HANNIBAL

Ten years have passed, and Hannibal, after escaping FBI custody, is in Florence. Clarice Starling, the FBI agent who had previously tried to get Dr. Lecter to help capture a deranged killer, now handles other cases but has never forgotten her past encounters with the cannibal doctor at the maximum-security psychiatric hospital. At the insistence of Mason Verger, a powerful businessman victimized by the doctor and reduced by him to a human larva with a horribly disfigured face, she is tasked with discovering where Lecter is hiding. Meanwhile, Lecter, happily settled in Florence under the guise of a university professor, takes care of a precious library in the Palazzo Vecchio. Also on his trail is a Florence police commissioner, Rinaldo Pazzi, desperately in need of money and thus determined to arrest the mad cannibal alone so he can claim the bounty on his head. But cunning Hannibal is not so easy to catch... Upon its release in Italy, 'Hannibal' sparked a flurry of controversy: the Censorship Commission, in fact, did not deem it necessary to ban it (in America, however, the film was rated R for viewers under 17) with the reasoning that the film's violence scenes appear so paradoxical as to be ridiculous and implausible. From this, inevitably, a chorus of protests arose from the usual hypocritical associations for the protection of minors. It was the producer and distributor himself, Dino De Laurentiis, who calmed the waters by 'self-censoring' and inviting exhibitors to ban the film for viewers under 14. Indeed, three sequences in particular (the killing of Inspector Pazzi, the horrible fate of the billionaire Mason, and Hannibal's final dinner) can upset more sensitive minds, and it is surprising (but beware, in a positive sense) that the usually severe Italian censorship had imposed no ban, or worse, censorship on the film. But inevitably where the censor's blade does not reach, the scissors, just as formidable, of the various associations for the protection of minors or consumers appear, and the loser is always the viewer and cinema itself! Based on the eponymous novel by Thomas Harris (although the film has a somewhat different ending) and the follow-up to Demme's multi-award-winning 'The Silence of the Lambs,' the film is masterfully directed by the great Ridley Scott ('Alien,' 'Gladiator') and boasts a top-tier cast. Anthony Hopkins proves to be very comfortable in the role of Dr. Lecter, transitioning from a refined gourmet, impeccable aesthete, and erudite speaker to a sadistic surgeon and intriguing conversationalist. Julianne Moore is a bit too monochromatic but still manages the miracle of not making Jodie Foster too much missed, who had won an Oscar for her portrayal of this role. Excellent are the Italians: from Giancarlo Giannini, who impeccably plays the role of the cynical and disillusioned commissioner, to Ivano Marescotti, absolutely at ease in the role of a fierce Sardinian bandit. Special mention deserves a great Gary Oldman, absolutely convincing in the role of the disfigured billionaire Mason Verger (it's hard even to recognize his face, hidden as it is under eight layers of silicone mask). Excellent use of music and good photography by John Mathieson, who paints a dark and silent Florence, a silent witness to a tragedy that unfolds at a relentless pace. A film slightly inferior to its predecessor 'The Silence of the Lambs' but with the merit, not to be underestimated, of being enjoyable for both the most convinced cinephile and the casual viewer.