New story of Hannibal Lecter comes to big screen · 2007-02-11 12:51
Hannibal Lecter, one of the most intriguing and chilling characters from modern popular literature, gets his "back story' in a dark thriller from the director of the art house hit Girl With A Pearl Earring.
How does a man become a monster? Readers first encountered the physician-turned-murderer who dines on the flesh of his victims in the novels of Thomas Harris. Hannibal Rising goes back to the character's origins: a young boy growing up in World War II Germany, his parents are tortured and killed leaving only him to protect his little sister. When the Nazis are defeated, the young Lecter children fall into the hands of ruthless Soviet renegades. The Hannibal who finally escapes is scarred for life, Voice of America has a look at the story.
French actor Gaspard Ulliel stars as Hannibal in his late teens and early 20's: a medical student who is fascinated by cadavers and anatomy, but whose unimaginably harsh experiences prevent him from forming relationships with the living. "He has this kind of protection that he builds, so you can barely see any emotions in his eyes sometimes; but he can still feel them, I think, deep inside him," he says.
That ability to suppress emotion becomes apparent when a lout of a butcher is murdered in the French town where Hannibal lives. The police inspector suspects the young medical student, who turns the interrogation back on the interrogator.
The “Hannibal Rising” story also includes Lecter’s aunt by marriage, the Japanese-born Lady Murasaki, played by Gong Li.
The Chinese screen star says her character realizes right from the beginning that there is something wrong with her nephew. She tries to help by teaching him the Japanese warrior's spirit of "Bushido'; but, as Gong Li puts it, his "thirst for revenge' for what happened to his family drives him beyond anything Lady Murasaki can do to stop his terrible rampage. Director Peter Webber believes that theme makes Hannibal’s path particularly relevant in today's world.
The cast of Hannibal Rising also features Rhys Ifans as the brutal ringleader of young Lecter’s captors; and Dominic West plays the French police inspector who comes close to capturing the budding young mass murderer. An international production by Italian filmmaker Dino DeLaurentiis, "Hannibal Rising' was shot on location in Lithuania, France and the Czech Republic.
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