no matter how classy, or insane, you are, remember that the best movies are bad movies