Hannibal (2001)

When you're adapting a film from a book which is 600 pages long, it becomes a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, rearranging a jigsaw puzzle to make it work as a movie as opposed to as a book. And there are various, not so much problems, but writing problems and structural problems as to what we would do with various parts of the movie. And funnily enough, the very beginning, immediately presents one of the decisions we made later rather than in the screenplay and that Pietro Scali, my editor, was actually rethinking certain order of things when he was editing and suggested that it actually might be a perfect way to begin the movie was to show ...this scene that actually opens the movie... ...rather than using this scene where it was positioned later in the film... ...which was quite a long way in. And by doing this, you could introduce... ...a hideously defigured character like Mason Verger in a rather cool way... ...where you're not playing him as a monster... ...but you're playing him as a little old guy in a wheelchair... ...with a rather nice pullover on and a nice tie... standing there with either a doctor or a companion or manservant. You don't really know who these characters are yet. Also, the scene tells us there is a kind of market, a black market in artifacts that come out of crime. And so it suddenly became a very nice idea to have Barney, the Barney meeting Mason Verger scene here, where Barney has something for Mason Verger for his collection. And so Pietro put this on the front and it was very interesting because it worked very well for Mason Verger for the reasons I just explained, not introducing him as a monster but as a character. And then you have the pink box. And then you have something to remind us of the film, of the sonnets of the lambs, which was one of the major symbols of the film. And of course, we also understand the value of these things. And all this stuff, the valuation on artifacts that come out of crime in all its aspects are quite astounding and can be actually scrutinized and bid for on the internet. None of this is invented. The title sequence was actually done by one of my guys in London, Nick Levesy, because I have a production company in London which has a lot of talented young directors, and Nick Levesy is one of them. He was trained as a graphic designer at the Royal College of Art and now has developed himself as director. And Nick had gone to Florence on his own accord with his little camera, you know, tourist camera and had concocted what was a two and a half minute commercial and put his typography on it and sent it to me saying, wouldn't this be great as the second announcement commercial for the film? Now, it didn't work out that way in terms of our plans with MGM and everybody. It wasn't quite right, but it kept sticking in my mind. I thought it was so... with a very good single idea, which is fundamentally, where is he? He's been gone for 10 years, and where is Hannibal? And of course, this story tells it, and there he is. It tells it in pigeons on the cobblestones of somewhere where you wonder where that is. And so we tried that inside the film as a title sequence and added a couple of things and took a couple of things out. But I think it worked very successfully. Julianne Moore, once Jodie had said, had decided to pass, was always top of my list. But not just for this, but for the fact that I always wanted to work with her. She's an actress with an extraordinarily variable a number of characterizations and parts that she's played. She's a very inventive actress. She's always different in the various films that she does. A lot of actors, without being rude about it, tend to play a similar part or a similar person, similar role, which is part of their persona. Julianne seems to have the talent to completely disengage from who she is. and re-engage as the character. And I wanted a woman for this who was clearly very smart, very thoughtful, and a person who could easily be perceived as being incorruptible, which is kind of one of the driving forces for Hannibal's interest and fascination by Clarice Starling, is that she's essentially, in Tom Harris's words, a straight arrow. So I was looking for a character who, if nothing else, could be kind of quite stern, pull that off as a female officer, you know, and at the same time have all the other qualities, feminine qualities, without waving them around, and it's just there. That's, you know, and she can do that. She did that. You don't want to push her head down. She'll likely have a needle in her hair. The fish market sequence, whilst it reads great in the book... ...and finally reads well in the screenplay... ...and I think comes off very well in the film... ...is kind of really a part of the film that's... I kept asking myself, is it necessary to have this? Why do we have to have a shootout? It doesn't matter how good it is, albeit it's conventional. to have these big shootouts today, which are much overused, much overexposed and essentially become less interesting. But I try to work out in the screenplay form, how could we actually begin the film without having to do this? And we couldn't, we really needed, first of all, it was a great opportunity to see where she is now. She's on the street, she's functioning on the street instead of now after 10 years working doing an office job, and quote Hannibal's question, is saying, why aren't you now running behavioral science, which is something you always loved? You know, you live on the street, you function on the street, you live by the gun, you will die by the gun, or you will end up in a wheelchair. So it was necessary to see her and where she is now. And of course, by doing that, we're able to see how efficient she is as an officer. But the most important thing of all about the outcome of the sequence is that Clarice becomes a scapegoat in the sense of the embarrassment of an institution who have been under the gun or under pressure recently of public relations and how they're dealing with the public and process of anti-violence. And what comes out, unfortunately, is five deaths, including a police officer, including a FBI officer, and the demise begins for Clarice Starling. It kind of tends to get laid at her feet. So, whilst I enjoyed the sequence, it was necessary, and whilst I questioned having the sequence, it was necessary to have, it must be. This fish market set It's a set, it's not a location. I chose it underneath the freeway, which was a kind of nice place to be. It was a big empty ground, which was normally a parking lot. And my production designer, Norris Spencer, and his team moved in. And of course, we needed to create somewhere which wasn't used every day, because otherwise it would be impossible. Because we were in here to shoot this sequence. I think we were in here for about four or five days. And we need to be in total control. So this was created by the art department and my production designer, Norris Spencer. I was using my special effects, floor effects, every kind of effect. A person that I'd used on Gladiator called Neil Corbolt and his team, his formidable team. And he's... really, really, really inventive with almost every kind of effect. And above all things, he's also safe, which always kicks in with the dealing with explosives or anything dangerous. And it's worth mentioning that baby was not a real baby. There's no way I'd have actually involved a baby of that age or size in any form of filming like that. That baby was basically prosthetic baby, a mechanical baby, which was made up by the team who also did my prosthetics for Mason Verger and Krendler. Because that always became a big problem as to how the heck do I have this baby because the baby's involved in a shootout. You know, it's very easy for that to slip by in people. In fact, when we were editing and planning, I kept having to remind myself that There is a baby involved in this and that is really shocking. It's very easy for those things to actually fall into place and you just accept them. This scene was always debatable. Should I see her reacting or should I not see her reacting to having done what she just did? was in, was out, and then finally was absolutely in because we needed that sense of her remorse and, you know, humanity. She's not a superwoman after all. She's normal. Attorney Telford Higgins, representing one of the families of those slain, says he will file a wrongful death suit. Countdown!

