Just finish watching it and despite the appearances of Starling being an overly beautiful young FBI agent and Hopkins being an Elder psychopath. There isnt really much reason why Hannibal would be interested in Clarice, she doesnt reach his level of intellect. She’s quite clumsy, innocent, and immature. It wouldnt make sense what attracts Hannibal to her.
shareOh please, straight men aren't that picky. Even if they themselves are highly intelligent and sophisticated, they will definitely notice women who arent anywhere near their own level of brilliance.
And that's straight men who haven't been in prison for years! No, Lechter's interest in Starling is all too believable. She was pretty enough to appeal to his libido, and innocent enough to appeal to his sadistic side.
I dont buy it. Especially real intelligent men. For starters Lector has fine taste and it’s extremely discipline. If it were just pretty and innocent he could’ve satisfied that very easily when he got out but instead he sort of continued to obsess about her and never has another love interest. Very poorly written. It is supposed to be a given that she is a challenge but that challenge never rose. And that added lib where he cut off his arm? Come on what intelligent man would do that?
shareOkay, I've never seen the sequel all the way through so I can't really comment on Lechter's post-prison obsession.
But the relationship presented in SotL was totally believable: a sadistic man who'd been in prison for years got a chance to mindfuck a pretty young woman. And he went for it. It works.
Well you wouldnt want to watch the rest. Hannibal is a character not a one movie role. Nor is Clarice. So to put them all together in just this film belittles them and makes you unknowledable about situation. Hannibal just wasnt some horny convict out to get a piece. If Clarice wasnt an FBI agent I doubt she wouldve interest him at all.
shareIn SotL Hannibal was both presumably horny after being in prison for so long, and absolutely positively definitely bored out of his skull. Of course he'd take any chance he got to interact with an attractive woman with some neurons at her disposal, especially if there was a way to mess with her mind or hurt her! That was as good as prison life got!
If you want to discuss "Hannibal", there's always the "Hannibal" board.
Again your seeing far too short into the Hannibal character. He routinely rejected guests and wasnt so easily persuaded. By your logic they shouldve sent in a couple of hookers and be would’ve been singing his soul.
shareIt's my understanding that hookers don't play the sort of mind games Lechter liked, that they may pretend to be the sort of person their clients want them to be, but they never ever reveal their true selves or real feelings on the job. Lechter wouldn't be interested in anyone who was... faking it.
Obviously, the reason that he was interested in Starling was because she, out of a sense of duty and of her own free will, agreed to LET him try to mess with her mind. He couldn't do that with the stolid prison guards or canny criminal psychologists that were his usual company, of course he refused to interact with people who offered zero entertainment value. But Starling intrigued both his libido and his sadistic side, and even if she was his intellectual inferior he seemed to derive great pleasure from breaking through the defenses of someone who knew exactly what he was doing and who was actively trying to control the process. He loved to play mind games, and she was offering him the best and most multi-layered game he'd had in years. Honestly, if you don't understand that, you don't get this movie at all.
You first made it seem like he was after his libido and masochistic side. What more than a hooker? Now you say he wants a challenge and entertainment but stating hookers hide their true feelings. What more challenging then? You say Lector wouldnt be interested in anyone who was faking it. But how would he know if Clarice was a fake? You think hookers hide their true feelings imagine an FBI Agent. On top of the fact that he did catch her red handed lying to him about the benefits, vacation beach an hour a day. She also tested him in the early going which he didnt like. You again, on perception make it seem like he’s a teenager looking for fun. Lector hated guests and routinely rejected psychologists and interviews which is why it was so strange he accepted her and was offended she wasnt even FBI but a trainee. In your theories you conveniently leave out the history and future of the characters to your own fantasy.
shareFeel free to explain what you think was going through Lechter's head when he looked out of his cell and saw Clarice.
I think it was a mixture of cruelty, contempt, a desperation to relieve boredom, opportunism, libido, interest in the case he'd never admit to, and plain old trolling.
I think through and through he saw her as an easy way to escape. Seducing her to facilitate it and being part of the grand master plan all along.
shareOh yeah, I include that in the "opportunism" listed above. He saw her and the BB case as a path to either a better quality of life, or escape.
Plus he liked being able to genuinely mess with someone's mind for a change.
I think you're misreading things. Her innocence is exactly what he finds attractive.
shareMaybe in this one but later she matures and still seems attractive to her.
shareJodie Foster didn't come back b/c of what they wanted to do (and did) with Starling and that relationship.
What did they do? Or what was she against? Since they really didnt mingle much.
shareJodie Foster was very opposed to the original ending of the novel. Here's a short summary:
Lecter captures Krendler (played by Ray Liotta in the film) and lobotomizes him. Lecter and Starling eat Krendler's prefrontal cortex before Lecter kills him. Starling undresses and offers her breast to Lecter, which he accepts. The two then become lovers and disappear together.
Yes, but even after they rewrote the script a few times, she didn't want to do it. Starling was never portrayed as she had been in the first film.
shareI think the whole movie wasnt that similar to the first and never actually liked Hopkins accepting this especially since it left the character so much though of course it was a huge success but he did this inferior work and objected Rising which was far superior even than Silence.
shareI can see why Foster wouldn't want to do the sequel. I see Starling as someone who'd die before she let Lechter genuinely corrupt her, and Foster may feel the same.
shareCorrupt? But there were hints of Clarence genuinely falling for Hannibal in Silence. I dont think he was actually corrupting towards but quite gentle it is like a Romance Novel.
shareYes, there were hints that Starling was being genuinely swayed by Lechter in SotL; she knew she was being manipulated and responded to the manipulation against her better judgement, and knowing that it was manipulation throughout. The relationship between Starling and Lechter was a battle of wills and wits, in which falling for the other meant defeat. Starling sort of won the battle in the first film, which is why I hate to think of her losing in the second round.
I've never been able to watch the second through to the end, dont they have Starling participating in a murder of his? Or two? Because if she did, that's corruption with a capital C.
Yea the lebotomy was gross and I always hated that they added that and its a shame Moore went into that even after seeing the stellar originator denied that.
But also I dont see how Foster wouldve ever accepted Lector ending up with her seeing how she’s a dyke and it’s her biggest role.
I don't think his interest is sexual. I think he is far beyond that level of thinking. There is something about her which still connects with his more human side and I think that is what he enjoys or what we are supposed to think he enjoys. Perhaps he sees her as a protege or daughter figure?
In spanish they translate the title to innocence and I think that is exactly what interests him about her. In innocence, naiveness, youth.
shareLecter was intrigued enough to help Clarice because he saw she was not motivated by any selfish reasons for solving the case such as ego, notoriety, or career advancement, but an altruistic desire to do good stemming from past childhood trauma. He saw this purity and was almost in awe of it.
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