Matt Armitage
Hannibal
I’ve always found the idea of death comforting. The thought that my life could end at any moment frees me to fully appreciate the beauty and art and horror of everything this world has to offer.
This is one I struggled with. Is Hannibal a horror show or a crime thriller? In the end I decided its main purpose was to portray horror and investigate those who are capable of performing horrific acts, regardless of its genre. Also it’s just fantastic so it ended up elbowing other possibly more traditional horror shows out of the list. Hannibal is such an unusual and artistic show that it’s almost unbelievable that it actually got made on network TV, never mind made it to three increasingly strange seasons. You can get a good sense of what it is like from Bryan Fuller, the show’s creator, stating: “When I sat down to the script, I was very consciously saying, ‘What would David Lynch do with a Hannibal Lecter character?'” Along with the dream sequences, and use of slow-motion to create atmosphere, there some dazzlingly grotesque yet strangely beautiful visual effects. Dario Argento‘s influence is absolutely seen on the screen.
Taking the familiar characters of Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham, Fuller crafted something unique using the familiar format of the hunt for a serial killer, but really the focus was on the relationship between the two men. The mutual fascination between two intelligent, gifted, and in their own ways, severely psychologically damaged individuals, became like a slow dangerous dance that led Will ever closer to becoming more and more like Hannibal, and for Hannibal to lose himself in his desire to lead Will on the road to recognising that his inner self was in fact not so different from Lecter’s.
Everything about Hannibal is treated as art. The visuals, Hannibal’s love of fine clothing, the meals he prepares so lovingly, all the while feeding parts of his victims to those he draws into his circle. The characters themselves speak with a kind of poetry that almost entrances you, and Hannibal slowly but surely ensconces himself into the confidence of the very people who are hunting him.
Given the show was intended to last six or seven seasons, the last season can seem a little breakneck at times compared to the first two which move with a dreamlike consistency, but somehow it only seems to ramp up the sheer insanity of it all, as if you’re driving full tilt towards to a cliff with no intention of stopping.
Hannibal is available on Netflix right now. If you haven’t seen it yet because you feel seeing the movies or reading the books was enough, think again; this is a different beast entirely. One far more subtle and artistic…and certainly more horrifying.