Pardell. Yes, sir. Get me the Justice Department. Mr. Darling? Trying to tie Mason Verger into his connections inside the infrastructure corridors of power was tricky. And again, by editing, we managed to link it simply with a telephone call a voiceover from Mason Verger from his bedroom. He calls in Cordell, says, get me the Justice Department. It's oblique, it must be oblique, because you can't be that much on the nose. In fact, to me, that was almost too on the nose, but I needed it. I needed to suggest something, and if you heard it great and got it, that's perfect. If you didn't really understand what it was later, People tend to sit watching a film and ask questions later, saying, well, how was there a connection between him and Crandall and what was the connection? So that kind of information has to be fed in incrementally, little by little. So once you have enough, then you can get on with the story and the relationship with these characters. So here we have her being basically put under pressure and being scrutinized and judged for her behavior under fire, which, of course, we've witnessed, we've seen as being 100%, even to the extent of her saying, don't do this, put this down. She knows what Elvada Dromgo might do, and she did everything she could to persuade her not to do it. And because we've seen it, we've made our judgment on her already before this meeting. So we know this meeting and this outcome of this meeting is too strong. It's rather stringent. There's an overreaction. They're giving her an opportunity to do something else. He doesn't have friends in high places. Remember Mason Verger? Lecter's fourth victim. The rich one. The only one that survived. He says he has some new information on Lecter. He'll only share with you. Now, as a police officer, in her position, she's actually being given what they would call made work. Made is in parenthesis. So for her, it's not only embarrassing, it makes her angry. She's being put on hold while whatever or various committees decide what to do, what to do with her in terms of her career. She's given... ...the opportunity to go back into and study... ...in the behavioral science department... ...because a new clue has come to bear... ...which suggests that Hannibal Lecter, after ten years... ...is actually certainly still alive and thriving somewhere... ...and therefore they want to open up the case. Everyone's gonna be happy. I'm not happy. Well, maybe you're incapable of being happy. Mr. Crindler. When you're out on the street, you know you might take a bullet in the line of duty. You accept it. Or you get out. You live with it. What you don't expect or accept is taking one in the back in your boss's office for doing your job exactly as they've taught you. That makes you unhappy. Of course you're right, Starling. But it doesn't really change anything. It changes everything. It changes me. This house is the largest... ...privately owned dwelling in the United States... ...at approximately 150,000 square feet interior... ...which stood originally in a parkland, I think, of about 125,000 acres... ...which is both farm and park... ...belongs to the Vanderbilts... ...and I believe was originally built as a copy of another house... ...in Massachusetts or Connecticut... ...which is the... one of the Vanderbilt houses that was one of his favorite houses. It's an extraordinary house that I decided, you know, had to really ask the question. All these are decisions when you're planning. I was reading the book and then in preparing the screenplay, how wealthy was Mason Verger? And so I figured that I had to make him really Vanderbilt wealthy, and being the black sheep, the son who strayed, of a large family who had prominence both politically and otherwise in the state of Virginia, and therefore was wealthy enough at certain points to actually be able to influence people at a fairly high level. I cast Gary Oldham for this part. I've never worked with Gary before, but I think he's one of the finest actors we have. He loves to, I think, visit certain films provided he's actually got... As he said, I don't mind the shortness of the part. He said, what I mind, it's about quality, not quantity. And he was very amused by the character. And as we can see and as we witness, he obviously had a very amusing time doing him because he creates humor out of this character that, you know, in the book is... is described as monstrous, but I wanted to go further than that. I wanted to almost have him to be, you know, have a quality about him where you feel sometimes, you almost feel sorry for him. And Gary also brought the humor to bear into the character and the part. So I think actually he's a fresh screen monster, a different take on what can be constituted as who is the bad guy, because he's multifaceted, multilayered. And any bad person that's portrayed as being bad, I think in any film, it's always nice to know that they're not entirely bad, that there's a reason why, maybe. And Gary gives us all of that. Yeah, it's interesting when you're getting close up here, you know, damage on people is always tricky to do and pull off without it being a monster, a film monster. I felt one eye had been so badly damaged that he damaged the vitreous humor or the aqueous humor or the retina. So in his left eye, we put a full scleroid lens in there, which allowed us to blur the whole iris across the eyeball. So he looks very odd. It's almost like a dog's eye. That is what I mean. Yes, if you don't mind talking about it. Oh, no, not at all. I'm not ashamed. I didn't say you should be. No, we met conventionally as doctor and patient. How did he end up at your house? I invited him, of course. Now, interestingly enough, we shot the flashback sequences on a small handheld kind of consumer DV camera. and then transferred it onto film, digital and then film. But it's, I think it works quite successfully and it gives a funny, strange quality to his memory. Again, the memory, illustrating the memory was always discussed, should we have it, should we not have it? And so I basically The jury was out until I shot it and we put it together and looked at it. I think it was successful. Show me how you smile to gain the confidence of a child. I smiled. I said, oh, I see how you do it. Look, a doctor approached me with a piece of broken mirror. Try this. Try peeling off your face. And to get out of... sequence like this and really hideous behavior a humorous line at the end of it which is also humorous and touching was really interesting where people were able to smile or laugh at the end of this it's like extraordinary that's the line I love it, the fact that Clarice is above it all, does not want to get drawn into the conversation, doesn't want to know about his past. It's all about where she is and why she's there. Now, the clue that's in the book about the x-ray of Hannibal's broken arm when he attacked the nurse that's written, never seen, because we never saw it in Silence of the Lambs, we have it described. It was tricky. It was saying, should we show that, shouldn't we show that? Where does the x-ray lead us? If you really, really, really think it through, the x-ray really doesn't lead us anywhere. She's given the x-ray, she looks at it, checks it out, says, well, this is an x-ray before Hannibal's when he was in prison, and therefore it's kind of redundant. So the question raises itself is, why has Mason Berger done this? He must have an idea that it's pre- institution for Hannibal Lecter, therefore it's valueless. Is it because he simply wants to set his eyes on Clarice Starling, who he's never met before, because he's about to manipulate her? But I think the encounter is enough for Clarice to not suspect, but being a good cop, I think good cops probably leave every door open. Not that they suspect everyone. But there's always that possibility. And so her encounter with him, apart from being, must have been fairly shocking for her if this was a real story. She's already taken in the fact that Mason Verger, in fact, may be manipulative and corrupt.

Finding what you want? Are you sure this is all of it? That's all there is now. There was more, but it's been picked over a little by little over the years. You know, this stuff's worth a lot of money in certain circles. It's kind of like the cocaine that disappears around here. In this scene, we have a suggestion there that we're told that the records have virtually disappeared, and the character basically says, Jeffrey says that it's... all suggesting various levels of corruption. Everyone in the film, everyone in the book at some level or other is not to be trusted or is corrupt in every department and every walk. And oddly enough, the two characters who at least relatively or metaphorically pure. Well, certainly Clarice is pure, but Hannibal almost in his own way is pure. The only characters who suffer during the movie, it's really about retribution or punishment. Otherwise, Hannibal behaves like a gentleman.

I thought this was great for Barney, who'd had a relatively small part in the first film, Silence. And to use him in the book as the person, as the way in... ...was, I think, a great stroke by Tom. And Frankie Faison really turned out to be the right man for the job. So it's one of those circumstances where instead of recasting... I found Frankie was absolutely the best man for the job. And so Frankie got it and he did a wonderful job. And one of the things about him is he's such a nice character, a nice man. His cadence is so friendly that it's interesting that when you expect something corrupt, because Frankie in a way is corrupt. He's selling artifacts. He stole artifacts from the prison, from the institution. And of course, because I figured, you know, who has most access to any criminal, anybody incarcerated? And of course, that is guards, cleaners, and nurses. Because at some point, that prisoner will be walked out in the yard, and he'll do his walk in the sunshine or sit in the sunshine while the cell is cleaned out. And of course, for such an famous, celebrated person as Hannibal Lecter, he would be taken outside. He would have a walk in the sunshine. And that's where Barney will go down the corridor, walk around the room, and remove things little by little. Little things like a pencil, a pen, a drawing, little by bit by bit. And of course, when Hannibal left, or I should say escaped, Nobody had put an inventory in that cell of his private artifacts and writing and drawings and books. Of course, he'd gone in there and pretty well taken as much as he dare and put it away as his retirement scheme fund. I always thought that was an extraordinarily sick point of view until I went into the Internet and found it's all based on fact. In fact, we found that there had been four bids for Jeffrey Dormer's refrigerator, which I was shocked by. After your first visit, you started taping your conversations with Dr. Lecter. Now we're finding out that also Dr. Chilton was not a nice man and also had done, if you like, illicit or illegal tape recordings of her while she was interviewing Lecter in the cell. I figure that when Chilton had disappeared too, Barney had found it one day, because he knew he was doing this, and Barney wondered, where are those tapes? Because these tapes one day might be valuable. And he probably wandered into Chilton's office, went through his drawers and found his tapes, and probably removed only the tapes related to the private conversations between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, hoping one day this would be a nice little nest egg for him. Now, one of the things that about the book, when you read the book, is, you know, literature works on an entirely different level to movies, because you can read a book, put it down, come back to it. You can have long, descriptive passages, easing the reader into the next sequence. Films don't work that way. And one of the big problems, because I felt this was a kind of, the subtext was one of affection. Love is a strong word, one of affection, certainly of respect. And therefore, I had to have these two on screen together as much as possible. And that's why I started to put around her room, obviously, photographs of Hannibal Lecter, but big ones, so I can see her in a room with Hannibal at the first opportunity. Better still, I've got tape recordings of his voice that then would play back a subtext. We've actually got his voice in the room with her. So we're starting the overture even now in the FBI, in the behavioral science basement. So whilst Julianne is not giving much away at that point in terms of a poker-faced countenance, I think this allows the audience to do the work for themselves. And they start to imagine what is she thinking. And is she thinking? ...in terms of her old respect for Hannibal. Did she like him? Did she like talking to him? So you allow these things to work. Giancarlo Giannini, who... ...was absolutely the right age for this part... and had been one of my favorite Italian actors, particularly from a Lenny Wertmann film called Swept Away. It was a man who was always famous, well-known for his humorous aspects, almost comedic way of working, which, in this instance, I wanted to play a serious character who actually was going down a route. He was gonna be, again, become corrupted by the idea of reward. Chief Inspector. Commendatore, how can I be of service? Sorry. I'm investigating the disappearance of your predecessor. Cops do cutting edge jobs and they're not paid enough. And that, of course, leaves them open to corruption. And that is not a new subtext, and that is not a new thesis, and no more than is it new in Italy. And because we've discovered that there are rewards given on the internet, on the FBI internet, of rewards ranging from $5 million down to $50,000, we invented, or Tom invented, that there was an internet reward given out by one Mason Verger when he was at the first opportunities able to because we haven't really had serious internet only maybe in the last six years. So the event that occurs with Mason Verger is 16 years ago. When he suddenly saw the opportunity of getting to the world to offer $3 million for information leading to, he did that. hoping that someone would see it and pick up on it. And he was right. And you're about to find that out. Well, I'll send someone over to pick it up. One of the trickiest things in the book was the fact that Hannibal Lecter, or Dr. Fell, I should say, was characterized, because it's the chapter that starts off Florence, where Tom, in so many words, says that it had become apparent to Inspector Patsy that Dr. Fell, maybe Hannibal Lecter, was tricky because I can't do that in the movie. I've got to invent ways of how does he sense that this man could be this person that the world has forgotten about for 10 years. And therefore, we had to do it little by little, bit by bit, where it becomes apparent to Patsy, partly starting with curiosity about a rather impressive character called Dr. Fell, who's there trying to get a job from a disappeared curator. But he doesn't suspect Fell of any dark deeds. After all, why should he? Why would the person going for a job which doesn't pay very much murder a curator to go for the job when the likelihood of an Italian taking his place is more likely? So that's too much stretch of the imagination to believe that Parsi would suspect him for that reason that, aye, did he kill the curator? I found that's a question that the audience can ask and answer for themselves because if you really think it through, it's kind of daft. given the circumstances that Hannibal, in fact, does now, has finally got to the place where he wants to spend the rest of his life, which is the place which is closest to him in his heart and his soul, is Florence, then maybe he did quietly plan the demise of the curator, wait for a couple of months, see a job advertised, and because of his formidable knowledge of Italian ancient... you know, writing and languages and history. He knew that he actually could go for the job and probably get it. That's the possibility of what the backstory was going through Hannibal's mind. Because after all, when a criminal disappears for 10 years, he pretty well goes off the hot list. He goes off the hot list, I think, within about 18 months. And then I think Hannibal took his time. Being a man of great caution, he went to Brazil, he went to Rio, he went to maybe China, he went to Japan, he went to Australia, maybe Beachcombe for a bit. And then after nine years, I figured, decided now it's safe to go to Florence and walk the streets without too much trouble. That's why we didn't even disguise him. Because I thought, should I disguise him? We suggest plastic surgery in the book. Again, that's a hell of a lot easier to do in the book than it is on film. And I didn't want... Anthony Hopkins walking around with a different nose or some facial alteration because A, it would be a nightmare every day, but B, most of all, when you really think it through, to disguise yourself, providing you've got a different passport, all you gotta do is shave your head and grow a beard or shave the beard and grow your hair. Wear spectacles and you walk straight through most terminals. It's much easier than we think. Rather, I suppose it is part of the bargain, but you accepted it, Clarice. Your job is to craft my doom. So I'm not sure how well I should wish you, but I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. Ta-ta. H. On the letter, there's one partial fingerprint. Here. Throughout the film, we had... a lady from the FBI who was always very helpful and very agreeable and, you know, occasionally would remind me on, or remind Julianne about some things, procedure, you know, how you hold a gun. I think Julianne is a great, you know, researcher. She spent a little bit of time up at Quantico, met some agents, and of course had this female agent with her throughout the film.

Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? I hardly see how you couldn't. And don't your eyes move over the things you want? All right, then. Tell me how. No. It's your turn to tell me, Clarice. You don't have any more vacations to sell on Anthrax Island. Quid pro quo, Clarice. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case. About yourself. The idea of ambergris came from Tom. Ambergris being an extract from the whale, which actually is behind its ear, which forms a hard substance which looks like amber in the whale's brain or cranium. It comes from eating... The whale lives on plankton and shrimp. And the extract, which is like a growth actually in the cranium, comes from that diet. Now, to get that ambergris means killing the whale. So now whale are coming under the Protected Species Act. That eliminates it from countries such as the UK, United States, et cetera, et cetera. So narrowing it down, ambergris down to now only a few countries where it's legal. And ambergris is specifically used for cosmetics in perfume. Essentially, ambergris is like a fixative of fragrance. You put ambergris into a substance, that ambergris will retain its fragrance for many, many, many years. I think even a century. I had a piece of ambergris handed to me in Florence for me to smell it. It was waxed, it was in wax paper, in a bottle, sealed bottle, and when I opened the bottle, opened the paper, the fragrance was like incredibly powerful. And that piece of ambergris was like 50 years old. It's used like a fixative of fragrance. And this is what leads him down this route, into this path. It's a limited number of places that would have this kind of perfume, which has an ambergris base. What is this? The Italians all did very well in this section. In fact, I didn't have to loop anyone. And when I was doing the film, of course, you can ask the question, why aren't they speaking in Italian? And you get a swift answer for that one, which is unprintable. But I think they all did a good job, and they're all Italian, so they have a natural English voice with an Italian accent. They're all basically from Rome.

Again, because we have no really extreme behavior in the film for a long time, really almost in the middle of the film when you're dealing with Patsy, the difficulty from the filmmaker's point of view is suspending the tension. And therefore, what has to take its place is interest. And dynamics really aren't about running, jumping, chasing cars and exploding bridges but in fact is about giving you new information where as an audience you feel you're being sucked in and dragged forward into the story by different information which builds on the previous information or leaves you trying to work out where the story is headed. It's about sustaining your interest and that's tricky. Action sequences are relatively straightforward and are a kind of cheap solution to occupy the attention of an audience. I think the scenes which are character scenes, which essentially at the end of the day are the most important scenes, are the things that actually are the hardest to do and they're the things that actually keep the audience finally involved because the audience fundamentally will always invest in a character or will invest against a character where, and the strange thing about this form of entertainment is they love to hate someone, or they love to love someone. And that's the fundamentals of drama, which are based on, I guess, emotional response.

This computer hacking is all totally accurate. We jumped one hurdle in that it just took too long. But for him to get into the VICAP, which is basically right inside the FBI computer, you require a number and a code, which I think is probably changed once a week. I'm not even sure it's that thorough. But any FBI agent has it in the United States. For Pazzi to get it as an Italian cop was tricky. He'd have to have a friend. So I shot a sequence where he calls a friend in Rome, who's American, who says, come on, you owe me. Give me the number. He says, remember, I'm not here. And we suggest in the exchange of conversation between these two that this guy shouldn't be in Rome anyway functioning. Therefore, he gives them the number. So he then taps that, types that in, and goes into the FBI VICAP and discovers this. which is not for public consumption. But by going in, every time he goes into the FBI internet, he leaves his presence there. It's a cookie. And that's what she spots and says, I wonder if that's you, Dr. Lecter. Who the hell's this going into the FBI VICAP? So all this was fairly carefully thought out.

Ray Liotta is, again, perfect because I wanted someone to be kind of very presentable, a ladies' man, kind of charming, but manipulative, a bad man, bad guy. And above all things, Ray has a great sense of humor. And also, I always look for that. I always look for all my characters have it. humor if we can find it. In fact, I cast Ray from time to time, as often as I can, try and go to the gym. And I was in the gym in Los Angeles, and I kept seeing Ray Liotta. Occasionally, we'd actually be riding on a bicycle or treadmill or something where I didn't know him. But I knew who he was. And then one day I was leaving in the car park and Ray was coming into the gym. And so he said, you know, basically said, come on, mate, is there anything for me? And actually I thought he'd be perfect for Crandler. In fact, by seeing him in the gym, I kept thinking, this guy could play Crandler. What if you want to play Crandler? And that's how it happened. So I said, you want this role? And again, he went for it. Not a big part, but he went for quality, which all these actors do. They have fun. They must have fun while they're doing it. They must find a way of getting into this character and occupying themselves with this character. I think he was perfect. Even his demise at the end was really brave for him to trust me with that. Because actually, if it If it comes off right, it's a kind of very amusing demise and a good solution for him at the end. And Ray is such a good sport and is also so, I think, clever. And he can play two things. He can play both a frightening character, a straight character, but also he can play all of them with humor. And he just loves being a bad guy in this. Go home to your wife. That was wrong. Don't flatter yourself, Starling. That was a long time ago. Why would I hold that against you? And besides, this town is full of corn-pwned country pussy. That said, I wouldn't mind having a go with you right now if you want to reconsider. In the gym, anytime. No pads. Is it possible it went out with a regular male? No, I overnighted it to you. I felt out to sleep myself. This was the day after your request. I did it right away. I don't understand what happened. I think you should have it by now. I don't. Can you send me another one? Sure. I will make another copy especially... Here we have the imagination of the Italian cop... ...kind of wondering, maybe I'll meet up with this gal... ...because she sounds okay on the phone. But then, of course, it doesn't go anywhere. She just hangs up. Okay. So I'll send you tomorrow? All right. It's one of those funny little side details. And funnily enough, she's drawing the Italian, wondering what he looks like. And what's interesting is it almost looks like Ronaldo Pazzi with the mustache. I like this part of the mix here where we cut out all the extraneous sound and all you've got is the chinking of change, money, Judas in his hand. And he's about to start the process. He's about to go. He's about to become corrupt. So here we have temptation of Patsy. He's got the number. His heart's beating. And even though at this moment it's harmless, he knows the route he's taking. Now he's almost relieved. It's an old number. It's cut off. Thank God for that. So he walks away. And here we have it. Part of him. mechanism. Right here is the point where he's now going to step across the line. So you have a three-part situation to get through to the person you want to talk to. And when all the stuff that this person says in this call and the next call would allow them off the hook legally, if he was after them as a cop and said, you do this and you do that, The person would say, no, I didn't, because I advised you to consult a proper lawyer, a police department, et cetera, et cetera, before, so they protect themselves. May I give you his toll-free number? The number is 004123317. Thank you for calling. Now he's fully on board.

