Hannibal (film)

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Hannibal

Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis
Written by	Novel: Thomas Harris Screenplay: David Mamet Steven Zaillian
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Julianne Moore Gary Oldman Ray Liotta Giancarlo Giannini
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Editing by	Pietro Scalia
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Universal Studios
Release date(s)	February 9, 2001
Running time	131 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$87,000,000
Preceded by	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Followed by	Red Dragon (2002)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Hannibal is a 2001 film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. Set seven years after The Silence of the Lambs, the premise is that one of Hannibal Lecter's surviving victims, the extremely wealthy Mason Verger, is out to capture, torture, and kill him. The film's locations alternate between Italy and the United States. One of the final scenes shocked audiences and critics alike.

Following the release of The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, the character of Hannibal Lecter would become a "household name".^[1] The "bumpy" development of Hannibal drew a large amount of attention, with both Silence of the Lambs director, Jonathan Demme and actress Jodie Foster eventually declining involvement.^[2] Upon release, Hannibal broke box-office records in the United States and the UK in February 2001.^[3]

[edit] Cast

Anthony Hopkins: Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Julianne Moore: Clarice Starling
Gary Oldman: Mason Verger
Ray Liotta: Paul Krendler
Frankie Faison: Barney Matthews
Giancarlo Giannini: Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi
Francesca Neri: Allegra Pazzi (a film version of the literary Laura Pazzi)
Zeljko Ivanek: Dr. Cordell Doemling (a composite of the literary Cordell and Dr. Doemling)

[edit] Reaction and Box Office

Hannibal grossed $58,003,121 (USA) in its opening weekend (from 3,230 screens). At the time (February 2001) this was the third-biggest debut ever - only 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park and 1999's Star Wars: Episode One grossed more in an opening weekend. It was also the biggest opening box office for an R-rated movie ever. Final domestic box-office gross (USA) reached $165,091,464 with a worldwide gross of $349,200,000^[4] Hannibal was the tenth highest grossing movie of the year worldwide.^[5]

Time Magazine called it: "A banquet of creepy, gory or grotesque incidents is on display in Hannibal. But this superior sequel has romance in its dark heart." While less favourable, the UK's biggest selling film magazine Empire Magazine gave it two out of five stars, calling it "...laughable to just plain boring, Hannibal is toothless to the end."

Hannibal currently has an overall metacritic rating of 57 out of 100 from 36 reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes percentage rating of 37% with an average rating of five out of ten from 160 reviews.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film takes place ten years after the events depicted in The Silence of the Lambs. Dr. Hannibal Lecter has taken up residence in Florence, Italy under the pseudonym 'Dr. Fell'. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) is disgraced after a botched stakeout/drug raid that resulted in the death of five people including drug dealer Evelda Drumgo (Hazelle Goodman) who was shot by Starling while holding a baby

In the meantime Starling is sent to the mansion of billionaire Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), who was mutilated and paralyzed after an encounter with Lecter years earlier. Verger, who specifically asked for Starling, claims he has new information (which turns out to be an X-ray) which he is only willing to disclose to Starling. Upon her arrival Verger tells Starling about his history with Lecter. He first met Dr. Lecter because he was under a court order to have therapy after being convicted of child sex abuse charges. During a social call Lecter suggested that Verger hang himself (for erotic asphyxiation) and inhale poppers fumes (while hanging).Then he asked him to peel his own face off with a shard of a mirror. After peeling off his own face he screams "fight the power" which is a sadly objectable term.

Hannibal

In Florence, Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) is investigating the disappearance of a library curator and meets up with his replacement: Dr Fell. At the same time, Pazzi's department is contacted by Starling who, after having received a scented letter from Lecter, wants to have the surveillence videos of all perfume stores that sell the particular perfume; including one in Florence. After spotting Fell in the requested surveillence tape, Pazzi finds out Fell's true identity and, hoping to get the three million dollar reward, contacts Mason Verger. Pazzi decides to apprehend Lecter, with the help of Verger's men, ignoring Starling's urgent advice to be careful and leave Lecter alone. Lecter, however, has found out about Pazzi's intentions and kills him by disemboweling and hanging him from the Palazzo Vecchio, a fate that Pazzi's (real-life) ancestor, Francesco Pazzi, shared with him. Lecter then heads for the United States, to find Starling.

