Hannibal 2013-14 (series)

[Halie Satanus]

There was a kind of thread for this way back but it's.... Meh...



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2243973/

Just watched the first episode (pilot).. Hard to be to glowing or cynical on the basis of one episode but I did enjoy it (with a nice chianti).

The cast is the right side of quality with Mads Mikkelsen in the role of Dr Lecter and Hugh Dancy as FBI profiler Will Graham with Larry Fishbourne heading up the supporting cast. I was hoping there would be plenty of intelligent mind games and it's clear from the pilot that's where the producers are taking it. Hoping it doesn't slip into crime drama mode, it has the potential to be a lot better than that genre..

[TheDarkKnight]

Oh crap that already aired? I meant to watch it.

[Halie Satanus]

Thursdays....

[Lord Thesaurian]

My god. They just couldn't leave it alone, could they? Anthony Hopkins' masterful performances in the movie series cemented Hannibal Lecter in the pantheon of the thriller genre. Why would any self-respecting producer ****** all over that with this shameless response to try and copy Fox's "The Following?" That wasn't even a good show. Guess that doesn't stop the networks from copying each other tit for tat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter

You want to watch the real Hannibal Lecter, watch those, or better yet, read the books.

[RubiconDecision]

A lot of times you can watch these programs on hulu later. Cool. Mads is a good actor. Vahalla Rising, Flame and Citron, My Name is Dina, etc.

EDIT: Yes, in the USA and Canada, you can watch it online on hulu.

[Halie Satanus]

My god. They just couldn't leave it alone, could they? Anthony Hopkins' masterful performances in the movie series cemented Hannibal Lecter in the pantheon of the thriller genre. Why would any self-respecting producer ****** all over that with this shameless response to try and copy Fox's "The Following?" That wasn't even a good show. Guess that doesn't stop the networks from copying each other tit for tat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter

You want to watch the real Hannibal Lecter, watch those, or better yet, read the books.

Did you watch it?

[Lord Thesaurian]

Did you watch it?

Yes. If I didn't have the movies to compare it to, I would have been impressed. Usual thriller protagonist; good guy with a dark side, addicted to pain-killers, night sweats, hallucinations, getting "too close" to his work after one case. Eerie supporting character/co-star, psychologist, helps to cast light on the "mysterious" main character. It's all very quaint.

Thing is, those who've read the books know "Hannibal" in that way; those who've seen the movies know Anthony Hopkins' character. Its an excellent franchise that will be greatly damaged if not destroyed by this TV series because of what a TV series requires: constant character evolution, plot developments, short stories within a grand, "main story," etc. If the series doesn't manage to ruin Hannibal's character altogether, it will have to humanize him to some extent to maintain character development - which is, in my opinion, just as bad. I don't wish to thumb my nose at the series before it has a chance to play out, but Hannibal is not, in my opinion, a TV concept. The fact that the franchise already milked 4 movies out of it was a miracle in my estimation; achieved only by the brilliance of Anthony Hopkins. A TV series, even a good one, will necessarily have to either make Hannibal an unapproachable monster or a somewhat human character with a back-story and a fallible personality. By my judgement of the movies, he is neither of those things. He is not human, because of his superhuman genius, and not monster, because for all his psychopathy, he loves, in his own special way. I honestly don't see how a TV series can leave that intact.

[Halie Satanus]

Yes. If I didn't have the movies to compare it to, I would have been impressed. Usual thriller protagonist; good guy with a dark side, addicted to pain-killers, night sweats, hallucinations, getting "too close" to his work after one case. Eerie supporting character/co-star, psychologist, helps to cast light on the "mysterious" main character. It's all very quaint.

You realise that's an outline of the movies as much as the series. And you could have read that off IMDB. Should I ask you something specific? such as which movie is used by Graham as an analogy and referenced several times throughout the episode?..

I don't wish to thumb my nose at the series before it has a chance to play out, but Hannibal is not, in my opinion, a TV concept.

Ach; people 'thumb their noses' at some pre-conceived notion that something that went before is sacrosanct and then base their opinions on little or no information, such as what they've read on the net or one episode of a series. It may well be the case, and every review I've read supports the idea, that this series will in fact rise to the levels of SOTL and RD surpassing the more mediocre entries of the movie franchise (Hannibal/Hannibal Rising)...