What's interesting about him is that I always figured he was a good, honest cop. I think he was very much in love with his wife, Francesca Neri, who was very beautiful. And I figured he always felt himself to be a lucky man, having such a beautiful woman as a wife. And he was concerned about the fact he never seemed to have enough money for her. In the book, she's a little bit more... less sympathetic because she's always kind of whining about money and doing this and doing that and so it drives him harder. But I think this was enough. I didn't want to make her quite such a bitch. I like the scene where you have the two together because he now is onto the of something as simple as a fingerprint. Except a fingerprint is very difficult to get, actually. This ought to be a scene where Pazzi dies, and I think people anticipate that it might be. It's also worth mentioning this is actually the Caponi Library. So this doorway has been here since 1560, in the family of the Caponis. And whilst the library is rather tiny, the books in it are very, very valuable, dating back to the Crusades. ...with many documents written directly from Henry VIII to one of the Capones. In fact, I stood in the Capone Library... ...and was handling documents that predated the end of the Crusades by 30 years. There was a manuscript in there, which was a book... ...which was actually a military inventory, which was about 1,200. And then another, letters from Henry VIII to Capone... ...asking him if he could rent the use of 2,000 troops... ...who were familiar with the use of what they called abus, which is like the... ...the first musket gunpowder, musket that was the firearm of the day. Because don't forget, Marco Polo brought back gunpowder. Again, humor's always useful. So really, we have Hannibal having fun at his expense. Hannibal's already on to him by now. I think Hannibal also considering... ...the idea... ...and then rejecting it, of course, that he could actually... ...do Pazzi here easily. But it wouldn't be a good idea. Besides, I think subtext to Hannibal was, as he says to her, I've been underground too long. I'm getting bored. I need some action. And I think he enjoys the process. He enjoys the chase. So he insults him there by saying, you're a patsy of the patsies. The patsies was aristocratic family, fundamentally lost their money. 200 years ago. But one of their claims to notoriety, if nothing else, fame, was the fact that one of his ancestors had suffered death by hanging from the Palazzo Vecchio balcony and at the same time being disemboweled, so his tripes hit the sidewalk. The reason for that was he was punished by Medici because he had organized the murder of one of the Medici family. on, ironically, on the steps of his own family chapel. Remind me, what was his crime? He was accused of killing Giuliano de' Medici. Oh, unjustly? No, no. I don't think so. This library is, because it's real, it's, the atmosphere is wonderful. And the walls are thick, so the place is chilly. And it was always an afterthought to have Hannibal wandering around bare feet. which I thought was interesting, makes him somehow more physical as well. There's something threatening about the bare feet. I always imagine Hannibal wandering around these rooms, these chambers, in the hot weather, in his bare feet, in his kind of pajama, almost oriental pajama suit, rather like some hippie. I always imagine that Hannibal probably likes cannabis, probably likes marijuana. Probably even, maybe even does opium occasionally, rather like a 19th century author. Again, with a view to exploring the palaces in his mind. Needless to say, I don't do either of those. They're too much for me. I'd rather just have a cigar. Tony's references to, which are not in the script, such as okey-dokey, became a catchphrase, and I think were very nicely placed, but somehow make him more dangerous. He's a very lighthearted character, actually, in some ways. and is very amused by Patsy's attempts to kind of pin him down or get the fingerprints. And I think for the first time in years, Hannibal's probably feeling really alive now because he's being pressured. In a funny kind of way, he's safe because he knows the cop going, this cop's going AWOL. This cop is going bad and therefore he can, ...and deal with him in whichever way he pleases. Because it's not like he has the whole Italian police department after him. It's one-on-one here. Interesting, this character... ...who was the pickpocket... ...was an actor that I'd spotted... ...when I watched a film which I like a lot called The Farinelli Brothers. And he had played one of the Farinelli Brothers. And I thought at the time that it was kind of very either, I don't know, Sicilian or could be a gypsy, and therefore he was perfect as the pickpocket. And I was really pleased when he said, yeah, I'll do it, you know, because it was a small part for him, but it was great. He did it perfectly. Give me the bracelet. Wash your fucking hands.

So here we have the first... ...shot... ...at getting Hannibal's... ...a really serious shot at getting his fingerprints. I always feel that Hannibal, even on that very first shot, sensed... ...sensed the presence of threat. He knew. I think he knew. Immediately. He's like an animal with his great, great, great, great intuition. There he definitely knows. And he's gonna play a game with him here. He's gonna just check him out. Right here he checks him out. Sees the guy go inside. That's confirmation. That's definitely it. Now he's gonna have a look at him. And... There he is. He's dead. This man is dead. So now he's gonna allow him to catch up. There's a funny little detail here because we used all these actually Somalian, I think the Somalian street traders who are prevalent in Florence and have a lot of trades they bring in, art they bring in from North Africa. And I saw the Somalian there with this great face. There he is. And I just asked him to... ...look at Hannibal as he goes past. Almost like he senses a bad spirit. Now, here we... It's an old technique to bump into someone... take their wallet and of course this one he didn't he wasn't going to take the wallet he wants him to grab his wrist and that's exactly what happened but this man is so expert at picking pockets he did it kind of clumsily deliberately what he doesn't realize is that Hannibal was entirely ready for him let me help you no don't So now we have a cop who hasn't just gone corrupt. To all intents and purposes, by preventing the hand pressing on the wound, he wouldn't have saved him. But he certainly accelerated the man's death because he had basically eviscerated his entire abdomen. He would have died anyway. And most people missed it, but there's a chingali, there's a pig. It just happens to be there. I didn't put it there. That's a wild boar that's at the fountain there. The reason why its nose is so shiny is that people touch the nose and then drop coins in that fountain. It's a good luck thing. It was a nice kind of transition from pouring water down to the desk and the information about the bracelet. Sixteen-point match, Mr. Virgil. Now, this Sardinian farm, we shot actually in the Vanderbilt stable yard, so we didn't have to go to Sardinia. So I just used this, you know, Norris dressed it up like a Sardinian backyard to a gnarly farm. Very well, well. Am I coming to see you? I figured that Tom's detail about which he comes up with an uncanny imagination of getting rid of somebody by using a pig or pigs to consume the body. I don't think it's a new idea. It's probably medieval or, you know, ways of getting rid of, you know, human being where they eat everything but the teeth, even crunch the bone. So I asked Tom that, and he said, yeah, sure enough. He said it's probably a fairly ancient method. These pigs we found in Canada. So shipping them from Canada and the United States was relatively straightforward, with customs and excise and quarantine. But these were big fellows. They had been privately owned, which is why they were so large. The biggest was about 350 kilos.

And my animal trainers basically trained them to attack a figure by putting feed fodder, obviously a fairly simple way of doing it, in the figure and keeping the pigs on a relatively healthy, tight diet. So they were always slightly hungry. You know, rather than getting into tremendous detail, that's exactly what they would do. Human body would disappear overnight with those many pigs. Now he's fully in. The full balance of the money is payable upon receipt of the doctor. He's beyond the point of no return. Of course, you won't have to seize him yourself. Rather, just point him out. I really like this actor who played the Swiss banker, who was... very austere, very respectable. And yet he knows exactly what he's dealing with. So it was kind of amusing character. I am a professional. Now we have coming to the opera, the beauty of juxtaposition of such beautiful music with the metaphor really becomes for corruption He's in. Now he's in. But I think he's very insecure about what he's done. I don't think he's happy, even though he has the money. Very thoughtful. But he loves his wife.

This was, ironically, this chapel and courtyard exterior was the chapel of the Pazzi family. By coincidence, it's where one of the Pazzi family organized the death, the demise, the assassination of one of the Medici's. Pretty well right in the entrance here, in the forecourt, And because of that event, Medicis took revenge and killed the other Pazzi by hanging him from the balcony of the, of the Piazza Vecchio, which is, you know, what's written in the book and is history. But I didn't realize that when I chose this location, the man said, you know what you've chosen? I said, no, he said, well, this is the Pazzi family chapel. And this is where the reason why he met his demise, because he organized the murder of Medici. So right where she's standing is where the murder happened in, I think, 1530s. The blood around her waist, the red around her waist represents blood. So when she was taking the silk from him, she was actually symbolically taking his blood, taking his heart.

