A Taste for Hannibal

Do you enjoy a fine meal of suspense and fear? Of course you do. Everyone enjoys a good scare so long as you're in no real danger.

On the whole I'm against serial killers in fact. In fiction however, they can be fascinating, even then I've never been that big of a fan except for Hannibal Lector.

Exactly how did author Thomas Harris create a monster so sublimely terrifying that you hope your paths never cross, yet somehow you're rooting for the evil bastard?

Harris himself has admitted that writing Hannibal frightens him. That's quite a statement considering that Harris is the puppet master. Dr. Lector first appeared as a minor character in the book "The Red Dragon". Harris understood that there was much more to be explored with Lector. A mere seven years later "Silence of the Lambs" was published. Eleven years later "Hannibal" was published. Mr. Harris is in no hurry to publish books. All three of these books are must reads in my not so humble opinion, "Hannibal" is best enjoyed at night when you're home alone, trust me on this. The last book Harris published concerning Lector was "Hannibal Rising", quickly followed by the film of the same name. It provides the beginning of Hannibal's life and the evolution of his unique culinary pursuits. I made sure to read the book first so I could compare it to the film, it read a lot like a screenplay and was easy to read quickly, too quickly. It lacked something from the previous three books. Upon seeing the film I realized why. The book and film were made to enter the marketplace at virtually the same time and the film exactly matches the book. That's highly unusual in any film adaptation but particularly with Lector. The film "Hannibal" deviates considerably from the book.

In 1990 when the film "Silence of the Lambs" was released it starred one of my favorite actors in the title role. Anthony Hopkins was suddenly rediscovered by Hollywood and his portrayal of Hannibal Lector became iconic. "I ate him with some fava beans and a nice chianti", followed by that sinister tongue snake thing entered our culture and everybody had their impersonation. The film scared the crap out of me and I found it disturbing. I would not watch it again for ten years. Now I own all the films and visit periodically.

When NBC announced it would do "Hannibal" the series I thought no way, they'll botch it. The material is too dark and esoteric for network television. I was wrong, they did a great job. Mads Mikelson as Hannibal and Hugh Dancy as Will Graham are perfectly cast and their chemistry is remarkable. With only 12 episodes per season, NBC chose the cable model for doing a series. Unfortunately the commitment their executives swore they had for the show went away. Season three, which is about to come to an end was delayed for broadcast and moved to the summer and buried on Saturday night, the modern killing field for unwanted series. It may find a new home on some other cable channel or even better there is a teasing possibility that it may go to the big screen and a new round of feature films. Mikelson and Dancy are both committed to doing more with the characters. Let us hope.