Remains to be seen how this pans out...

A TV series, even a good one, will necessarily have to either make Hannibal an unapproachable monster or a somewhat human character with a back-story and a fallible personality. By my judgement of the movies, he is neither of those things. He is not human, because of his superhuman genius, and not monster, because for all his psychopathy, he loves, in his own special way. I honestly don't see how a TV series can leave that intact.

I don't see it that way. Already we see Lecter being humanized with the same manner he appears in the movie 'Hannibal' (when he's living in Italy), yet we the audience know what this man is capable of, he doesn't change because he has to be nice to people, he's always been amicable. Conversely, the series portrays Graham as the anti social misfit. Lecter doesn't have to be a simpleton or fallible to counter act Graham's character. In fact I imagine we will see Lecter's humour play out as he toys with Graham, as in the breakfast scene..

Interview with Mikkleson.

We already know a bit about Lecter from the books and films – or at least we think we do. Did you go back and start there for your character, or did you throw that all away?
It was a combination. The basis of what we were doing was the script. We’re dealing with him in a different situation; he’s not captured, he’s out there in real life with real people, meaning that he has to behave like a person. We have to humanize him. Will and Jack haven’t seen the films. So for them, I’m just an interesting character who apparently knows a lot about psychiatry. But once we began, I started reading the books as well, just for fun and to see if there was any inspiration we could add. I didn’t find something specific, but it was nice to see what it was.

Did you have any reservations about playing a character so iconic, especially because of Hopkins’ version?
Lot of reservations. I read the script and I liked it, but I really had to hear the pitch, which took Bryan [Fuller] a couple of hours — he was pitching through season 28 or something! Bryan is a fantastic, energetic man, and brilliant brilliant brain, and I realized, “Yeah, we might be able to do something different because Hannibal can’t play all his cards as he can in the prison.” He can do whatever he wants [there] because they know who he is. But that’s not the case here. This is a man who has to make friends. He has to make people feel comfortable around him, and so that was a different angle to attack the character. So my reluctance kind of slowly went away, and I said to myself, “Hey, Hamlet has been played so many times — to perfection — but that shouldn’t stop anyone else from doing something else with Hamlet.”

Did you incorporate traces of Hopkins’ Lecter or did you intentionally stay away?
I would say neither. We cannot do what Hopkins was doing. I can’t stand and do the tongue thing. I can’t do that. I have to be as honest as possible when I’m with Jack and with Will. In the private moments, on the other hand, that’s a different thing. Then I can be who I am. And we will see that… but there will be no winking at the audience. They know who I am, but the other characters don’t.

[Lord Thesaurian]

I would guess the show is loosely following Manhunter so far, perhaps in combination with elements of Silence of the Lambs and the books (which I haven't read). Anyway, I wish the show the best of luck. I do not, however, have high hopes.


Edit: Ooooh you mean when Graham talks about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Yes, I already said I've seen the episode

[Halie Satanus]

I would guess the show is loosely following Manhunter so far, perhaps in combination with elements of Silence of the Lambs and the books (which I haven't read). Anyway, I wish the show the best of luck. I do not, however, have high hopes.


Edit: Ooooh you mean when Graham talks about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Yes, I already said I've seen the episode

Manhunter/Red Dragon are pretty much the same story (both based on Red Dragon the book). This is set prior to that.

Yes, had to be sure..

[RubiconDecision]

The pilot wasn't terrible. The person who is playing Graham was interesting. So was Mads as he always is. Maybe they won't butcher it (sorry bad bad joke). Now I want to read the books. Is the way the story in unfolding similar in the book? In particular the treatment of Graham's character? That is quite at odds with Manhunter. It was a little quiet film, nothing like Hannibal, but the Dragon was quite horrifying in how he killed. It's worth watching it, but is tame compared to Red Dragon. Now I must head to the library to check out the original books.

[Halie Satanus]

There were three books. Red Dragon (Both Manhunter/Red Dragon movies were based on this book) Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. The series is set before the events of Red Dragon. I think the inference is that Graham was a psychological wreck before he met Lecter, perhaps even that their relationship proved cathartic for Graham. It's almost certainly true that Graham only captured Lecter because of their relationship. Lecter's capture was never recorded in the books, iirc. He's already in prison when we first meet him, I imagine somewhere down the line the series will pit Graham against Lecter, though that may be a long way off.