Now we have an exchange here talking about the sonnet... ...which, of course, is reflected in what Anthony says... ...which is what Hannibal says. He's actually kind of talking about Clarice if you listen to this speech. I've always wanted to visit New England especially. I've enjoyed many excellent meals there. I noticed you wrapped up in the libretto. I thought this might amuse you. She's rather more cynical about it. with, you know, what she feels. She expresses this with her next line. Not this one, but when she asks him a question. Joyous love seemed to me, the while he held my heart in his hands, and in his arms my lady lay asleep, wrapped in a veil. He woke her then, and trembling and obedient, she ate that burning heart out of his hand. Weeping, I saw him then depart from me. Here's the question. Dr. Feld, do you believe a man could become so obsessed with a woman from a single encounter? Could he daily feel the stab of her? And I think this is always him talking about Clarice. On the very side of her. I think so. Would she see through the bars of his plight and ache for him? Most people miss that, but that's what it is. Why could I? I insist. Commandant Torrey? Allegra. So actually Hannibal's flirting here because she's so beautiful. And Ronaldo Pazzi is not just jealous, he also knows who Hannibal, he knows who this Dr. Fell is. He knows he's Hannibal. Vica. This is where she's going in and wondering and seeing who's been visiting the site recently. Last 30 days, search. And she goes through the usual suspects, which is her, Krendler, but then who is this P. Francesco? Is that you, Doctor? The story continues. Now we have a beautiful shot of the bridge, and Ronaldo Pazzi going to meet the brothers. The problems of shooting in Florence were no more than enthusiasm. The Italians are great, you know, cinema kind of aficionados, enthusiasts, real enthusiasts, and therefore my only problem with them was just so many of them. They had to be held back sometimes and monitored, but generally it was great.

I'd like to speak with Chief Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi, please. This is Agent Clarice Starling from the American FBI. Uh, one moment. Pazzi, FBI, I'm not here. Very Italian gesture. I love that, where he says, I'm not here, and then puts his fist up. Inspector Pazzi, it's Agent Starling. He knows who it is, and he's got a horrible feeling what it's about. He knows it's all gonna close, and he's got a very limited amount of time now. Can I call you back tomorrow? Oh, this won't take long. First of all, I'd like to thank you for sending us a security tape from the perfume store. When I say you, I mean your department, Agent Benetti. Is he there? Can I speak with him? Sorry, he's gone home. That's all right. I should tell you this rather than him anyway. I'm late for an important appointment. Well, the person I'm looking for, Inspector, who was indeed shown on... I like how he has that little slip of the tongue where he says, I'm late for an important analysis lecture. which is like Lector, and he says, meeting. And the tape confirms that he is or was recently in Florence. Really? He's a very dangerous man, Inspector. He's killed 14 people that we know of. I really have to go, Miss... Sterling, just another minute. Are you sure you've never heard of him? No, I haven't. Because I'm confused. I'm confused because someone there has been accessing... All the photos in her room are... Maybe we had a character in Italy in the book... ...which is factual, which is about Il Mostro, the monster... ...which would be about the same time as Hannibal was there. But Il Mostro is fact. And they at one stage arrested one person who... Then they had to turn him loose because of lack of evidence. I think he subsequently died. ...of older age. I think he was in his 70s. But Tom had actually tied Il Mostro in with Pazzi and his demise... ...as an important cop who becomes less important... ...because over the years that was the only celebrated thing he did. So he lost a little bit of his celebrity. And that was increasing his anxiety about the relationship with his wife. But Il Mostro was so complicated a story to tell, which really didn't go anywhere, that eventually we had to cut him out. In fact, the guy that I cast as Il Mostro, who did a good job, he's not an actor, is this guy here, the guy with the lectern, where we bring them together, where we actually see Il Mostro witness Hannibal dealing with Rinaldo Pazzi, hidden in the room behind the curtain, he watches him, but it just kind of got in the way. But this gentleman here was a local guy from Florence, who I cast as a maestro. But too complicated to tell a story at this juncture, so we had to simplify it and thin it out. This room is a set. and which had to look like it's inside the Palazzo Vecchio because we couldn't shoot in the rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was too difficult. By hanging of Judas, his face upturned to the branch that suspends him. Here he is again on the doors of the Benevento Cathedral, this time with his bowels falling out. Ah, commendatory pass.

Sorry. Not at all. Welcome. Please, John. He just works very hard at, you know, like his Italian. He just had a coach and he worked very hard on what was the music or rhythms of ancient Italian. And he did that very well. He does it here, actually. He may have read up on Dante just out of his own interest, but he didn't really have to. It was all... The guy that had to do the research was Tom Harris and then Steve Zellian. Here we have an Italian which I think is rather elegant. I think the pronunciation is slightly more ancient. Beautiful. This is one of my favorite lines of the film. I make my own home be my gallows. There. Now we know Patsy will die. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your kind attention. I've got a funny feeling Patsy thinks he might as well. But by now he's gone beyond the pale. He can only go for it. That gentleman nodded was one of the Capones, the elder son of the ancestors of the Capone Library. So he is now also owner and curator of the Capone Library and the other things. Take your time. Yeah. Allegra, I'll be home just a little later than I said. I'm taking Dr. Fell out for a drink. Yes. I can see the people coming out now. Yes. Bye, honey. My wife. Of course. Oh, I should have shown them this one. I can't imagine... Lightning and the Sequences are here. You know, obviously it's in a room, a scholastic environment. All these rooms in the Palazzo Vecchio are magnificent. They were all the, you know, the palace, I guess, was, I'm not sure, absolutely, but I think it was Parmedici. And so the rooms are stunning. And if you're having a lecture in there, you know, and the room was lit by a projector, then you'd have this kind of almost, you know, candlelight, actually. And add to the mood in the room, I add some candles. They had candles in there, so I just lit them. But they really believe in living with that, you know, culture of their past. They're very conscious of their past and very conscious of what they have around them and how beautiful it all is.

This is the second film I did with John Matheson who did Gladiator. And John is very good at getting everything very near the edge of where all the best stuff is near the edge. And I think this, well the whole film I think is beautiful. But this particular sequence is tricky because it should be low key at the same time. It's got to be amusing. And of course it's dramatic by definition of the situation. Poor old Patsy, a trust like a chicken with tape is great. Because he's also almost comical, tragic figure. Yes, good, thank you. And are his men waiting for me outside? Was that a single blink? Oh, you're confused. But please don't be confused because I may have to fillet... We had to pre-think how would he literally throw him off the balcony that easily. So that's why we created the lectern being brought upstairs to go into the chamber for the lecture on that three-wheeled trolley which actually existed in the Palazzo Vecchio, to move around marble statues and plinths and any heavy object. So we didn't invent this. This actually exists. It became very apparent this is what we should do and how we should deal with Pazzi getting him over the rail. Because you have to start thinking about how on earth am I going to do that? Because it's not that easy. You can't just have Hannibal Lecter physically have to struggle with him to get him over the rail. It just doesn't work dramatically. It's clumsy. Is this Clarice? So here they are together for the first time talking to each other. I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Is he dead? Did you get my note? I hope you like the skin cream I had especially made for you. Is he dead, Dr. Lecter? Clarice, there is nothing in this world that I would love more than to be able to chat with you. Unfortunately, you've got me at an awkward moment. Please forgive me. See you around. An old friend. Okay, hold on. Here we go. Now, because this was a set, this background here is pretty seamless, actually. Green screen. That's real. This is a shot across the balcony of the Plaza Vecchio. Um, so this is real. The shot behind was green screen. I'll go around back. Got it. Killing this rat, too. What's it to be? Bowels in or bowels out? I feel this. Are you confused? I'll decide for you, if you'll permit me. Just make up. You don't need to see that much. It's painful just to watch it. Oh, those guts, you mean? Oh, it went to the butcher shop. Sheep, I think. Now, immediately people don't scream and go, oh, my God. And I originally had it here, the guys, security guys downstairs, one says, students. He actually said fucking students, thinking it was a stunt, until then people go silent and look at it and think, wait a minute, this looks awfully real. So there's a brief hiatus before the panic. And Hannibal works that kind of thing out. He knows if he walks out briskly, he can leave before the hue and cry begins. That's exactly what happens here.

