The book "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris takes place before "Silence of the Lambs". "Manhunter", an earlier movie version with William Petersen as Graham and Brian Cox as Lecter, was all right, for what I can remember, but the one I'm watching right now (second time) was shot after "Silence of the Lambs" with Anthony Hopkins again as Lecter (never mind the age discrepancy, he's Anthony bloody Hopkins), an inexplicably blond Edward Norton as Graham, a stellar cast, and the cold, northerly atmospheres very similar to "Silence", though "Silence" is superior (to most movies I've seen, too). These are my favourite books/movies of the 5 Harris has written. The first one, "Black Sunday", has Kabakov, a rather straightforward hero, who sacrifices himself at the end; "Dragon" has neurotic Graham who ends up as a destroyed man, and the first appearance of Lecter as the "helper" to catch the killer Dolarhyde; "Silence", IMHO, strikes the perfect balance between Lecter, the killer Jame Gumb and the vulnerable but victorious Clarice Starling. From then on, IMHO once again, it goes downhill; "Hannibal" destroys Clarice, and "Hannibal Rising" destroys the mystique of Lecter himself. I'll have to re-read the "Dragon" book and maybe then I'll have more to say (and more time to say it) on this great and fascinating theme of Good and Evil, but for now, a couple of thoughts: - Ralph Fiennes as the disfigured Dolarhide: a stunningly handsome man with a tiny scar on the lip and a slight speech impediment. Bad casting? No, a great idea, I say: the discrepancy between reality and the perception of the mind, which leads to distorted behaviour. - "Red Dragon" was written in 1981; the BBC "Jack the Ripper" with Michael Caine was shot in 1988. In both that one and Johnny Depp's "From Hell" (2001), Abberline goes for advice to the Ripper himself, that is the Queen's doctor, according to the now discredited "royal conspiracy theory" that flourished in the '70s. He's unaware of it, of course, but the situation is almost like the Lecter/Graham and Lecter/Starling connection. I wonder if Harris was inspired by the Ripper-as-surgeon speculations, and in turn inspired the idea of the investigator who needs the help of a killer or THE killer, who needs to immerse himself in the psychology of the killer, as especially Graham and Depp's Abberline do. Fascinating thoughts about the "necessary evil"... more about it, sooner or later. |