Spoiler warning.......the end of the book Clarice saves lector, and after he saves her she realizes that Lector was her lamb and she was always his, they fall in love and run off together! Knowing the FBI will never have her back, true love. Awesome ending compared to the horrible film ending of lector eating brains on a plane with some oriental child. How stupid
shareLol you think them falling in love was logical or that it would've worked on screen? I highly doubt it would've been believable.
shareRead the book, it makes perfect sence. She saved him from mason, hence he was the lamb, and she fell in love with him because he saved her also. She was done with the FBI as they betrayed her. Again you must read the book to understand how this ending is perfect.
shareI completely agree with you. The book is soooo good. Harris spent over ten years writing it and it is so rich and full of detail. I abolutely recommend everyone who likes Hannibal Lecter to read the book.
Ridley Scott did not make the book justice at all making the movie, Hannibal. He focused too much on the gore and violence. To be honest Ridley Scott has not really impressed much since Gladiator.
The only ending for Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Sterling is what is described in the book. People must read it to understand instead of just hearing about it. ;-)
It's been a over a decade since I read the book. I read the book before the film was released. But I remember how powerful and how everything got tied neatly together. Clarice and Hannibal were each other's Lamb, they both saved each other and both fell deep in love because of this. I think Jody Foster is a horrible actress and could not get past her lesbianism to believably portray the roll.
shareI haven't read the book, but based on your post, I suspect they would need a different cast to perform it on-screen. Anthony Hopkins in 2001 was simply too old for Julianne Moore.
shareI totally agree with AxeMan!
The book’s ending is REALLY good, and as he said – you have to read it to fully understand whats happening between Lecter and Clarice.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
But I must point out one thing that AxeMan doesn’t tell you. That when Clarice have rescued Hannibal she’s fatally injured and Hannibal takes her unconcsious body to his house (a rented house) were he have her drugged for days and slowly hypnotise her etc. It’s like he’s transforming her like his own claydoll. She also takes a bite of Paul Krendlers brain at the infamous dinnertable.
So its not like she ”just falls in love” with Lecter.
The books epiloge is also really cool – the night at the opera :)
If the film had gone along for this ending the film would have been as great as a sequel the same way Indiana Jones and the temple of doom is a 5 star sequel in that sense that it's familiar to the first film but totally different in tone and story.
There do seem to be elements of this as part of the Bedelia character in the TV version, which I think is incredible and detailed
shareThe book ending was horrible, this is one time when a movie improved what was done in the book. The latter ruined both Clarice and Letter.
Superman & Wonder Woman
I completely agree with MydnightRose. The book was an overblown, pretentious waste of time, with an asinine ending, and, as much as I enjoyed his first two Hannibal novels, this one put me off Thomas Harris for life. (And didn't I read somewhere that the ending of the book was why Jodie Foster wouldn't do this movie?)
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."
why did Thomas Harris mess up so bad?
shareClarice was to Law & Order, level headed, morally good to allow Lector to go unpunished. Lector was too mentally ill to stop being what he was, she could never fall in love with him without being insane herself.
Only way it would work , is if Lector destroyed her mind,basically killing who she was and all she worked & stood for.
Row well and Live,41
Firstly, no it's not. You clearly do not appreciate the power and visceral qualities of cinema to say such a thing. Second, even if the book were better, a hundred times better? This is the kind of thing a narcissistic eight year old boy would say. "My dad is a hundred times stronger than your dad!" I mean really dude, give me a break. I think you need to start picking apart your own thoughts and behaviour rather than throwing shade at a legendary director like Ridley Scott. Get a grip kid.
shareLol! I don't know why some people are making the ending of the book sound beautiful and lovely. They read a different version than I did. He keeps Starling drugged and brainwashes her over a period of time. The ending was gruesome and vile...and it was a perfect ending because it shows how brilliant and truly evil Lector was.
shareI have seen the Silence of the Lambs a handful of times, whereas I watch Hannibal at least twice a year. It's subtle, beautifully shot, and the characters are fleshed out better. I don't read novels so was unaware of the change in ending but I agree it sounds like one of the few times the movie gets it right.
I really don't get all the hate for this film, surely that should be reserved for that hamfisted, badly acted mess that was "Hannibal Rising" or the pointless remake of Manhunter in "Red Dragon".
"Well, let's not start suckin' each others dicks just yet......"
IMHO, the movie The Silence of the Lambs is superior to Hannibal overall, while agreeing 100% with your appreciation of Hannibal's cinematic beauty. It has classical class, definitely including the soundtrack, a quality hardly found in movies at any time in history, especially now.
shareI TOTALLY disagree with the OP! One reason I sort of enjoyed the movie is that my expectations were incredibly low after reading that horrible sequel. Starling falling in love with him (by the way, it's Lecter not Lector), knowing what a monster he is? That was so over the top that it was beyond ridiculous!
shareYou just hit on the head exactly why I absolutely hated the book. Starling did nothing but earn my respect through "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal", then for no reason whatsoever Harris choked and completely destroyed her character at the end. And for what? NOTHING! What a jackass.
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."
You could almost feel Harris's publishers breathing down his neck pressuring him to finish with the sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs". He was just going through the motions and it showed. It's hard to imagine that you or I could have written a worse sequel.
shareYou must be crazy...
shareI don't know why people seem to not understand the ending of the book. Lecter spent months drugging and brainwashing Clarice. He understood what drove her and what her needs were and he reformed her psyche so that she would love him she didn't fall for him. Its a very chilling and incredibly evil thing that Lecter does and Clarice is his ultimate victim.
sharethis ^
shareFalse. Clarice isnt brainwashed. She accepts him wholeheartedly.
share