So he's in the room somewhere. Carlo! Carlo! Yes? Good evening. Or even... bad guys. Criminals have family and brothers that they love. So now we have something with a true, something really to settle, a score to settle. I always liked this shot where he comes out of the dark on the close shot. It looks like The way it turns out, he's got little pointy ears. And it looks like Nosferatu. Very spooky. And I love the cut to Mason Verger saying, is that hello or goodbye? And then the scene that follows, which is a transition of, you don't wanna see him coming to the States. You just wanna leave him. ...wonder where he's going to appear next. And so the running, which becomes more about paranoia... ...than anything else, I think worked great. I did this both ways and had him following her. And then found it more frightening... ...the fact that you get a sense of someone that you don't see... Then he's there. Who's that? Then he's not there. But she feels uncomfortable, so she puts on a speed... ...and runs on. Always about things that go bump in the night are always scary in the things you see. So what do you think? Does Lecter want to...? This is one of my favorite Mason-Verger scenes. Certainly his most humorous. Here's what I think. One of the nicest speeches where he talks about the parallel of the fox. Beauty and the beast. Lecter's object, as I know from personal experience, has always been degradation and suffering. I don't get this damn thing off me. I can't breathe it. Talking to Gary. We talked about a man who's educated. Really waspy, if that's the word. Under any normal circumstances by now would have been a senator. Elegant. And, you know, humorous. ...and therefore very, very educated, probably Harvard or Yale... ...or, you know, one of the great Ivy League universities. When the fox hears the rabbit scream, he comes a-running. But not to help. Perfect, isn't it? Perfect accent. almost an element of English about it as if he'd spent time, probably was on an exchange between Harvard and Oxford or something. I don't understand why she didn't turn this over. I mean, she's such a straight arrow. I love this view. This giant battlement just speaks of huge amounts of money. And there he is sitting sadly in this little old bath chair with his little sunshade on. So what do you think? I think you'd have been better off if you never got her out of trouble in the first place. What do you think about the money? Five. What I like about Mr. Verger is it doesn't matter what his condition, he's always ready to go. He's always on everything. Oddly enough, he's a character who's kind of quite evil, but is very much alive. It'll work. Won't be pretty. Whatever is.

William Blake. I think that painting is entitled Ghost of a Flea. And I don't think people will go right over people's heads, but if you ever get a chance to see the painting, it's beautiful. Small painting of a man, very powerful man, naked man, but has got a rib, has got a spine, spinal column that is rather protruding and makes him almost look like you imagine a human being if he was part flea part human being would look like but it's an extraordinary piece of anatomy it's the kind of car that hannibal might have bought so it was carefully chosen probably by mason verger medical benefits surrender your weapons and your identification to agent pearsall

I want to say something. I think I'm entitled. Go ahead. I think Mr. Mason Verger is trying to capture Dr. Lecter for the purposes of personal revenge. I think Mr. Krendler is in collusion with him and wants the FBI's efforts against Dr. Lecter to work for Mr. Verger. I think Mr. Krendler is being paid to do this. You're lucky you're not sworn here today, Starling. Swear on me! You swear, too! Clarice, if the evidence is lacking, you'll be entitled to full reinstatement without prejudice. If. You don't do or say anything in the meantime that would make that impossible. Relieved of field duty pending an internal investigation into the charges, Special Agent Clarice Starling, a ten-year veteran on the Bureau, began her career with an assignment to interview lethal madman Hannibal Lecter. Earlier today we heard comments... So now we have the beginning of seeing how Crandall loves the publicity, loves to be in the spotlight. But in defense, here he says, but she's the best agent we've ever had. And it's far too soon to judge her. And of course, by saying that, he already has. And this was always, this came as an afterthought in the editing when we thought, well, instead of seeing him fly there on a plane, the sound just goes silent. And we think, oh, he's being watched. And sure enough, Here he is. The dog knows better than to mess around with Hannibal Lecter. Even though his attempts at being a guard dog are kind of sweet rather than aggressive, he's definitely intimidated. He can't even bark properly. The barking is kind of half-hearted. And the only reason for this was trying to find a way Certainly something a sequence puzzling before you question thing. What was that about and Of course, it's about like all these people possibility that Crandall may have a second home Is it so I think Hannibal had just gone in there to wander around the house See if any information maybe has to do it there, but because he has somewhere else Probably the family house probably his parents house originally I He decides that will be it because it's not too far out of town. We still don't know what he's headed for, what he's up to. He's planning. He always plans. Every step he takes is thought out very, very carefully. I tried putting a siren on the door there because most people missed the point and he locked the guy into the refrigerator. And of course those fridges would have a little just for this event, we'll have a little siren, which will get louder and louder and louder, because otherwise the guy's gonna freeze to death. But people miss that. Besides, I tried to put the siren on, but it interrupted the flow and interrupted the beauty of the music. And I love the beauty of the music juxtaposed next to this beginning of this rather bad behavior that's about to happen. or retribution, depending which way you wanna look at it. I chose, deliberately chose a rather ordinary, insignificant wagon, station wagon that could have been, I figured, I always thought of a gardener, a guy who drives around in this with a, you know, lawn mowers and utensils and implements of gardening. And I mean, no one would even look at him with any interest. I always thought that Anthony wanders around a bit like a guy who, you know, maintains gardens and things like that. It's an interesting cut because you come straight from his entrance to her entrance. And of course it's a cheat, but some people think that he's in her house. Which he isn't, of course.

And this is the end of her career in the FBI. I doubt she'll ever go back in the FBI. That's it, her life's summed up with a box at this juncture, as most people's lives are. I always had her cleaning the shelves because she's not someone who's gonna sit with her head in her hands, weeping. She's gotta do something. She's a very active individual. And the odd thing, I said, let's do something odd, peculiar. She liked the idea of just cleaning out her shelves or cleaning out her wardrobe. Two deep rollers. Are they young? Their offspring will roll all the way down, hit and die. Agent Starling is a deep roller. That's Hope. One of her parents was not. Now he's in the house.

With these characters you don't address how does he get in? How does he affect an entry? You know, I think he's an expert in all kinds of things. So to see him do that is kind of a waste of shoe leather. You don't need it. You see him, he knows how. I always thought this was a nice touch where you think something. but instead he just moves a lock of hair back from her ear. Now she's safe, you know she's safe. Now the next thing, of course, relates to good shoes, whereas in Silence of the Lambs, it relates to cheap shoes, was it not? Good bag, good perfume, cheap shoes, or good bag, yeah. It relates to a purse, really, what she can afford and what she can't afford. And she's shortchanged herself on the shoes. So this all heads towards him buying her a nice pair of shoes... ...that she'd like her to wear. But he wants to talk to her, because people will say... ..."Well, why didn't he stay in the house if he can affect an entry?" And stay and talk to her there. And I think, because if he had... ...it would have either induced a heart attack on her behalf... or it would have been an impossible discussion. She would have been so afraid and so tense, he wouldn't have been able to talk to her. So he had to let her feel free and let her feel safe by being around other people. The fact of his entry and exit, that was the scary thing for her, that he just walked in like that and walked out. Very good. Thank you. Remember, Clarice, if you get caught with a concealed, unlicensed firearm in the District of Columbia, the penalty is pretty stiff. But bring the guns if you have to. Now get in your car. What's nice about this is that we think that Hannibal maybe is so bold as to follow her in a dark blue van. But then we've forgotten, partly forgotten about those Italians, so I think it's kind of nice when they suddenly appear. So it's always one of those nice moments when you can say as an audience, oh yes, I forgot about them. The reason we're doing it like this Clarice is because I like- Hans' score, which I think is beautiful. And this is the fourth film that I've done with Hans. I think we hear a little bit suggestion of Goldberg variations here. Variations was always part of the book. And because we all loved the idea of the Goldberg variations, that became the seat of the kind of relationship. And so Hans was kind of influenced by that, and sometimes actually simply used it. Your life, Clarice. I thought we might talk about yours. What's the next cross street? Capitol Street. In two blocks, make a left into Union Station Park. My life? What is there to say about mine? I have been in a state of hibernation for some time. If he hadn't been captured, I don't know what his plan was, other than to be close to her so he can talk to her. But he wants to see her. And so this is as close as he may have planned to do, except he had planned the demise of Grendler. And I think he planned her to be there. So quite what was in his mind at this juncture, no one knows, but it's made up for him because he gets taken. Why are you so resented, Clarice? Tell me. Tell you? That guy's an actual person who stands outside that station doing just that. So we had him there for the day. You serve the idea of order. And they, they are actually people who stand outside the station doing, pouring out religious They don't like you because you're not like them. They hate you and they envy you. They are weak and unruly and believe in nothing. Mason Berger wants to kill you, Dr. Lecter. Turn yourself in to me... This is the equivalent of, like, Grand Central Station in Washington. Now, I'd related a lot of this stuff to... stuff in Florence and then also here to... The Third Man, that's one of my favorite films. And I kind of would like this to have been at night. Would have been more dramatic. And I liked it to have been lit so I could control the lighting with such dramatic scale like The Third Man. But we couldn't do that either. We couldn't control it. We couldn't afford to do that. And the amount of lighting it would require to light at night would have been enormous. So that went out the window. But basically, I think it works out fine. It's a very splendid station which has been, I think in recent years, has been completely renovated. So it's quite a showpiece. Like local traveling at its best because you've got all kinds of shops in here, all good, good quality material. Restaurants where they really use the building. It's beautiful. Now, more by intuition than anything, she says she's being followed. When she sees somebody... Three times she starts to figure there's something going on. Do you continue to try to find me knowing that you're... This was in there, this roundabout, when I arrived and I suddenly thought, well, it's not something I would normally have had because it's a bit whimsical, but it stood in there in one corner playing away and I thought it was quite interesting, so I asked for it to stay. Then it gets to a point where Hannibal gets very bold and... He carelessly can't resist touching her. By touching her, he gives himself up. So he's tempted. There we have him touch her hair. She doesn't even feel it. But Carlo sees it. Hiro. Clarice, you were very, very warm. All those things are organic and you develop once you're filming. And I decided that it would be nice if he touched her hair just because he's on the roundabout and she's standing there and she has no idea he's there. So he's now created his own demise. That was the chance he took. And he was wrong. But we're not all perfect. Now, they're gonna use what the police use, which is a taser. Looks like a stun gun on twin wires, which will knock a bull down or a cow down. About 5,000 volts. You have an over-exuberant driver who gets her attention. And there he is. Go!

