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cannibal...
I hope you have read Richard Harris' books. Though, Silence of the Lambs was quite faithful to the book, the movie Hannibal was an abomination. It had little more than a title and character names in common with the book. I think that Hannibal is one of the greatest love stories of the 20th Century. It explores the complex relationship that has evolved between the Dr. and FBI Agent Clarice Starling. Hannibal becomes the only moral and ethical authority, the only person who has not betrayed Starling. He releases her from the bonds that a solitary childhood and a more solitary adult life have imposed upon her. In retrospect, it is understandable that the relationship that has grown between them is for each, exactly what the world has always denied them - the closeness of another like soul, sex unrestrained, all appetites appeased. And, yes, in their own way, a love deeper and more profound than most even glimpse. It is true. Hannibal is and has been since childhood, a cannibal. It began a cold, horrid winter at the end of WWII. A few Russian deserters killed his aristocratic family and imprisoned Hannibal and his sister, along with numerous other children they could catch. Through that incredibly bad Lithuanian winter. The Russians used the children to feed them through the winter months. His sister was the first he is certain he consumed - he saw her baby teeth in the common toilet pit. Hannibal, however, is not an indiscriminate cannibal. He does not eat parts and pieces of humans for sustenance. To him, these victims announce themselves by their rude, boorish, incompetent or just stupid behavior. They are an affront to the organized, quiet, peaceful life he has chosen for himself. For example, the politically connected incompetent musician who ruined many of his nights at the symphony. He fed parts of him to the Symphony Board, a meal that was described in elegant detail in society column across the nation. Irony is one of Hannibal's long suits. Don't expect to see a fire and person sized barbecue pit at his residence. On the same token, if you visit him, it may behoove you to mind your manners....
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