While the enduring popularity of Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar-winning performance as cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 filmThe Silence of the Lambshas certainly brought residual attention to Lecter’s first film appearance, in Michael Mann’s 1986 filmManhunter, over the past thirty years, there are still doubtlessly many people who are unaware ofManhunter, in which Lecter is played by Brian Cox, whose brilliant performance as Lecter is more compelling than that of Hopkins.
Cox’s and Hopkins’ respective approaches to the role of Lecter are entirely different, as Cox’s clinical, no-nonsense portrayal of Lecter inManhunterrepresents a stark contrast to the ghoulish theatrics that define Hopkins’ performance inThe Silence of the Lambs, as well as its 2001 sequelHannibaland the 2002 pseudo-ManhunterremakeRed Dragon.
Moreover, whileThe Silence of the Lambs, both the film and Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel of the same name, largely revolves around the relationship between Lecter and FBI trainee Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster,Manhunterfeatures an interconnected triangular dynamic between Lecter, former FBI profiler Will Graham, played by William Petersen, and serial killer Francis Dollarhyde, whose freakish appearance and gruesome pathology makes Lecter, whom Dollarhyde idolizes, seem almost mild in comparison.
Brian Cox: The Real Hannibal Lecter
While Brian Cox’s Hannibal Lecter, spelled Lecktor inManhunter, isn’t the main character inManhunter, as indeed Cox only has three prominent scenes in the film, Cox’s Lecter nonetheless functions inManhunteras a kind of psychic intermediary in the movie between former FBI profiler Will Graham and Graham’s quarry, the monstrous Francis Dollarhyde, also known as The Tooth Fairy due to Dollarhyde’s penchant for biting his victims, who eventually exchanges coded messages with Lecter regarding Graham.
Unlike the campy, pantomimic manner of Anthony Hopkins’ Lecter,Cox’s Lecter appearsinManhunteras an expressionless, hardened, mordant prisoner who has been transformed, through incarceration, into a canny master criminal, as evidenced by how Cox’s Lecter is able to obtain, from his cell, Will Graham’s home address, which Lecter then attempts to share with Dollarhyde, who refers to himself as Lecter’s avid fan.
Moreover, Hopkins’ over-the-top approach to playing Lecter, especially inHannibalandRed Dragon, makes Hopkins’ Lecter much less believable than Cox’s Lecter, as it’s much easier to accept the idea that Cox’s Lecter was a brilliant, respected psychiatrist who was able to maintain the guise of being a fairly ordinary human being until his murderous identity was revealed.
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Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham: A Special Relationship
InManhunter, which is based on Thomas Harris’s 1981 novelRed Dragon, former FBI profiler Will Graham, who entered retirement after a previous violent encounterwith Hannibal Lecterthat resulted in Lecter’s capture, agrees to exit retirement to help catch a serial killer called The Tooth Fairy and decides to visit Lecter in Lecter’s mental hospital cell to ask for Lecter’s unique insight regarding the Tooth Fairy’s psychological motivation.
Graham possesses the uncanny ability to think like a serial killer, which is how he caught Lecter, who looks at Graham and sees a reflection of himself, as Brian Cox’s Lecter seems to be alternately fascinated and perplexed as to why Graham won’t join Lecter over on the dark side, where Lecter clearly believes Graham belongs.
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Indeed, while Lecter undoubtedly harbors resentment and a sense of wounded pride over being captured and seemingly outsmarted by Graham, it is Graham’s resistance to cross over to the so-called dark side that ultimately inspires Lecter to want to punish Graham, who seems to be genuinely disturbed, if not terrified, by how attuned Lecter seems to be to Graham’s murderous thoughts.
Moreover, in attempting to facilitate the murder of Graham’s wife and son, which is an action that Hopkins’ Lecter would have found, to quote Clarice Starling, rude, Cox’s Lecter seems to believe that if Graham’s wife and son are murdered, maybe then Graham will embrace evil.
The Michael Mann Effect
WhileManhuntermarked Michael Mann’s third feature directorial outing, following the 1981 action thriller filmThiefand the peculiar 1983 supernatural horror filmThe Keep, Mann was best known in the 1980s as the producer of the pastel-colored NBC crime drama television seriesMiami Vice, which clearly influenced the look and tone ofManhunter.
LikeMiami Vice, the visual style ofManhunteris dictated by abundant use of color cues and tints, as Mann and cinematographer Dante Spinotti utilized cool blue tones for the scenes between Graham and his wife, while subversive colors, mainly greens and magentas, were used to denote malevolence, specifically regarding the scenes with serial killer Francis Dollarhyde.
However, as the film’s heavy emphasis on both period music and stylistic visuals does indeed sometimes become overbearing and certainly datesManhunteras much any film from its era, the overarching hallmark of Mann’s direction ofManhunter, and the rest of Mann’s now mythic filmmaking career, is the exhaustive research that Mann undertakes to achieve a breathtaking level of authenticity in his films, as evidenced by the approximately six-year gap between the theatrical release ofManhunter, which was a commercial failure, and the release of Mann’s next film, the 1992 historical dramaThe Last of the Mohicans.
Moreover, whileManhunteris certainly a film of distinctive style,Manhunteris also, likeThiefand Mann’s epic 1995 filmHeat, a film of great emotion, intelligence, and substance, as indeedManhunterpowerfully illustrates how, in a Michael Mann film, style invariably becomes substance.