[Ciciro]

I thought this was Hannibal, not Hannibal the cannibal...

[Lord Thesaurian]

I thought this was Hannibal, not Hannibal the cannibal...

I thought that for a brief moment too at first. No such luck. I honestly think BBC could pull off something like that, or maybe HBO/Starz if the concept went the historical fiction route. The real story of Hannibal Barca is epic enough, though. No sense in wishing the TV networks a chance to ruin it.

BTW, how does one spell the British abbreviation for "television?" Telly, tellie, or tele?

[AngryTitusPullo]

Damn.. Not Hannibal Barca story. For the first time I hope that movie planned by Vin Diesal is released. As for this series I don't think I can ever watch it. Hannibal Lecter for me is always Anthony Hopkins. Can't imagine anyone else playing that. Blame the movies.

[RubiconDecision]

Yeah, I've seen all four films. (Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Hannibal Rising) Weird that they reused the music from Gladiator in Hannibal (the film). Wow the ending of Hannibal the book is way out there. That would have been a totally different film, and probably over the top and impossible to film in 2 hours.

It makes sense to do the tv series prequel to the Manhunter film. While Red Dragon had more of a budget, I didn't think it superior to Manhunter. Grahman talking to himself in Manhunter is much like the present TV Series Graham profiling the case. A tv series can give the actors a long time for character development. They might bugger it up. It's a story that's practically part of our postmoden mythos, so sacrosanct and liable to honk off some hardcore fans.

[Halie Satanus]

5 films, you missed 'Hannibal..

I loved Red Dragon, Ralph Fiennes was brilliant. But yeh Manhunter is a superb film and equal in every sense. The Graham character, though not as dark as Norton's version, had more depth for me. I mentioned before that Hannibal is already captured when we first encounter him, in the movies, and as Graham's part in his capture is mentioned so often, always wanted to hear that story, the series is going a lot further back and should make for interesting TV.

[RubiconDecision]

5 films, you missed 'Hannibal..

I loved Red Dragon, Ralph Fiennes was brilliant. But yeh Manhunter is a superb film and equal in every sense. The Graham character, though not as dark as Norton's version, had more depth for me. I mentioned before that Hannibal is already captured when we first encounter him, in the movies, and as Graham's part in his capture is mentioned so often, always wanted to hear that story, the series is going a lot further back and should make for interesting TV.

Did you like the second episode? I'm watching on delay since I'm watching them online from the Hannibal website. I liked the second episode even better than the pilot. Fishburne's portrayal is a bit forced. Looking forward to episode three being released soon.

Don't you cringe when Hannibal offers them a meal? It reminds me of the boy eating some of Hannibal's meal on the air plane. Graham, " hmm the sausage is good". Okay then....

[Gaidin]

And with that one sentence Mikkleson made everyone who thinks Hannibal is sacrosanct Hopkins territory look like a paranoid fool: “Hey, Hamlet has been played so many times — to perfection — but that shouldn’t stop anyone else from doing something else with Hamlet.”

[Halie Satanus]

Did you like the second episode? I'm watching on delay since I'm watching them online from the Hannibal website. I liked the second episode even better than the pilot. Fishburne's portrayal is a bit forced. Looking forward to episode three being released soon.

Don't you cringe when Hannibal offers them a meal? It reminds me of the boy eating some of Hannibal's meal on the air plane. Graham, " hmm the sausage is good". Okay then....

Yep; didn't like the mushroom killer so much, seemed a bit over complex methodology to me. But the interplay between Lecter and Graham was really good, Lecter and Crawford too, he almost always looks like he's about to say 'you know I'm just messing with you right?'

And with that one sentence Mikkleson made everyone who thinks Hannibal is sacrosanct Hopkins territory look like a paranoid fool: “Hey, Hamlet has been played so many times — to perfection — but that shouldn’t stop anyone else from doing something else with Hamlet.”

Very clever. He's playing a blinder, imo. Capturing the essence of Lecter without parody of Hopkins.

There's so much potential in this show..