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In Reply to: Hannibal: some thoughts posted by bill mcneal on February 13, 2001 at 21:23:47:
Although, I for one was very disappointed in the ending of the movie. Frankly, I just think the producers lacked the courage to presnet the true ending which I believe was the right and true one.
Was is it so difficult for certain people to believe a woman could fall in love with a man as powerful as Lecter, after all- didn't we all?
Follow Ups:
Lecter wants to bring his sister back from the grave. Probably not really since she died quite young, but he wants what he knows as her in his life.The stint with Starling in his care is a (IMO) brain-washing exercise, where he "builds" his sister from an empty husk.
In a way, he has "eaten" Starling as surely as if he has supped on her victuals. What's left is what he put there, and the complete subjugation of Starling is the part that Jodie Foster (and probably the public in general) doesn't get -- Starling doesn't do this willingly, it isn't her character per se that has changed; it is Lecter's last and most exotic victimization. In the end, Starling is gone.
Good analysis, Randy. I think you highlight the crucial point of the book.Hannibal Lecter is presented in the earlier books not as a character but as a depersonalised force, and being devoid of the normal attributes of human personality makes development of the character pretty difficult. Consequently the only way to achieve a "victory" for Lecter is along the path of his own brilliant but demented logic.
Starling becomes the ultimate victim and also his salvation as she is the first creature he has utterly destroyed, but also retained - in fact he has perfected his evil to the point where it has become an act of creation. This allows him to create the perfect partner - a woman in his own (and his sister's) image whom he no doubt wishes to one day take up his mantle.
Every teacher dreams of nurturing greatness and to be surpassed by your pupil is the greatest homage of all. It would be "bad taste" for Lecter to be captured or defeated by a lesser creature, but in Clarice he has moulded the perfect instrument for his own eventual destruction. One day, Clarice will consume Lector - that is why he praises her attack on him.
Cheers
TG
A good point Randy...I just might read the book again. However to do so just might verge upon the obsessive. A fan of SOTL approached Anthony Hopkins and said I loved the movie so much that I saw it nine times. Sir Anthony suggested he consult a psychiatrist.
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