In order to exact his revenge on Lecter and draw him out of hiding, Verger, in the meantime, recruits corrupt Department of Justice employee Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta). Krendler, tempted by Verger's money, delivers falsified love letters from Lecter to the head of the FBI, claiming he found them in Starling's office. As a result, Starling is temporarily put on non-active. She is therefore unable to stop Verger's men from capturing Lecter and bringing him to Verger's estate to be eaten by a herd of specially trained giant forest hogs. Nonetheless, Starling heads to Verger's mansion where she manages to kill Verger's men and free Lecter just before the herd of hogs is unleashed. Lecter subsequently saves the wounded Starling from the animals and, while doing so, also convinces Verger's assistant Doemling (Zeljko Ivanek) to let Verger roll into the pit with the hogs, thereby killing him. He would therefore get the satisfaction of watching Lecter die.

In the climax of the film, Lecter takes Starling to Krendler's lake-front house and performs surgery on her to remove the bullet. After awakening she discovers her whereabouts and calls the police before heading downstairs where Lecter has performed a Craniotomy on Krendler. As Starling watches in horror, Lecter feeds the severely drugged Krendler a small part of his own brain after it has been sautéed in butter and herbs. After a failed attempt to apprehend Lecter by herself, the police finally arrive, but not before Lecter has escaped. In the final scene of the film, we see Lecter on an aeroplane where a small boy in the seat next to his, asks if he can have a taste of the meal Lecter brought along with him. This includes a pot which appears to contain Krendler's cooked brain. Impressed with the boy's refusal to eat airline food, Lecter happily obliges. He would later mock him.

[edit] Differences from the novel

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Due to the length of the novel, a significant portion was left out of the film: In the book, Verger runs an orphanage, from which he calls children to verbally abuse as a substitute for his no longer being able to abuse them sexually. He also has a sister, Margot, whom he raped when they were children and who happens to be a lesbian. When she disclosed her sexual orientation to her family, their father disowned her. As she herself is sterile due to steroid abuse, Verger exerts some control over her by promising her a semen sample with which to impregnate her lover, who could then inherit the Verger fortune. At the end of the book, Margot and Starling both help Lecter escape during a shootout between Starling and Verger's guards. Margot, at Lecter's advice, stimulates Mason to ejaculate with a cattle prod, and then kills him by ramming a Moray eel down his throat. Following up on the fate of Krendler in the book, the crooked FBI official experiences a grisly fate when Lecter shoots him with an arrow.

Hannibal (novel), published in 1999

The book's controversial ending has Lecter presenting Starling with the exhumed bones of her father, which he "brings to life" by hypnotising Starling, allowing her to say goodbye. This forges an odd alliance between Starling and Lecter, culminating in their becoming lovers and escaping to Argentina. At the end of the novel, Barney (the hospital orderly) sighted Clarice and Hannibal at the Opera house of Buenos Aires. A controversial reaction to the ending led the screenwriters to remove this ending from the film. Another reason was that Jodie Foster refused to appear in the film unless the ending was changed; by the time the re-write was done, she had moved on to another project. It was actually Thomas Harris himself who came up with the alternate ending for screenwriters David Mamet and Steven Zaillian to use. Thomas Harris actually wrote three possible endings for the film, but only two were filmed. In the one they use in the final cut, Lecter cuts off his hand to escape after Clarice cuffed him to herself. In the alternate ending that was filmed, Starling does not cuff Lecter, and he easily escapes re-capture.

Anthony Hopkins was asked in an interview on the subject of whether or not he 'bought' the idea of the two characters (Starling and Lecter) heading off in to the sunset as lovers. "Yes, I did. Other people found that preposterous. I suppose there's a moral issue there. I think it would have been a very interesting thing though. I think it would have been very interesting had she gone off, because I suspected that there was that romance, attachment there, that obsession with her. I guessed that a long time ago, at the last phone call to Clarice, at the end of SotL, she said, "Dr. Lecter, Dr. Lecter…"."^[6]