I don't let actors do their own stunts. It's too dodgy. She slips. But she's an excellent double, so... She did all her own shooting in the fish market and all that stuff. All the running and the rough and tumble, she did all that. But that's a bit tricky. And like all stunts, the closer the better. Think about what you swore. Two men in a van, a third driver, another man down. They put him in the back. I think it was Lecter. I've given you the license plate and I'm reporting it all to you again in front of witnesses. All right. I'll go with it as a kidnapping. I'll send someone out with the local authorities. They'll let us on the property without a warrant. I should go to you. I guess this guy would have been Crawford, yeah? But when it was Scott Glenn, we were... I'm gonna make it slightly larger part, but Scott decided to pass. Thank you, Mr. Verger, for letting us look around. Sorry if we inconvenienced him. Not at all. Minimalized. Happy to see you. Phone. What number, please? So now we have Mason Verger beginning to fulfill his 16-year-old dream. Yeah. They'd have kept him in the van in the village until he called. Bring him home. Bring him home. I found this on the edge of the estate. I love the way of showing how she gets in. Very simply, freeway. It shows that freeways drive over this guy's estate. And there she is going underneath on a back road. and simply pushing, splitting the gate with her car. Rachel Clarice Starling, please leave a message. Pick up, Starling. There was nothing out there. Visual shorthand. Doesn't have to get out. She wouldn't bother. You're Joe Blow. Oh, for your sake, you're in the bathroom. Interesting here that Clarice is terrified of cattle. So when we were doing this shot, the car stalled and she was surrounded by cattle. So we had to go over there and rescue her. I love the beginning of this theme of the Blue Danube, which is really introduced as a piece of music that Mason Verger liked in his house. But now it becomes a perversion of that. If you listen to this carefully, that's already off.

One of my favorite scenes. It's, in a way, tragic at the end... ...because Anthony only says one line, and Kern nails it. Well, I could list its most conspicuous features... ...as that will help jump the memory. And obviously Mason Verger is savoring this moment... ...hoping to see terror, hoping to get pleading for mercy... ...and, of course, gets nothing. So, in a way, it's kind of disappointing. But what else could he expect other than elegant behavior from Hannibal? There's something very moral about Lecter as well. Particularly in this film, the ones who actually meet their demise deserve it. And so he's like the... He distributes justice. He said, I would only touch... He said, I wouldn't harm anyone really but the rude. And then he said, as an afterthought, he says, well... The free-range route, he thought, was quite amusing. But during that time, you'll be able to enjoy the effects of the consumed advertiser or the full-bodied sailing trip. Initially, it was Steve and I. We talked for a month, which is a long time to talk. I don't mean for 20 minutes every day. I mean for hours, where Steve would circumvent circle the problems circle the areas that were possibilities for biting the dust to get to the main plot and main characters um then he went away and got that down which was actually really rather good 135 page screenplay which was too long but it was great it was very entertaining um we had a couple of bridging problems that we didn't like They were fine, but they weren't enough. And so that's when I asked Tom if he'd come in. So Tom came in from Miami. And we sat in a hotel in LA with Tom and Steve, I and Dino. We talked for basically three, four days, just talking through things and different ideas. And at that juncture, we got Tom read the screenplay. So he had thoughts and ideas about various things. The thing at that junction I was never really happy about was what happened after the dining room scene, which was basically kitchen, him letting her go, and that's that. And I felt the kitchen scene at the end had to be dramatized in some way because the dining room was so outrageous. That then becomes the end of the movie and that's dangerous. You can't have that because you're still two or three scenes from resolution. And you don't want the resolution to become, you know, secondary. So that's, we discussed endlessly what could happen in the kitchen after the dining room. And Steve and I had already targeted the child on the jet, which is from, I think, almost the middle of the book, it's when he goes to the United States, to be the last scene. Because it's nice, because it shows him going off, it shows him going somewhere else. And it's a very humorous scene, and therefore, after so much darkness, it's nice to end on a light note, which I thought was good about the first Silence of the Lambs. It's really a nod to that, where I'm just gonna have an old friend for lunch, right? I think that was vaguely the line, and which I thought was a perfect ending for the film. So we went for something similar, something humorous, and actually rather sympathetic. Pigs were difficult because, you know, pigs, like tigers, don't do as they're told. And whilst pigs are trainable, because the sled, the animal trainer guy who does all my stuff is saying that he believes that pigs are as smart as a... as a smart dog, so are very trainable, whereas tigers aren't. So they're done with tigers and gladiator. So pigs were, on a given signal, would do certain things. And they're, because they're smart, you know, they get their eye on you, and you look at them in the eye, and you kind of start to like them. They're kind of sweet. Beautiful woman. You ready? In Italian, I thought of putting that as subtitles, boom. She doesn't really screw around. And that's what FBI do. They would never, I'd say, well, how about in the second, if I shoot him in the leg, they'd say, uh-uh, she might miss. In this instance, she'd go for the largest part of the target, which is basically body, ribcage. They wouldn't even go for a headshot, you see. You can miss, and if you miss, you're in trouble. I'll shoot you. Understood. Do right and you'll live through this. Spoke like a true Protestant. Better hurry. This might go faster if you hand me the knife. There was a third in the loft. No, Clarice. Behind me. The only reason she hadn't been shot at was she was hidden by the upright of the... the forklift.

Now, people say, well, why don't the pigs go for Hannibal? I say, because he's still and because, like that Somalian in the marketplace in Florence, as he walked past him, he felt him and would leave him be. And so I think the pigs are sending the pig just leave him be. It's an animal intuition, instinct. Kordell, shoot him! Get the gun and shoot him! Go into the pan? Yes! No, I'm staying out. You're involved, is what you are, in all of it! Now do it! Yes! Hey, Kordell! Why didn't you push him in? You can always say it was me. Kordell? People saying, How could Cordell be so ruthless? And I said, well, don't we need more bad blood between Cordell and Mason Verger? But I said, no, because that one line, when Cordell says to Mason Verger, I want to stay because I thought I might be useful. And he says, you can be useful by saying about my lunch. I think summarizes everything. Clearly, Cordell's a doctor who's given his life up, probably for money. to Mason Verger. So again, someone has given himself up to corruption, to money. And therefore, Cordell, of course, can walk away, drive away from here and we'll never see him again. So, in a way, this has become his, not retribution, but absolution. The transition of the drive, which I wanted to be romantic, but I felt, I don't know why, I felt it should be like underwater. And so, The sequence was done very simply. We just shot it in the car. Half of the windows, I wound the windows up there in Hannibal, so the windows are reflecting the lit trees. There's no opticals involved. And we speeded up the movement forward through the windscreen. So it almost becomes, it looks like algae, doesn't it? Looks like you're going underwater. She's on a trip because of her wound. and because the operation. And here we have... Yeah, Mary, it's me. I decided to take off early. I'll be at my lake house all weekend. I don't want any calls... I'm not sure people recognize this is the same location that Hannibal is, do they? They don't recognize it, and yet it's exactly the same shot. And it always puzzled me they don't respond to this when they see the same pan and go, oh, my God, they don't get it. It's odd.

He thinks this is a surprise party or something. Friends. That's why he laughs. Fourth of July. That's indicated by the sparkler. Good, you brought the wine. Oh, God!

