Hannibal Self Cannibalizes
As a film reviewer of some note (the best ones self-authored) it would be remiss of me to ignore the plot, story line and acting in a motion picture simply to focus on the glaring inconsistencies with the film characters it pre-dates. But, when it comes to Hannibal Rising, I’ll do just that anyway.  
     It’s always good to get out after Oscars week and see something that didn’t get nominated, just to see if the Academy gets it right. Hannibal could have been a raging Oscars success if only Al Gore had a walk on part perhaps to comment on the likely greenhouse effect of burning human flesh. But no Al, no Oscar and no wonder.
     Hannibal Rising is supposed to attempt to explain who is Hannibal Lecter; where did he come from; and how did he become such a monstrous killer? The answers are glaringly obvious — Anthony Hopkins, Wales and he’s a fine actor.
     What should thankfully be the final installment in the Lecter quartology, presents young Hannibal as the son of a Lithuanian aristocrat, hell bent on revenge against the partisans who ate his little sister in the dying days of World War II. And yes I am very serious. It’s in the script (more than once): “You ate my sister.”
     Within the context of the film — it was war, they were hungry and they were, after all, Lithuanians.
     Rising fails to explain a few things. Like how does a Lithuanian orphan sent to a Soviet orphanage where everybody presumably speaks Russian, escape to France and within six weeks develop a French accent. And how the hell does he get a scholarship to medical school in Paris based on a Soviet school education? Then again he ran away from the Soviets so this might have gained a pass in the requisite department of intellect.
     Come forward some years to Silence of the Lambs and Lecter is a board certified medical practitioner in the United States. I get that French universities recognize Soviet high schools but since when has America recognized French universities? More unbelievably his French accent has morphed into a heavy new accent — one part British and two part Teddy Kennedy thick Boston.
       Nowhere in the early Hannibal installments is his true origin disclosed; so Dino de Laurentis (who produced all the Silence follow ups) picks a country of origin which nicely blends in with the story line thus far. Then again he could have picked Eastern Europe because of its expanse of unused locations and ridiculously low film production costs.
      The film was partly shot in Lithuania, the Czech Republic and France. And, as Borat proved, you can shoot anywhere in Eastern Europe and claim it to be somewhere else in Eastern Europe and, unless you crack a decent box office, nobody will ever know.
      So Dino’s got a cheap, yet plausible, location, where else can we save money? What about casting? I know! Let's find a few credible actors, established in foreign cinema but desparate to break into Hollywood. So Gaspard Ulliel got the gig as Hannibal, and how does he master the French accent? Well he’s French, born at no less a place than: Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine . . . so un-British it's poetic.
      The Brits have simpleton place names, like Leeds and Hull, and ridiculously hyphenated personal names. The French prefer simple people names and pretentious landmark nomenclature. One's as bad as the other.
     Gaspard was adequate as Hannibal (and his English is much better than Gérard Depardieu’s). Along with just one other relative, an aunt who lives in France, Gaspard’s Hannibal is spared wartime death. A French aunt to a Lithuanian boy . . . please? No, she’s the Japanese, Lady Murasaki Shikubu. In other words a pre-war mail order bride.
     Li Gong is the inspired casting for this role. Inspired because she’s not Japanese she’s Chinese. Yes she played a Japanese hooker in Memoirs of a Geisha but can we please cast her in some more Chinese roles? I’m still getting over the fact that she played a Columbian drug lord in Miami Vice. I’m starting to warm to Li Gong, however, I’ll limit my negative comments to her casting not her aesthetics. 
     There is a great deal of sexual tension in this film and it’s all between Li Gong and her nephew Hannibal. Family sexual encounters are of course integral to explaining the development of serial killers. In this case, though, Li Gong (aka Lady Murasaki Shikubu) is an aunt by marriage. And let’s face it if my uncle married Li Gong I’d probably try to move in on the action too.
     The rest of the serial killer links are so tenuous to be completely lacking in credibility. Serial killers are not motivated by revenge, young Hannibal is. Oh yeah, to help my story, here's a crib outline of the film's plot — Nazis overrun Lithuania. Lecter family seeks refuge in cottage in the woods. Parents killed in German air strike. Hannibal and sister left alone. Lithuanian partisans break into cottage, run out of food and eat little sister (with some fava beans and a nice chianti . . . fff-fff-fff-fff-fff). Hannibal grows up. Finds partisans. Kills them.
     This of course does not explain why he becomes a serial killer but does explain his proclivity towards cannibalism . . . I had a sister once, lightly sautéed and pan-fried with field mushrooms. 
     With its tenuous links to the three other Lecter films, one wonders why they even bothered. The other three all had one important ingredient, Spanish virgin olive oil, oh and another one: Anthony Hopkins. George Lucas proved his genius by creating an iconic villain in Darth Vader — so ingenious that any no name kid could play the role (see you can't remember the kid's name either) without it losing credibility. But Hopkins is Lecter. And, without Sir Anthony, Hannibal’s hardly rising, it's falling.