[edit] Development

[edit] Background

The Silence of the Lambs director, Jonathan Demme was asked in 1994 about a possible sequel in Rolling Stone magazine. Demme said that Thomas Harris, author of Silence of the Lambs (novel) had been working on the follow-up for "seven or eight years." Demme had an idea even at that time that it would not be a straight follow up. Harris told Demme: "I imagine Doctor Lecter going somewhere in Europe…strolling round the streets of Florence or Munich, gazing in the windows of watchmakers…"^[7] Demme would state his intention to be involved in the cinematic adaptation of Hannibal in 1998, less than a year before the novel was published.^[8]

Dino De Laurentiis produced the film Manhunter in 1986, featuring the first appearance of Hannibal Lecter, played by Brian Cox. The film was directed by Michael Mann. It was based on the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon (novel). De Laurentiis did not like Mann’s version of Manhunter: "Manhunter was no good…it was not Red Dragon" he said.^[9] De Laurentiis and his wife Martha (also his co-producer), would have no direct involvement in the film The Silence of the Lambs, a decision De Laurentiis has since thought a big mistake.^[9] They did, however, own the rights to the "Lecter character" and allowed Orion pictures, who produced Silence of the Lambs to use the character of Hannibal Lecter for free in that film, not wanting to be "greedy".^[9] When Silence of the Lambs became a commercial and critical success in 1991, winning five Academy Awards, both Dino and Martha De Laurentiis would find themselves sitting on a valuable asset and eager for a follow-up novel they could adapt.^[9] After a lengthy wait, De Laurentiis finally received a call from Thomas Harris telling him he had finished the follow up novel to Silence of the Lambs –De Laurentiis would purchase the rights for a record $10 million.^[9]

The Los Angeles Times reported in April 1999, that the budget for an adaptation of Hannibal could cost as much as $100 million. It speculated that both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins would receive $15 million each to reprise their roles and “$5 million to $19 million for director Jonathan Demme.” The newspaper further reported that although Silence of the Lambs cost only $22 million - this would not deter the studio from going ahead with Hannibal. Mort Janklow, Thomas Harris’s agent at the time, told the Los Angeles Times that Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Demme would soon receive manuscripts of the novel, claiming it would make an unbelievable movie.^[10]

The book sold out of its initial 1.6 million print run in the summer of 1999.^[11] Hannibal, would go on to sell millions of copies following its release in mid-1999.^[12]

Jonathan Demme would inform (via fax) the producers of Hannibal that he would pass on directing Hannibal.^[8] It has been claimed that Demme turned down the project as he found the material "lurid".^[13] Dino De Laurentiis said on Demme’s decision to decline: “When the pope-a-die, we create a new pope-a. Good luck to Jonathan Demme. Good-bye.”^[9] He has further added (on reasons why Demme declined) that Demme felt he could not make a movie as good as The Silence of the Lambs (film).^[14]

[edit] Ridley Scott

Gladiator and Hannibal came in the early 2000s, in what followed a struggling decade for the filmmaker.^[12] Ridley Scott saw success with Thelma and Louise in 1991 - he then made three straight bombs: 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), White Squall (1996) and G.I. Jane (1997).^[12] He is currently directing American Gangster due for release in late 2007.

Three time Academy Award nominee (best director) Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott who attended the Royal College of Art produced the storyboards for Hannibal himself, known in the industry as "Ridleygrams"

Producer Dino De Laurentiis visited Director Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator and suggested to Ridley he read the novel he had bought the rights to.^[14] Scott was in the third week before principal photography was due to finish on Gladiator.^[8] Gladiator would become a commercial and critical success - gaining 12 Academy Award nominations.^[12] De Laurentiis asked Scott if he would like to do the movie. Scott replied: "Basically Dino, I’m doing a Roman epic right now. I don’t wanna do elephants coming over the Alps next old boy."^[8] Scott would read the manuscript in four sittings within a week, believing it to be a "symphony" and expressed his desire to do it.^[8] Scott further explains how he got involved: “I was shooting Gladiator in Malta and one day, for the hell of it, I went for a walk for half a mile down the road to the Malta Film Studio to see my old buddy Dino. I had not seen him since I’d worked on a version of Dune – this was pre Blade Runner. Dino had pursued me to direct Dune and another film. He’s always enthusiastic and aggressive and came after me when I did both Blade Runner and Alien, but I couldn’t do the films. Anyway, we had an espresso together and a few days later, he called me to ask if he could visit the Gladiator set. He arrived with a manuscript of Hannibal, about a month before it was published in book form. He said: ‘Lets make this one.’ I haven’t read anything so fast since The Godfather. It was so rich in all kind of ways.”^[11]

