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Worlds Without End Blog

Month of Horrors / Hell is Adaptations: Hannibal Rising Posted at 5:09 PM by Jonathan McDonald

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Month of Horrors: Hannibal Rising

To say that Hannibal Rising is the worst of the Hannibal Lecter films is not necessarily a derogatory statement. After all, the Lecter films range from surreal and thrilling (Manhunter), to profound yet action-packed (The Silence of the Lambs), to baroque and experimental (Hannibal), and finally to popular yet solid (Red Dragon). While Hannibal Rising seems like the least necessary film in the series, it’s easy to forget how much call there was for this story to be told. After the hints of Lecter’s past in Hannibal the novel, there was suddenly a market for a Lecter prequel of some sort, but especially one that fleshed out the horrific experiences of the doctor’s early childhood.

For those who haven’t read the novel, Hannibal delves deeply into the cannibal’s psyche, showing us that he makes use of a classical-medieval mental technique known as the Memory Palace. First explained by Cicero, the Memory Palace is a mnemonic device that associates facts and memories with a physical structure that one creates within his mind. (The BBC series Sherlock makes use of this device, as well.) This is to help explain Lecter’s superior intellect and mental capacity, but also to give the reader hints of his formative years. While walking through his palace in search of a memory, Lecter has to be careful to avoid certain places that contain memories that can harm him, especially memories of his young sister Mischa, who died under grotesque circumstances during World War II. These come to a head at the climax of the novel, when he attempts to brainwash Clarice Starling into becoming his sister, and he can’t help but remember that Mischa was eaten by Nazi deserters trying to survive a harsh winter while avoiding Soviet forces.

Some fans complained that this explanation of Lecter’s past was an attempt to justify his violence or to reduce it a simplistic trauma. Hence, apparently, the demand for a more detailed explanation of Lecter’s psychological development from childhood into young adulthood. Thomas Harris didn’t seem to have had much interest in writing this story, but when producer Dino De Laurentiis threatened to just hire a screenwriter to tell the story of Lecter’s early years, Harris agreed to write both a novel and a screenplay. The novel was published December 5, 2006. The film was released February 9, 2007. One might be led to suspect a rushed project.

Who wouldn't go all serial killer over her?

Who wouldn’t go all serial killer to avenge her?

Indeed, it’s nearly impossible to critique the novel without referencing the film; it is not a standalone work of art. While the details of the behind-the-scenes writing process aren’t available to us–Thomas Harris is a notoriously private author–one begins to suspect that the screenplay used in the film was in fact an early draft or outline of the novel, which was written in full while the film was in production. Maybe Harris scribbled out the script quickly before turning his full attention to the novel, or maybe he was involved in occasional rewrites for the studio, but the finished film certainly feels like a “lite” version of the prose story.

And what of the story? The novel gives us a boy genius, a young Hannibal Lecter who, even at the age of eight, is on his way to brilliance and intellectual vanity. He worries, in fact, about his two-year old sister who hasn’t started reading yet. The combination of his mental vanity and the horrors of watching his parents die suddenly in the midst of a spontaneous battle field, of desperately attempting to survive on little food with his sister, and then watching her be taken away to fill the bellies of deserters, all serve to make Lecter willing to commit acts that most civilized people would not even consider.

From there, the narrative jumps forward to his teenage years, when Hannibal is rescued from a Soviet orphanage by his French uncle, who finds him after years of searching. His uncle’s younger Japanese wife, the Lady Murasaki, lost her family in Hiroshima, and finds a great deal in common with the troubled boy they have taken into their home. When his uncle dies during an altercation with a man who insulted his wife, Hannibal takes it upon himself to avenge his uncle’s life and his aunt’s honor by putting an end to the “rude” man. Murasaki helps Hannibal hide his crimes even while insisting he reform his life and proceed with medical school. Not long after, Hannibal gets wind of the men who imprisoned him and murdered his sister, now living comfortable lives in European society. This overrules his desire to please his aunt, and he makes quick and gruesome work of his tormenters. Although he is arrested for the murders, he is released because of a lack of evidence, and because he has popular support for having killed war criminals.

"You'll never be the head of a major corporation!"

“You’ll never be the head of a major corporation!”

So basically, Hannibal Rising changes from an investigation into the inner life of a budding psychopath into a revenge thriller with Nazis. This perpetuates the trend of making Lecter the “hero” of any given story by setting him against a psychopath who is even more detestable than he. Francis Dolarhyde and Jame Gumb were grotesquely disturbed individuals who found solace only in harming others for their own perverted ends; Mason Verger was a pedophile who abused children under the apathetic gaze of the Justice Department; and hey, Hannibal’s childhood rivals were Nazi war criminals. In contrast to these, of course Lecter comes out smelling quite rosy. At least he only eats the rude, right? Nobody likes rude people.

But whatever you think of Harris’ moral commentary, there’s little doubt that his last Lecter novel did not quite satisfy the palate. Is it because his explanation of how Lecter became the man he did felt unbelievable? (I find it rather believable, myself, once you agree that someone like him can exist as an adult.) Is it because the fans wanted to see more of Lecter as an adult, as a practicing doctor hunting meals on the side? Is it because the revenge thriller aspect of the last half of the novel felt too popular? Maybe a bit of all these things. I don’t think it’s a terrible novel, but there’s no doubt that it fails to live up to its predecessors.

The film adaptation was directed by Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Emperor), and large parts of the film look, feel, and flow very nicely. The young French actor Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement, Paris, je t’aime) portrays the teenage Hannibal Lecter about as well as can be expected. He does not attempt to mimic Anthony Hopkins’ hammy performance, but simply plays Hannibal as a young man who finds pleasure in cruelty. Gong Li (Farewell My Concubine, Memoirs of a Geisha) plays Hannibal’s aunt, the Lady Murasaki, with a quiet dignity. Dominic West (The Wire, John Carter) is Inspector Popil, the man who knows what Hannibal is up to, but can’t quite prove it.

Not a good time to lose one's head!

“Not a good time to lose one’s head!”

If you’re not sure you want to read the last Lecter novel, you might want to just watch the film, keeping in mind that the novel takes the same plot and layers it with the usual Harris poetic passages and snobbishly heavy historical research. There are a lot of interesting ideas in the novel, but its rushed nature will be apparent to the watchful reader. Personally, I hope that Harris will move on to another series or to standalone projects. Hannibal Lecter as a character isn’t really worth this much literary attention, and Harris is a good enough writer that he could create fascinating new characters that have never even heard of Hannibal the Cannibal. Let’s hope he does.

[A quick note about the television series Hannibal. While I did originally intend to write about the show’s first season this month, I was unable to find the time to do so, partially because I would have wanted to re-watch the entire season. It is a very well made series that deserves serious attention, and I hope that it remains on the air for a few more years. The seriousness with which it portrays Will Graham’s character is especially worthy of praise.]


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