Watched Hannibal Rising finally... I was a huge fan of the Thomas Harris books (Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs), and loved the films Manhunter and Silence.
So, what was in store here? I didn't read Hannibal rising, because Hannibal was poorly written, and not interesting - Thomas Harris has only written five books in thirty years (roughly), and the two best (RD and SOTL) are pretty much identical, but both took him many years to actually write. Hannibal he wrote pretty much on order of the film studios - I suspect Hannibal Rising was the same.
Anyway, the film.
Erm, if we take it out of 'context' and look at it as any other film, not one about the Lecter we know and love - it's an alright film I suppose. It's quite well directed, if a little perfunctory, and the acting is generally all okay. It's a slow film though, and the story doesn't seem to really have any 'teeth'. It wanders and doesn't seem to settle really. Watching it as a film on it's own (if you knew nothing of the later stuff), it seems a bit disjointed and dull.
However, put into context, the disjointedness makes sense - it's trying to fill in the gaps and give reasons why Lecter is like he is. However, it doesn't work. It's giving pretty poor excuses as to why Lecter is how he is, and it just tries to shoe-horn a back story in - at the expense of an actual story. It's not a story in it's own right, but it's also got too much of a poor story trying to fit in around Lecter's back story that it ruins it.
Essentially, the point is, Lecter is best not being given a background. He is a monster, but so educated and refined. Part of what makes the character so hideously appealing is that he's unknowable, he's unpredictable, and actually chooses to be the way he is - despite his learning.
By giving him excuses, it all falls apart - you're meant to feel sympathy for the character - which in Lecter's case, makes him pathetic, rather than strong. Which just doesn't fit - throughout the other three stroies you feel that Lecter does things just to sate his own pleasure - like listening to good music, or enjoying good prose - violence and cannibalism is just another form of physical pleasure for him, which he is happy with. No excuses, just using his intelligence to allow his urges free reign.
So, score then - well, it's actually okay as a film goes - it ticks most of the right buttons in terms of film making, it's just let down by poor scripting (again, Harris forced to write, rather than getting on with it in his own time) so 3/5