Although Scott had accepted the job Jonathan Demme had rejected, he said: "My first question was: ‘What about Jonathan?’ and they said: ‘The original team said it’s too violent.’ I said, 'Okay. I’ll do it.'"^[11] Scott did, himself, have some uncertainty with the source material.^[11] He had difficulties with the ending of the novel in particular - "I couldn’t take that quantum leap emotionally on behalf of Starling. Certainly, on behalf of Hannibal – I’m sure that’s been in the back of his mind for a number of years. But for Starling, no. I think one of the attractions about Starling to Hannibal is what a straight arrow she is."^[11] He also, "didn’t buy the book from the opera scene onwards, which became like a vampire movie."^[11] He asked author Thomas Harris if he was "married to his ending". Harris said no, so he changed it.^[11]

“	"I always imagined Hannibal likes cannabis, marijuana, opium....to explore his mind palace....needles to say I don’t do either, they are too much for me. I'd rather just have a cigar."	”
—Ridley Scott on his thoughts of the character "Hannibal Lecter".^[15]

[edit] Script Development

Ted Tally the screenwriter for The Silence of the Lambs (film) was also a key member of the original Silence of the Lambs team to decline involvement in Hannibal (he won an Oscar for his Silence adaptation). Tally, like Demme, also had problems regarding the novels "excesses".^[13]

Steve Zaillian (writer of (Schindlers List) was first offered the chance to write the adaptation after Tally had passed - he too would also decline the offer. He explains why: “I was busy. And I wasn’t sure I was interested. You can almost never win when you do a sequel.”^[9] David Mamet would be the first screenwriter to produce a draft, which, according to Scott and the producers, needed major revisions.^[9] Stacey Snider, co-chairman of Universal Pictures (a co-production deal was struck between Universal and MGM) said on the rejection of Mamet’s screenplay: "There’s no way David was going to read 15 pages of our notes and then be available to work on the script day-to-day."^[10] Mamet was preparing to direct his own film.^[9] A script review at ScreenwritersUtopia.com describes the Mamet draft as "stunningly bad" but found Steven Zaillian's (who would rewrite) rewrite to be "gripping entertainment".^[16] Zaillian who had already passed at first would reconsider and become involved in the project once more, saying: "It’s hard to say no to Dino once and it’s almost impossible to say no to him twice."^[9]

This question (regarding the script development) was put to Ridley Scott by Total Film magazine: “There were lots of rewrites on Hannibal – what was the main problem with the original material?” Scott replied: “That’s inaccurate, because there were very few rewrites once I brought in Steve Zaillian. If you were to ask who were the best three screenwriters in the business, Steve Zaillian would be one of them. We discussed Hannibal endlessly.”^[11] Asked if he read David Mamet’s draft, he said: "Yes. He is very fast, very efficient, but he was off doing a film. Hannibal was green lit and his first draft only took about a month. But I was scared that he would not be able to give me enough attention, because that draft needed a lot of work. So I moved on basically.”^[11] Scott has said there were writing and "structural problems" as to what they would do with parts of the movie. ^[15] A key objective of Zaillian, an Academy Award winner, was to revise the script by David Mamet until it pleased all parties - meaning the "love" story would need to be done by suggestion instead of by "assault".^[17] Scott would work through the script with Zaillian for 28 days making Scott “sweat through it with him and discuss every inch of the way with him." After 25 days Scott suddenly realized that Zaillian was "exorcising the 600 pages of the book. He was distilling through discussion what he was gonna finally do...Frankly I could have just made it."^[8]

[edit] Casting

It was unclear if Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling) and Anthony Hopkins (Dr. Hannibal Lecter) would reprise their respective roles in which they also won Academy Awards for in The Silence of the Lambs (film) (best actress/actor)^[10] It would become apparent that the producers and studio could do without one of the original "stars" (and would go on to find a replacement). The withdrawal of both - Foster and Hopkins, could possibly have been terminal for the project, however. Producer De Laurentiis confirmed this after the films release: "First and foremost, I knew we had no movie without Anthony Hopkins."^[14]

