[quote:f1edbd872a="QuothTheRaven"]I just finnished watching the DVD of [i:f1edbd872a]Hanibal[/i:f1edbd872a]. It was okay, but I think it was largely an attempt to capitallize on the previous movies in The series (which includes [i:f1edbd872a]The Silence of the Lambs[/i:f1edbd872a] which is one of my all-time favorite movies).[/quote:f1edbd872a]

We just discussed that film a few nights ago. (over several bottles of wine, mind you.) We pretty much agreed that
a)Lecter is one of those sinister figures that should never have been put in the [i:f1edbd872a]center [/i:f1edbd872a]of the film - the overuse somehow damaged the figure.
b)The Florence setting is beutiful, but not as mysterious as it was seemingly thought to be. We knew it as a center of European culture and history, and one of the most beutiful cities I've ever seen, but also as a tourist paradise, and a place to drink and eat more than usual, and so on. It's certainly not a "dark" setting, no more at least than any other city.
c) While Hopkins [i:f1edbd872a]invented [/i:f1edbd872a]the figure in [i:f1edbd872a]Silence of the Lambs[/i:f1edbd872a], and it was really creepy and alive, in Hannibal he seemd to... I don't know... copy his own performance, you know?
d) The cultivated-and-intelligent thing was a little overdon. History of Arts... okay. Having been hired in such a high position out of nowhere - hm. No. Not even with false referencies and papers. Not even when he's brilliant. Because the first thing any European university guy would do before voting for you to get a well payd job is talking to the people who have worked with you, check what you've published, and if he doesn't know any of your old mentors, your chances are slim. A private teacher, maybe.
Then, the piano, the wine got more and more expensive from scene to scene, only hand-made paper, and so on... It was overdone. A guy like that in real life wouldn't impress, but get on your nerve.