Oh, how I long to be a Mustang steering wheel.
That truly sums up what I think of the "Hannibal" DVD that hit stores last week. Chock full of deleted and alternate scenes, a "making of" documentary and other goodies, Hannibal exemplifies how a DVD should be packaged.
Disc one, which is the theatrical film, is a sight to behold. The lighting is clear, capturing Florence's marvelous culture and grand scenery with a distinct eye; and the sound is fantastic – hell, I can hear that knife slicing open Inspector Pazzi as clear as a bell.
There's not too much to say about disc one except that I'm glad that a widescreen version was available for sale, since the letter box format usually chops off about 25 percent of the images on screen, which would have been a travesty for "Hannibal."
It's disc two that is a treasure of interesting and intriguing things. Gary Oldman finally decided to do some publicity and grant an interview about the Mason Verger make-up. However, it would have been even better if we could have seen footage of Oldman being made up as Verger.
The documentary was OK – I would have preferred it if actual video of the Italian press conference was shown instead of audio commentary over still footage.
The deleted scenes were the best part. The sight of Sir Hopkins in a black tank top performing you-know-what on a steering wheel will probably go down (pun intended) as one of the most strangely erotic scenes ever filmed ... and why Ridley Scott didn't put that in the theatrical release is beyond me.
My only true complaint is with the film's lighting director, whoever he may be, because in the alternate ending I can't see Hannibal unleash that Lecter lovin' on Clarice when he soulfully kisses her. How that scene got screwed up is beyond comprehension.
All in all, "Hannibal" is probably the best DVD on the market right now.
P.S. Airplane food really is lousy.
Now, an extremely thoughtful, incisive review from scooper Rainer:I'm working on a full review of the film itself (it will be very long) but for now I'll do the deleted scenes on the DVD. I was going to them all in one go, but Il Mostro alone took up so much that I'll have to do them one at a time ;-)
IL MOSTRO
This fascinating segment plays with the notion that the cleaner of the Capponi Library is the notorious 'Il Mostro', a murderer himself. I confess that the subplot might be confusing (one of the reasons it was apparently left out), but there is something wonderful about it, which I would justify for the following reasons:
1) Ever since Manhunter/Red Dragon, a theme has been the duality of the killer and the one who hunts him (best typified in the dichotomy of Harris' Will Graham, a kindred spirit for Lecter). Graham needs Lecter to reaffirm his gift for the criminal mind, Clarice needs Lecter to trap Buffulo Bill, and now Pazzi gets a little help from the master too. It lends a nice symmetry to the saga.
2) There is the delightful moment when Pazzi announces that serial killers' "primary motivation is to be obvious', and Hannibal completes his muse: 'but not caught', in a playful tone that mirrors flirtation; here with the eventual climax of coitus replaced by disembowelment ;-) Stylish, twisted and dark, just as the material should be.
3) Scott argues that Il Mostro may confuse audiences, since they might think the 'clue' of the Sandro Botticelli painting is actually something about Hannibal, "when really it is just obscure". And he certainly has a point here. But in a way, it *is* a clue, because Hannibal understands Il Mostro, and Pazzi understands that he does. This itself *is* a clue toward Dr. Fell's real identity: Thomas Harris, in my view, implies that serial murder is almost a dark art shared by its practitioners each of whom recognises the other; exemplified by the curious stare as Il Mostro sees not just any lecturer turn up, but a man he has identified as a compatriot in the dark arts they practice. They recognise eachother - just as Graham saw himself in Lecter - and there is the connection, as if Freemasons on a random encounter, a nod to a shared secret society with a taste for oblivion.
4) I'm confused by the generally excellent commentary at one point. At the end of the clip, Hannibal walks away from the balcony, then stops, and walks back and waves. Il Mostro then bows to him from the shadows and mutters something in adulation. Scott explains this in terms of 'bowing to the master', which is true, but surely the sequence of events exists in the script such that:
a - Hannibal hangs Pazzi, while Il Mostro watches
b - Hannibal starts to leave, then realizes Il Mostro is watching
c - so Hannibal walks back to the balcony and waves to the crowd.
He does this so that the whole world knows that 'Hannibal The Cannibal' has committed the crime; otherwise Il Mostro himself would surely come under investigation by police since he would be a suspect. Thus, having saved Il Mostro from police investigation of the crime by revealing his identity to the cameras outside:
d - Il Mostro bows to Hannibal in thanks for the favour.
5) The Il Mostro subplot softens the blow of Hannibal's original encounter with Pazzi; it makes more sense as to why he questions Pazzi's change of case. With the added material, Hannibal seems less malicious in his intent toward Pazzi at first, and we are treated to some wonderful scenes of the 'charming' Hannibal, especially as he walks off into the bustling town after pointing out the painting.