[edit] Involvement of Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster confirmed to Larry King (on her potential involvement in Hannibal), in 1997, that she: “Would definitely be part of it”.^[11] Producer Dino De Laurentiis thought Foster would decline involvement when she read the book (Hannibal (novel)), believing she was not correct for the movie, and in his opinion - the final movie was better for it.^[8] Anthony Hopkins also had doubts if Foster would be involved – saying he had a "hunch" she would not be.^[8] Jodie Foster would turn down the chance to reprise the role of Clarice Starling, confirming this in late December, 1999.^[18] This would cause problems for the studio, Universal.^[9] “The studio is just back from the holiday and is regrouping based on the news, and has no cohesive game plan at the moment.” Said Kevin Misher, Universal’s president of production.^[9] Misher added that, “it was one of those moments when you sit down and think, ‘Can Clarice be looked upon as James Bond for instance? A character who is replaceable? Or was Jodie Foster Clarice Starling, and the audience will not accept anyone else?"^[9] Foster had said in December 1999 (on her reasons for declining to feature) that the part of Clarice Starling in Hannibal had "negative attributes" and "betrayed" the original character.^[18] Ultimately there is still uncertainty why Foster declined. Some say she had "sequelitis", others contended that she disliked the book or didn’t want to do it without Demme and/or was slated to direct another film.^[9] At the time of Foster passing on the project, her spokeswoman said the reason was because Claire Danes had become available in Foster's own project Flora Plum.^[19]Salary demands may also have played a part in Foster’s non-participation, as producer Dino De Laurentiis says: “I call the agent of Judy Foster. He say to me ‘I have instruction. She no want to read the script if you no give her an offer of $20m and 15% of the gross.’ And I say, ‘Give my love to Judy Foster, goodbye.’”^[9] (The article makes clear that “Dino comically mispronounces the actress’s name”)^[9] Jodie Foster talked about Hannibal in an interview with Total Film magazine in late 2005. She said: "The official reason I didn’t do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum. So I get to say, in a nice dignified way, that I wasn’t available when that movie was being shot." She added, "Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and I, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her."^[20]

“	"Give my love to Judy Foster, goodbye."	”
—Producer Dino De Laurentiss on the breakdown in relations with "Jodie Foster" ^[9]

[edit] Julianne Moore as "Clarice Starling"

Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling

When it became clear that Jodie Foster would not be involved in Hannibal, the production team would consider five or six different female actresses.^[8] These included: Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Hilary Swank, Ashley Judd and Julianne Moore.^[9] Anthony Hopkins asked his agent if he had any "power" over casting. He had informed De Laurentiis that he knew Julianne Moore – who he had worked with on "Picasso". Hopkins thought Moore a "terrific actress".^[8] Although Hopkins agent told him he had no power over casting, Ridley Scott thought it correct to discuss who would be Hopkins "leading lady".^[8] Scott said he was “really surprised to find that I had five of the top actresses in Hollywood wanting it.”^[11] Julianne Moore would eventually secure the sought after part of "Clarice Starling". Scott has said his decision was swayed in favour of Moore because: “She is a true chameleon. She can be a lunatic in Magnolia, a vamp in An Ideal Husband, a porn star in Boogie Nights and romantic in The End Of The Affair.”^[11] “Julianne Moore, once Jodie decided to pass was always top of my list.” said Scott on his female lead.^[15]

[edit] Anthony Hopkins as "Hannibal Lecter"

Anthony Hopkins reprised the role of Hannibal Lector

Anthony Hopkins, who played the role of Hannibal Lecter for the first time in The Silence of the Lambs (film), was widely expected he would reprise his Academy Award winning role. Hopkins had said in June 1999 that he would only be interested if the script was "really good".^[10] Hopkins says on the making of feature which accompanies the film on DVD that he couldn’t make up his mind to commit to Hannibal as Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal - "I was kind of surprised by this book, Hannibal. I thought it was really overreaching and so bizarre. So I couldn’t make up my mind about it all. Some of it I found intriguing, some I was a little doubtful about."^[8] The producers did confirm with Hopkins that they were going to make a movie of the novel. Hopkins told them "yes" to his interest, but added “…it needs condensing.”^[8] The Hollywood Reporter would confirm that Anthony Hopkins had agreed to reprise his role in late December 1999, saying he had approved the latest draft of the script by Steven Zaillian.^[21] Hopkins said that he had no problems moving back into "Lecter’s mind". "I just learned the lines and showed up and walked around as Hannibal Lecter. I thought do I repeat that same performance, or do I vary it. Ten years had passed so I changed a bit."^[9] In the book, Hannibal Lecter has had plastic surgery in an attempt to disguise himself. This was left out of the film because Scott and Hopkins agreed to leave the face alone.^[22] Hopkins explains why: "It's as if he's making a statement - catch me if you can." With his big hat, he's so obvious that nobody thinks he's Hannibal Lecter. I've always thought he's a very elegant man, a Renaissance Man."^[22]

