THURSDAY,OCTOBER3,2002
FILM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7
'Red Dragon'eerie addition to Hannibal trilogy
The name Hannibal Lecter evokes a
FILM REVIEW
The name Hannibal Lecter evokes a kind of guilty sentimentality. The not-so-good doctor, with his soft spot for "nice Chianti," may be a scoundrel, a cheat, even a cannibal, but he's so intensely brilliant and charming about it, we smile and forgive him for his sins.
Stephen Shupe
sshupe@kansan.com
Ex-FBI agent Will Graham, played by Edward Norton, turns to his nemesis, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, for help in tracking a serial killer in Red Dragon.
Contributed photo
Stephen King once commented on public fascination with the dark side. King spoke of fear as second nature, as the invisible hand that turned our heads toward a fatal car accident. By experiencing fear and understanding it, we come closer to understanding death.
To fill that bill, director Brett Ratner brings us Red Dragon, a tense thriller that completes a particular cinematic circle. It features the third performance by Anthony Hopkins as Lecter. Ratner's film develops only a shadow of the depth of Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs and lacks the grotesque images of Ridley Scott's Hannibal, but it glides on plenty of power and a keen ability to disturb.
The film opens a decade before Clarice Starling met Lester, when the madman still gave on-the-couch mental treatment to his patients. In a disorienting scene that seems to start in the middle of the movie, we witness Lecter's violent capture by FBI's top tracker, Will Graham, played by Edward Norton.
A jump forward in time finds Leeter behind his familiar sheet of glass and a new killer disposing of families in a uniquely shocking way. He stabs them to death with pieces of glass, removes their eyeballs and
inserts glass ones instead. Graham, now retired and still recovering from the spiritual and physical wounds Lecter left him, is called in to find the psychopath, who names himself "The Red Dragon."
Graham visits Lecter in prison for advice on "The Red Dragon" profile. The dialogue and wit in these scenes often reach the same pitch as The Silence of the Lambs, but Norton and Hopkins have little tension to play off of. When Jodie Foster stood in front of Hopkins, both the vulnerabilities of her character and Lecter's isolation left a thick cloud of psychological and sexual anticipation in the air. Graham is less developed, and the highlights in Norton's hair only accentuate that he's too young for the part.
In contrast, Hopkins looks too old to be playing a Lecter younger than we've seen him before. Still, little of this matters when that mouth and those eyes of his turn animalistic; he's still able to jolt the audience with his acting. Lecter's macabre sense of humor still amuses. But, he's become a little predictable, and the film actually benefits from his relatively minor role.
The film really belongs to Ralph Fiennes' character, Francis Dollarhyde, the man who's killing families and writing fan letters to Lector. Dollarhyde represents the first truly demented character of the Hopkins-as-Lecter trilogy. Whether sporting his snaking, body-length tattoos or cursing his mother, this frightening individual shows mental illness at its leastrefined, least Lecter-like stage.
With strong supporting performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Emily Watson, everybody's favorite doctor is definately back. Hoffman's final scene is so unnerving that the audience may not know whether to laugh or scream.
'RED DRAGON'
★★★ (out of four)
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes
Rated R for violence, grisly images,
language, some nudity and sexuality
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Love made dangerous, treacherous in 'Sex and Lucia'
FILM SNOB
Sex and Lucia, the new Spanish import, is a prime example of the European style of filmmaking that doesn't have to pull punches when it comes to the intimacy of its situations.
A fantastically sexy cast and a solid story, told by filmmaker Julio Medam who directed another equally interesting film, Lovers of the Arctic Circle, puts a captivating spell on the audience.
James Owen
jowen@kansan.com
Lucia (Paz Vega) enters the film without much background but a face that says it all. She's a waitress at a restaurant who is stalking the famous author, Lorenzo (Tristan Ulloa).
Lorenzo meets a woman on an island off
They pursue a whirlwind sexual experience which ends in Lorenzo disappearing in a quicker fashion than he entered. The audience may not be sure whether to trust his actions as fact or fiction.
the coast of Spain and engages in a torrid affair. The woman, who we later learn is Elena (Najwa Nimri), becomes pregnant from the experience and gives birth to a child she names Luna, or "moon" in Spanish. The child's name becomes symbolic as strange things begin to happen when Luna and a full moon appear in the same frame.
Elena raises Luna in Madrid where Lorenzo finds out about her and decides to try to enter her life. While this begins as innocent, it becomes far more complicated as he becomes intertwined with their family. This is another instance when it's difficult to distinguish whether the story is fiction or fact.
'SEX&LUCIA'
Starring Paz Vega, Tristan Ulloa Not rated Playing at Tivoli Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, Mo.
The island that Lorenzo calls a sanctuary, and which acts as the pivotal point for every relationship in the film, is a dangerous and treacherous place. It is as fragile and volatile as any relationship in the entire film. The purpose of this film is to show how love feels.
In the various story lines, Sex and Lucia shows the joy and the passion of love. Indeed, the sex scenes in the film may be
some of the most playful in the past ten years. But, in following scenes, the pain is just as easily conveyed, like childbirth, the death of a family member and remembering a former flame. These scenes are intertwined to give those watching it the full effect of the experiences of the characters. These themes, as well as the symbolism, are consistent throughout.
Medam does well to remember that the film's story is tricky and hard to follow, but is able to combine the imagery of the island, of the houses, and of the relationships without confusing the audience.
And if sex is your thing, this film will work as well. At worst, the scenes are so explicit that they take away from the emotional impact. But, a little too much skin is not enough to dock Sex and Lucia for what it really is: one of the first romantic thrill rides of the decade.