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Review

Imposing and impressive Lecter Castle is nestled in the lush Lithuanian countryside near a gently rolling river. Young Hannibal and his beloved sister Mischa bask in the pampering indulgence of their doting parents. But it's 1944, and they're caught between Nazi invaders and advancing Russian troops. When the armies move on, leaving behind death and destruction, scavengers both animal and human move in. Orphaned Hannibal and Mischa find themselves at the dubious mercy of a band of marauding miscreants, their own countrymen who lent themselves out to the Germans, and will just as easily attach themselves to the upcoming Communist regime. But right now, they're trapped with the children in a small country villa. It's the dead of winter, there is no food, they're pinned down... and they’re hungry.

Hannibal Rising tracks the events that created the monster: his sister is taken from him in a most atrocious act; he is forced to live in his former castle home, now an orphanage replete with images of Stalin and the requisite bullies. After eight years of silent acquiescence, he leaves to search for his uncle in France; he finds his uncle’s widow and the discipline of Asian martial arts. His entry into medical school provides the final element of his new persona, an identity forged through loss and pain and unimaginable cruelty.

This looked like it might be a credible exploration of Hannibal Lecter’s character formation. The script was the first one in the film series to be written by Thomas Harris, Hannibal's creator. The story provided the raw material for either a serious exploration of evil, or a terrific exploitation of horror. The locations are arresting and evocative, the performances are credible and competent (Dominic West and, of course, Gong Li stand out), the production values outstanding. It starts out with promise and then fizzles, going all De Laurentiis on itself ("Everbody cry when Mischa die," maybe?). For all its orchestrated gore, for all its myth-making intent, the film is curiously flat and remarkably empty; not quite campy enough, not quite scary enough, not quite incisive enough. Director Webber showed his facility for impressive presentation in Girl with a Pearl Earring. It seems he needs to allow his big screen craft to maturate, and to allow the protagonists to propel the story.

 -- Ann Yarabinee