[edit] Other Key Roles

Giancarlo Giannini as Detective Pazzi looks out onto the streets of Florence

Ray Liotta as corrupt Justice Official Paul Krendler with Clarice Starling

According to the films production notes the other ‘major’ stars subsequently cast included Ray Liotta as corrupt Justice Department official "Paul Krendler" and "Italian screen legend" Giancarlo Giannini- as the opportunistic Detective "Pazzi". International film star Francesca Neri won the role of Pazzi’s wife Allegra. And Frankie R. Faison signed on to reprise his role as former hospital orderly "Barney" (The actor has appeared in Manhunter - not as "Barney", Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon). Mason Verger - the only living victim of Hannibal Lecter is a heavily disfigured character. Gary Oldman would be cast in this part. Co-producer Martha De Laurentiis said they had a "funny situation" with Gary, confirming that Oldman wanted a prominent "credit".^[9] She said: "Now how can you have a prominent credit with Hannibal? The characters are Hannibal and Clarice Starling. So we really couldn’t work something out (at first)."^[9] Oldman was apparently "out" of the movie for while, but then came back in, asking to go "unbilled."^[9] Oldman would become heavily transformed and "unrecognizable as himself" to play the part of Mason Verger. He would have no lips, cheeks or eyelids for example. Make-up artist Greg Cannom said “Its really disgusting…I’ve been showing people pictures [of Oldman as Verger], and they all just say ‘Oh my God,’ and walk away, which makes me very happy.”^[9]

[edit] Key Production Crew

Scott recruited key production crew with whom he had worked with previously. Production designer Norris Spencer had worked on Thelma & Louise, Black Rain and 1492 Conquest of Paradise. Cinematographer John Mathieson, editor Pietro Scalia and composer Hans Zimmer had all worked on Scott’s previous film Gladiator.^[23]

[edit] Production and Post production

[edit] Background

Hannibal was filmed in 83 working days over 16 weeks.^[24] The film began production on May 8, 2000 in Florence.^[24] A press conference was also held before shooting began in Florence to promote the movie.^[8] The film visited key locations in Florence (Italy) and various locations around the US in Washington D.C., Richmond, Virginia and North Carolina.^[23] Martha De Lauretiis said the movie has almost a hundred locations and that is was a: “constant pain of moving and dressing sets. But the locations were beautiful. Who could complain about being allowed to shoot in Palazzo Veccio in Florence? Or President Jams Maison’s farm in Montpelier or the amazing Bilmore Esate in Asheville?”^[23]

[edit] Filming Locations

Florence The whole second act of Hannibal takes place in Florence. Ridley Scott had never filmed there before, but described it as “quite an experience…It was kind of organised chaos…We were there at the height of tourist season.”^[23] Within Florence the production would visit various locations such as the Palazzo Capponi (as Dr.Fell/Hannibal Lecter’s apartment), The Ponte Vecchio, The Palazzo Vecchio, The Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella and II Duomo.^[23]

Washington DC After leaving Florence and Italy on June 5 2000, the production moved to Washnigton, D.C. Filming took place over six days at Union Station for a scene which would appear later in the movie.^[23]The unusual sight of a carousel would appear in the transportation hub and shopping plaza at the request of director Ridley Scott.^[23]

Richmond, Virginia Filming would last for seven weeks in Richmond, Virginia.^[23] A key scene from the movie would be shot here: a "shootout" in a crowded fish market, which would feature early in the finished film. Julianne Moore underwent FBI training at the Bureau’s headquarters before filming.^[23] This was the first movie Moore was actually required to fire a gun.^[23]