By now, I was feeling very insecure... ...about the fact I'm heading to the most difficult scene in the film... ...which, by definition of the way it plays, is static. But I had to trust to the outrageous target at the end of it all. And also, I think, to the good dialogue from, you know... ...of course, Thomas Harris and then Steve Zalian's adaptation... You know, above all things, it had to be amusing. I said, this has got to be funny. Funny may be a strong word, amusing. Witty is the target. And of course, Julianne here is looking very, very, the best she's ever looked in the film, despite the wound on her shoulder. I always thought it was trying to induce the idea of this kind of implicit sexuality. throughout the movie, which in some ways is very easy with Julianne, because that's what she is. She's a very, very, very, very attractive, feminine, very feminine person, but also strong. And to try and suggest the idea that there was this sexuality, although never, ever consummated in any way, but maybe by thought, possibly with Hannibal, was always interesting. He'd been, he'd prepared the idea obviously for dinner and obviously planned that she would be witness to this because I think he went and bought that dress. Also the fact that he, to do the operation, stripped her, okay, is also something to bear in mind. But all those things are off camera, which I think is always the best way.

Now he's amused by this because he deliberately left all the clues for her. He figured she'd do that. So now, true to form, he knows he's probably got about 18 minutes, within which time he has to do what he must do and get out of her. He's already got his exit plan, which I think was a very simple one. Not a car, but a bicycle, where he'd walk across through the woods pick up the bike he left there and cycle off down the road. By the time the police discovered he'd gone, they're looking for a car on the road, not a guy on a bicycle in a black suit. And by the time they pin him down, think about it, your ease of movement on foot with a bicycle, a mountain bike is far more efficient than being on a road where they very simply roadblock everything. I think he's even planned where he would go next. In my opinion, he may even have Barney ...partly in mind he may stay with Barney. He knows he'll never get out of this country on a jet. Certainly in the next few weeks. You should never ask. It spoils the surprise. I had a brain surgeon present throughout the whole thing... ...who was amused to be there. And also it was nice to say, well, that wouldn't happen or that would happen. What he's got now is pretty accurate. Because when you get most forms of brain surgery... They like the patient to be awake and they want to talk to him during surgery for obvious reasons. Because they can hear something going off if it's going off. So normally when you lie on the table, you lie on the table with a division between you and the surgeon and the cloth protecting you from having to witness anything. by reflection of the operation that's going inside your cranium. But they talk to them during the operation. Does that hurt? No. Do you feel it? Yeah. He's got his whole lid off. And I think they give him 65 shots of I call it Novocaine. It's not Novocaine. It's something which is a blood thickener around in the cranium. They make a mark in like a sharpie of where the They're gonna saw. Then they put 65 shots, I think, every centimeter around, which numbs the skull, numbs the upper half, thickens the blood, because the head bleeds like a pig. If you have it bashed your head, you notice how you bleed? So you gotta watch that as well. So they slow down, they thicken the blood. Then he just saws, lifts it off like a hat. And they set the sword to a certain depth so you don't touch the brain. The brain is actually protected inside a sac, which is called the meniscus. So I used two brains, which is actually two sheep's brains I put together in the cranium. And actually, the surgeon said, asked me where I got the human brain. I said, I paid 20 bucks for it. He couldn't believe me. So I said, actually, it's just joking. It's two sheep's brains. He said, good Lord. He said, there's the meniscus he's cutting. He said, that's totally, he said, that's what I was doing this morning. You said it already. Oh, now you're being rude, and I hate rude people. Drink your broth like a good boy. Come on. Sit. Oh, this is not very good, buddy. I admit I added something to yours, perhaps it's clashing with the cumin, but I assure you the next course is to die for.

Come on. That's a good girl. Good. He's going down in age group rapidly now. He's probably around about eight years old at this... No, he's five years old at this moment.

And this is always the moment which is, I think people think, you're not going to do that, are you? And then we did. And there it is. That's real. I mean, organic. It's not prosthetic. That's sheep's. Which is the part of the prefrontal lobe, which they say is the seat of good manners. And the brain has no feelings in it. There's no, at the front, there is no nerves. There's no nerves. How does that word taste to you, Clarice? Cheap and metallic? Of course, ironically, something as beautiful and cool and icy as Goldberg Variations. You'd better not try to join in at all. Paul, I'm starving. Which is probably playing in the room somewhere. Here. Here's the... Here's the meniscus. ...back that contains the brain. I would really like some water.

Ironically, there's a kind of perverse logic to all of this. But rather than having her eat his brain... ...as a warrior might, might eat the liver of or eat which they're doing... ...historically, traditionally used to do that. Many tribes used to do that. That's how cannibalism came about. He makes Krendler eat his own brain. He hasn't forgotten the time. And there's a chopper, you can hear a chopper circling it probably a mile. Given the chance, you would deny me my life, wouldn't you? Not your life. My freedom, just that. You take that from me. This is where you need to keep everything, the interest between these two characters in the story really flying, because people assume this is the end, I think. They sense the ending. Here you give Paisley a great compliment. Incorruptibility. This is his real declaration of what he feels about her. What you would need for that, Clarice, is a mirror. So there you have the theme that Hans puts in, which becomes emotional, actually. It's about respect. Remember what I said. If you can't be polite to our guests, you have to sit at the kiddies' table. Don't get up, Jerry. Paul will help me clear and make the coffee. Just think about it. She knows he's dead now, that guy says. Crandall would die. Again, I didn't want to disturb the tone of the film by making police cars rushing and noisy engines and talk back. So even the police... are viewed as being romantic with the soundtrack. I like the shot of the bridge and the score with it. Here he is tidying up because he's a very neat man. Of course, he's taking something else for the journey. Right. I came halfway around the world to watch you run, Clarence. You know, the behavior of Hannibal through this... is never insane. And I think that one of the areas that was in the book, which is kind of an interesting read, but gave us an excuse for Hannibal as to his behavior, which was the demise of the sister. And I didn't want to use that because I always figured Hannibal's a force of nature. He is what he is. He's in our normal terms, normal possession, truly evil. Does he think he's insane? No. I think he's saner than you or I. He just likes it. Not in a thousand years. And that's the right answer. Because had she said, oh, yes, I'll do anything you want right now, he may have actually killed her. The fact she still resists, still keeps her distance from him is what keeps her safe. And this was always a bone of contention. Now, that's really interesting. I wanted to always do this, and they didn't. Because I think they imagined seeing a wrist coming off and, you know, blood and gore, and I said, no, no, it's not like that. It's about sacrifice and demonstration and affection. Right? Right now, he would take a wrist right off because he now knows he's got to leave. Above or below the wrist? She still gives the right answer. Absolutely nothing. No, please, nothing. So right there, he's... Right now, he's decided whose it will be. So I definitely think he's heading to Barney. I think he's one of those people who can sublimate pain... Switch it out, you know what I mean? Turn a key and deal with it. Again, he'd always planned this, the possibility of the boat. Would he have used it? No. He'd have turned the boat loose and ridden off in the other direction with the bike. So he's staying to plan. Right here is giving him minutes, seconds to disappear, disappear, disappear.

by the time the police say he's not here to the chopper, go and look, he's already four or five minutes gone. And it's as if he planned this as a thank you, Clarice, but it just happens to happen at that moment. So all those things are secondary questions and thoughts. I may not have done that because it may have looked too much, But now it's ironic. It kind of works. And plays into the romantic thematic. But those are things you hold back with until you see it all there. Then you say, uh-oh, take it out. Or, by God, it works. Keep it. This is the only thing that tells you, ah, he removed his own hand. Good God. But you've seen her earlier, so you've had time to think about that. Because somebody asked me, why didn't you show the wrist coming off? And I said, because... It would have been so shocking, you wouldn't have believed it. You needed actually to dwell on that, see the empty pier, see her walk out, look and say, he cut his hand off. Then you've had time to think about that emotionally till you get to here. So you've settled down again. These are figs. And that? This? That I don't think you would like. It looks good. Oh, it is good. Can I have some? So here we're playing his theme underneath coming through. I couldn't eat what they gave me. Now should you? It isn't even food as I understand the definition, which is why I always bring my own. So which would you like to try? Ah. Well, I suppose it's all right. After all, as your mother tells you, my mother certainly told me, it is important, she always used to say, always to try new things. Open up. It was an experience that I always looked forward to, to working at some point with Anthony Hopkins. who's, you know, one of our master craftsmen in this business in terms of his real virtuoso. And I never really thought it would be this, actually. So when it came up, I was kind of hoping that the book would be interesting enough to really, you know, get me on board. And, of course, it was. And so this was another one of the driving forces to actually make me want to do it, is going to work with Hopkins. And it turned out to be just as much of a pleasure as I imagined it would be. It was one of the more unusual experiences of my career... ...in that Anthony is so specific and so talented. It's a very easy ride. It was great fun, and I thank him.

Ta-ta.