![]() ![]() We ask ourselves, “What would cause him to break?” “Would we see it coming?” “Why?” Hopkins exceled at the sinister, Mads Mikkelson with the cool and collect, but Cox was a different kind of monster all together: normal. The fact that there is no real moment of terror from this Hannibal throughout Manhunter makes him that much more of a puzzling character. He’s so unassuming you’d never see him coming. This is a Hannibal from the local pub, the kind of guy you can imagine kicking back in the corner and enjoying a pint just before dusk. ![]() We only see him in short stretches, either conversing with Will Graham (William Petersen, still the best in the role) or through telephone calls, but his take on the character is fascinating. ![]() However, there’s something about the laissez-faire performance of Brian Cox in 1986’s Manhunter (Michael Mann’s film adaptation of Red Dragon) that continues to impress me above all others. It gave his career a boost it desperately needed, and he’s been pretty much riding the waves ever since. It earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. ![]() Justin Gerber: I grew up on Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal. Mind you, this piece originally ran in 2016. This time, Justin Gerber, Clint Worthington, and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer debate over who played the best Hannibal Lector as Ridley Scott’s Hannibal turns 20 and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs turns 30. Well, for those of you who know better than to believe those lies, welcome to another installment of Vs. Music and movies aren’t about competition they’re about artistic expression. He has a point.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He put our fascination with the cannibal down to the fact that, really, we all like to be scared. We must watch, but we don’t want to.Ī pleasant surprise is how Sir Anthony Hopkins once described the audience’s reaction to his most famous role. The moment he gently rubs Clarice’s finger as he passes her the case files, his emotionless face as he calmly bludgeons a guard to death then looks around his cell for a cutthroat razor, the fast slurping sound he makes as a viewer you are simultaneously nauseated and compelled. The point that needs to be emphasised is that Hopkins gives a unique and utterly convincing performance. It is possible to go through every one of Sir Anthony’s scenes with a fine-toothed comb and a beginner’s guide to psychology, but we would be here for days. You see the flash of anger in his eyes – it’s subtle, but it’s there – and he changes his tone to crass and offensive. Lecter is courteous towards the senator (whilst giving her fake information) until a police officer interrupts him. It is in this scene – successfully parodied in The Simpsons and elsewhere – where Lecter is strapped to an upright gurney in a straitjacket and muzzle to speak with Senator Ruth Martin, whose daughter has been kidnapped by Buffalo Bill. Lecter has been moved from Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and is now in Memphis, Tennessee. We see this more noticeably in a later scene in the film. Hopkins is able to communicate arrogance, anger, glee, and a perverse sort of paternal admiration with the smallest movement of his eyes and lips. It’s a brilliant introduction, which morphs into a fascinating two-hander as agent and sociopath begin to size each other up. ‘Good morning,’ he says, how you might imagine a fox says good morning to a chicken. She walks slowly down that corridor of cells until she is confronted with the once-brilliant psychiatrist, standing with his arms at his sides, impeccable posture. Our first glimpse of Dr Lecter is through Agent Starling’s eyes (quite literally, as director Jonathan Demme decided that characters would talk directly to camera when addressing Starling so the audience would relate to her better). That cold, unblinking gaze of Lecter’s, and his curious high voice, stay with the viewer – lingering, still unnerving – long after the film has ended. He also took inspiration from reptiles – who only blink when they want to – and based his voice on a mixture of Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn. #Anthony hopkins screen time in silence of the lambs serial#In preparation for the role, he studied serial killers and visited prisons. As wonderful as Foster’s performance is, it is Hopkins who steals the film (and the odd face… ). ![]()
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