Montpelier, Virginia The production visited a barn, which was situated on the estate of President James Madison. It was used to house 15 "performing hogs”. ^[23]The 15 hogs (Russian boars) used in the shoot, where from a selection of around 6,000 of which the animal wranglers looked at.^[23]

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville, in North Carolina is home to the biggest privately owned dwelling in the US, the Biltmore Estate.^[8] This location was chosen by Ridley Scott to signify the huge personal wealth of the character Mason Verger.^[8]

[edit] Special Make-Up Effects

Concept-sketch of Mason Verger who was played by Gary Oldman

Make-up artist Greg Cannom was pleased to be involved in Hannibal as it offered him the chance to produce "incredible and original make-ups".^[8] The make-up team would initially produce 20 different "heads" which looked like "zombies" and did not reflect the vision director Ridley Scott had of the character - Scott wanted Verger to look real with hideous scaring, and not something from the "House of Wax".^[8] Scott himself would actually call up the help of expert Doctors In an effort to get the look of the character as realistic as possible.^[8] Scott showed the make-up team pictures of "foetal things", of which he thought “touching” – he wanted to make Mason Verger more "touching" than "monstrous", as he thought the character of Verger as being "someone who hadn’t lost his sense of humour...almost sympathetic."^[8] Gary Oldman would spend six hours a day in make-up to prepare for the role.^[8] For one of the final, and infamous scenes of the movie an exact "duplicate" was created of the character Paul Krendler, played by Ray Liotta, a scene which blended make-up,puppet work and CGI in a way which director Ridley Scott called "seamless".^[8]

[edit] Title Sequence

The face of Hannibal, made from pigeons in the title sequence

The main titles were designed by Nick Livese a graduate of the Royal College of Art who worked for one of Scott’s production companies in London. The sequence, shot in Florence by Livesey himself was intended as the second promotional trailer for the film.^[8] The studio thought it not "quite right" however, but it remained on Scott’s mind and would eventually end up as the main title sequence.^[8] Livesey would gather footage of pigeons in an empty square in Florence early one morning which would eventually morph in the face of Hannibal Lecter.^[8] Scott believed it a good idea as it fundamentally asked the question: Where is Hannibal Lecter? Scott explains: “And of course this story tells it, with pigeons in the cobblestones of somewhere, where you wonder where that is/ And there he is his face appears.”^[8] The titles have said to have been influenced by the film Seven.^[25]

[edit] Music

Ridley Scott worked very closely with composer Hans Zimmer, during post-production on Hannibal.^[8] Scott believes the music to a film is as important as dialogue – “It is the final adjustment to the screenplay, being able to also adjust the performance of the actors in fact.”^[8] Zimmer and Scott sat in during the editing process with editor Pietro Scalia to discuss scenes in the film and "not music".^[8] Zimmer used a symphony orchestra for the opera sequence, but would mostly use what he described as a "very odd orchestra…only cellos and basses all playing at the extreme ends of their range.” This was done to emphasise the character of Hannibal Lecter. He explains: "Anthony’s character is for me is somebody at the extreme range of whatever is humanly imaginable somehow." Zimmer also did not want the score to sound like a "modern day orchestra".^[8] The character of Mason Verger, had his own "theme", which become more “perverted” as the movie progressed according to Zimmer.^[8] Tracksounds.com wrote positively of Zimmer's score. "Zimmer truly crafts a score worthy of most fans' full attention… the classical elements, and yes, even the monologue combine to make this an intense listening experience.”^[16] In a poll by Classic FM (UK) listeners to find the greatest movie soundtrack of all-time, Hannibal ranked at 59.^[26]

[edit] Themes

Themes in the film include romance, retribution, punishment and corruption.