6) Although not explored fully (presumably because it was never made in entirety) the scene in the perfume shop adds a lot to the encounter. Pazzi is suspicious of Hannibal's insight into Il Mostro, Hannibal is aware of this (typified by the impossibly subtle and deft flick of a mirror to reveal the good detective behind him - fantastic scene), all making for Byzantine intrigue. I much prefer this - Pazzi following him to the perfume store - than the 'accidental' discovery of Dr. Lecter by a one-in-a-million chance of spotting a single frame of grainy black and white tape while it was being copied by Agent Benetti.
All in all, though I understand the reasons, I think it's a great shame that the Il Mostro subplot was dropped as opposed to being further elaborated. It also added a further moral dimension, for Il Mostro - preying on lovers in their cars - is an entirely different character to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and we are forced to question in more detail what it is about the man that fascinates us so (it is not just the fact that he takes lives; a flood in India takes a thousand fold more lives, a train accident a dozen more, fascination merely in the absolute of death is a macabre sport, but offers nothing to explain the reverence which this man of extremes inspires).
As a postscript to the Il Mostro scenes, I thought the scenes of the security staff waving off Pazzi's hanging as 'student pranks' were somewhat redundant; Dr. Lecter's grim work is to be feared, reviled and adored, but somehow the one thing it can't be is dismissed; a disembowelled man hanging from the balcony, statues screaming Judas! around him, is simply too poignant an image for the utilitarian psyche of the Security Guard to wantonly dismiss. The audience's reaction alone (a unanimous sharp intake of breath in the cinema showing I attended) proves this much.
Here's a different impression from Cory, plus an idea for Red Dragon:first off...hannibal dvd. it made me sad to see all these great deleted scenes, with ridley basically saying 'well, we wnated to hurry up more' or 'i didnt wanta udiences to think'.
i wish more fans would see what a complete travesty it was to omit the return to lecter's cell/ebay scene(especially since the ebay scene reflects the whole point of everything...the mass pop culture status of lecter) the crawford explanation in the letter, and the fact ridley did not included HANNIBAL's MIND PALACE!!! that really astounded me, as i expected a cgi scene, since he used surreal dreamlike visuals in gladiator. i found it sad how the movie plays to hurried, with a very forced 'hey, remember sotl? well hereas a rerecorded clip of lecter speaking with clairse'. hannibal the movie, while it has a beautiful look and score, is a joke. look at the chemistry... the first thing clarise says to lecter is 'is he dead'? then later in the pig pen 'oh shut up'. sad sad sad. the reason hannibal falls short of manhunter and sotl is becuase theres no sense of urgency, or care(ie: families in manhunter, sentaor's daughter in sotl)
i can see why the ill mostro subplot was cut from the film, though i was hoping for a second serial killer like in the first two.
i also found it weird that there is no explanation of hannibal's past, or lecter's entropy hawkings theory to bring back mischa thru clarise...as is why he kidnaps her in the first place. barney is one of the main characters in the book, but is nowhere after the 1st act.
the ending was very bad...to the point of a bad joke. would ted tally have come up with a better ending? who knows, but the described alt. thrid ending sounded even worse. to ridley's credit, the film does look like i imagined th ebook to look like.
two very unusal things about the hannibal dvd. not one mention of manhunter(cept in frankie r faison's cast and crew bio), red dragon, or even an upcoming red dragon film. it seems a mistake on dino's part not to have even hinted at it in the supplemental interviews. ive only heard anthony hopkin's mention it, in his intervie with barbara walters.
of note as well, not one shot of oldman's verger is shown on disc 2, just the scens in the actual movie in disc one. was this in hsi contract? there were no pix of verger on the web til recently, and none in any magazine or on tv.
my only thoughts on the sotl dvd, is that it makes you appreciate it all the more after seeing hannibal...and that the deleted scenes were all deservedly missing.
now then...i called my friend the other night, and spoke for about four hours about an idea for red dragon...which makes sense. i dont know if anybody has brought this up, but what about red dragon being botha prequel AND a sequel? it could tie up everyhting quite well. My idea is to have red dragon start in say a makeshift museum or house ala john doe's house in se7en, with all the artifacts from the trilogy...death head moth's in jars, stuffed wild boars, lecter's mask, a lamb in a jar...just a real ornate rogue's gallery as the camera winds its way around some sort of lecter oddity museum. then it could have wil graham telling the red drgaon story, ala titanic or edward scissorhands...in where after the story it comes to the present. wherein you could have 'that hannibal sequel' in the fourth act. just an idea, but i think it could work. i also think red drgaonw ould work well with cryptic dreamliek visuals ala the cell. and whoever directs it, please have the new york museum scene. some nice cgi visuals of the dragon being inhaled by dollarhyde would be great.
anyways, sorry this email is so long...just my thoughts on one of the best franchises/series ever.
:: cory ::
THANKS EVERYONE!
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