HANNIBAL LECTER COMPARES DEAD BODIES TO OMELETTES

In Red Dragon we are newly introduced to Hannibal Lecter, the notorious serial killer who enjoys savoring his victims with a nice Chianti and some fava beans. Author and creator Thomas Harris went back to the very beginning with Hannibal Rising where we meet an innocent young Hannibal and discover how he becomes a monster.

Newcomer Gaspard Ulliel takes on the fearsome Lecter in the film which shows Hannibal as an eager medical student, the perfect profession to foreshadow the evil he is to become. Director Peter Webber thought it best to send Gaspard to autopsy school and study anatomy.

“It seemed to me very important that if Gaspard were to play Hannibal Lecter with any kind of conviction he needed to go through some of his experiences. We’re not going to send him out murdering people because that’s kind of illegal. A lot of this story takes place in medical school and we know that Hannibal Lecter is involved with preparing dead bodies so I thought what better to do than to send him to a medical school. So we did that and sent him to an autopsy and I was expecting him to come back ashen faced saying, ‘how could you possibly do that to me,’ but he loved it the sick little puppy.”

Gaspard says he was fascinated to delve inside a human cadaver which was more greasy than bloody.

“It’s just very interesting to be able to have a close look to all the inner parts of the human body and see how everything works and touch every different organs. In a way it’s a nice view. You have all those different colors, different textures. So I really liked it. And you know it’s not that shocking because you don’t have any blood. The only liquid you have is the grease, a bit like an omelet.”

There is a bit of sauteing going on in Hannibal Rising but not the standard cuisine and certainly not for the squeamish.