Hannibal steals a kiss from Clarice

Romance Scott has said he believes the underlying emotion of the film Hannibal is "affection". "In some instances, you might even wonder or certainly from one direction – is it more than affection?" Said Scott.^[8] “It is dark, because the story is of course essentially dark, but it’s kind of romantic at the same time.” He added.^[8] Scott openly admits to a “romantic thematic” running though the film.^[8] He told CNN that: "Hannibal" was quite a different target, essentially a study between two individuals. Funny enough, it’s rather romantic and also quite humorous, but also there’s some quite bad behaviour as well."^[12] During the opera scene in Florence, the wife of “Pazzi” asks Hannibal (upon Hannibal giving her “Dante’s first sonnet”): "Do you believe a man could become so obsessed by a woman after a single encounter…" Hannibal replies: “Yes I believe they could…" This scene, in the movie, is one which Scott claims most people "missed” the meaning of. It was in reference to “Clarice” - to their encounter in The Silence of the Lambs (film)^[15] The New York Times in its review of the film, said Hannibal, "toys" with the idea of: "love that dare not speak Its name"^[25] Composer, Hans Zimmer believes there to be "many" messages and subtext in each scene of the film.^[8] He says "I can score this movie truly as a Freudian archetypal beauty and the beast fairytale, as a horror movie, as the most elegant piece, on corruption in the American police force, as the loneliest woman on earth, the beauty in renaissance..."^[8] Zimmer ultimately believes it to be a dark love story, centering on two people who should never be together – a modern day "Romeo and Juliet".^[8] During post-production of the film, Scott, Zimmer and the editor passionately argued about what a single shot meant, where a tear slides down the cheek of Clarice during a confrontation with Lecter. They could not agree if it was a tear of "anguish", "loneliness" or "disgust".^[8] Scott told the New York Post that, the affair of the heart between Hannibal and Clarice is "metaphorical".^[27] Rolling Stone even said in their review: "Scott offers a sly parody of relationships - think "When Hannibal met Sally."^[17]

"Pazzi" washes the blood from his hands following his decent into corruption

Retribution and Punishment Ridley Scott believes the character of Hannibal Lecter, in his own way to be "pure" - one of the key motivating factors for this character is the search for "retribution and punishment".^[15] "There is something very moral about Lecter in this film." Said Scott in his audio commentary…The behaviour of Hannibal is never insane – didn’t want to use that excuse. Is he insane? No, I think he’s as sane as you or I. He just likes it."^[15] Scott did say however, "In our normal terms, he’s truly evil."^[15] Scott also brings up the notion of absolution in reference to the Lecter character towards the end of the film.^[15] The key antagonist character of Mason Verger has one overriding objective in life: to capture and subject Hannibal Lecter to a slow tortuous death in an attempt to obtain revenge and punish Lecter.^[28]

Corruption Part of the story, which involves the character Rinaldo Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) a Florentine policeman, who becomes corrupted by the prospect of financial gain when he learns the true identity of "Dr. Fell" and the huge reward on his head.^[15] There is a moment in the film when, for Pazzi – he becomes "corrupted", despite being what Scott describes as "very thoughtful…loves his wife."^[15]

[edit] Promotion

The character of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter would be chosen as the unique ‘selling feature’ of Hannibal, a choice made by the Marketing Department of the studio as being “extremely exploitable” and a “no-brainer.”^[24] The character of Hannibal Lecter was the key pulling factor to make people pay to see the movie.^[24] There would be no risk in taking this key marketing decision: he had been seen before, millions of copies of a book with his name for a title has been bought and the actor portraying the character on-screen had won an Academy Award for his first time in the role.^[24] Mr. Hopkins is the draw here, said The New York Times.^[25] “Hannibal” was a household name^[1] and a “brand”.^[3]

"Banned" Hannibal poster

The first teaser trailer was released in cinemas and made available via the official website in early May 2000.^[29] As the first teaser trailer was released over nine months before the film was released, and the film had only just begun production, footage was used from The Silence of the Lambs. It used the tagline line “Never forget who he is”. The first official art-work was also released at the same time as a "teaser one-sheet".^[29] It featured the tagline "Break the silence", a direct reference to The Silence of the Lambs, and would only feature the character of Hannibal Lecter.^[29]A further trailer, which featured footage from the new movie, was released in late November 2000.^[29] A poster released in the UK to promote Hannibal featured Hannibal Lecter with a "skin mask" covering the right side of his face – a reference to the escape scene in The Silence of the Lambs (film). The poster was quickly removed from circulation as it was deemed “too shocking and disturbing for the public."^[10] While the film was on location in Washington DC, Anthony Hopkins visited the then President Bill Clinton for dinner at the White House.^[10] The film was released, by no coincidence, on the 10th anniversary of the release of The Silence of the Lambs^[25] It was released in February 2001 in the US, UK and Australia.^[29]