In short, if you didn’t like “Manhunter” because of its style, you’ll probably like “Red Dragon,” which plays more like a glossy, expensive, and above-average episode of “The X-Files.” But if you loved the style of Mann’s film, “Red Dragon” is like an admirable but slightly slimmed down rendition. Director Brett Ratner, of “Rush Hour” notoriety, may seem like an odd choice to join the ranks of Mann, Scott, and Demme. But his direction is solid and straightforward, and a good match for Edward Norton’s solid, straightforward FBI agent.
(Try this for a brain-burster: if the novel “Silence” is a revision of the novel “Red Dragon” then is the film “Red Dragon” a revision of the film “Manhunter?” Oh, the pain in my skull.)
Will Graham (Edward Norton), years after capturing Hannibal, has left the FBI and is living the sweet life with his wife and son on a beach in Florida. His former boss (Dennis Farina in “Manhunter,” Scott Glenn in “Silence,” and here played by Harvey Keitel) brings him the sad tale of a new killer who has slain two entire families in their homes. You’re the only man for the job, Keitel claims, but after some initial investigation Norton realizes that it’s Hannibal’s help Keitel wants on the case. Norton is the only man Hannibal will condescend to communicate with. Soon Hannibal and Norton are involved in a battle of wills, in which Norton knows Hannibal’s greatest reason for helping the FBI is to fight the boredom of a solitary cell. Norton’s no fool, and he knows that, for Hannibal, manipulating the FBI and the murderer into killing each other might be more fun.
Hannibal’s mind-games with Norton comprise a little more than a half of “Red Dragon;” the rest is devoted to the killer on the loose (played by Ralph Fiennes), known as the Tooth Fairy for the way he bites his victims. If he doesn’t steal the show Fiennes at least matches Hopkins. His portrayal of the Tooth Fairy is, in a way, a combination of his most famous performances, as the despicable Nazi in “Schindler’s List” (1993) and his strangely sympathetic man-animal in “The English Patient” (1996). Here he is an utter monster, killing to feel like a god and to complete a psychotic metamorphosis into a superhuman, but also a wounded, terrified child wallowing in memories of abuse. At work he meets a gentle blind woman (Emily Watson). Their scenes together are both sweet and horrible, as she shows him he is not as undesirable as he thinks he is, and he slowly realizes what he could have been if he weren’t completely insane. While Hopkins and Fiennes do not share a single scene in “Red Dragon,” Hopkins’ cool, intellectual detachment forms a brilliant counterpoint to Fiennes’ purely emotional approach. When Hopkins is outwitted by Norton and the FBI, he blinks and admires their cunning, while Fiennes is more liable to fall into a panicked rage.
Hannibal’s enduring appeal comes in part from how unapologetic he is; he is completely comfortable with who he is, without regret or remorse. If he were a perfect, charismatic, successful, and moral person and so self-actualized we would secretly hate him. But he’s not a smug goody two-shoes, he’s a monster, and he will murder those who have bad taste or are impolite. There’s a twisted satisfaction in that.
Finished October 12th, 2002
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