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‘Hannibal’ Premiere Preview: Dr. Lecter Gets a Taste of Europe

MAY 29, 2015 | 10:34AM PT
Laura Prudom
News Editor
@lauinla

After more than a year’s absence from our screens, NBC’s “Hannibal” makes its long-anticipated return on June 4, and Bryan Fuller’s macabre masterpiece is every bit as atmospheric, operatic and opulent in its third season.

Following season two’s finale bloodbath, Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) has escaped America with his former therapist Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson), and taken up residence in Europe, where our charismatic cannibal has wasted no time sampling the local cuisine. Freed from the pretense of his psychiatric practice and cat-and-mouse game with the FBI, season three’s Hannibal is an altogether different beast, unrestrained and unabashed in his impulses — which is bad news for anyone he invites for dinner.

SEE MORE:‘Hannibal’ Cast Takes Us Inside Bloody Season 3

In Variety’s exclusive sneak peek from the season three premiere, “Antipasto,” we find Hannibal and Bedelia living a fairytale existence in Italy — but can the troubled pair find a happily ever after?


“Hannibal” season three premieres Thursday, June 4 at 10 p.m. on NBC.

SEE MORE:‘Hannibal’ Casts ‘The Hobbit’ Star Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde

FILED UNDER: Gillian AndersonHannibalMads MikkelsenNBC

Hannibal showrunner criticizes TV's rape scene epidemic
Bryan Fuller explains why he avoids rape scenes—and defends 'Game of Thrones'
BY JAMES HIBBERD • @JAMESHIBBERD


Posted May 28 2015 — 6:41 PM EDT

Bryan Fuller’s acclaimed NBC thriller Hannibal is arguably the darkest, most gruesome, most operatically violent show on television. Yet there is one all-too-common act of assault that Fuller has long promised he would not depict, despite its seemingly increasing ubiquitousness on other shows. With Hollywood increasingly under fire for using rape storylines (such as on shows like ABC’s Scandal, The CW’s Reign, Netflix’ House of Cards, HBO’s Game of Thrones and others—to mention most broadcast network crime dramas), we spoke to Fuller about his reasons for the self-imposed ban and how his a stance is now being challenged by his own show’s upcoming third season as he tells the story of Thomas Harris’ tortured serial killer Red Dragon (played by The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage). Amid a sea of stark, tweet-length opinions about rape on TV and cautious silence from most industry executives, Fuller offers a candid and thoughtful view of a challenging and controversial creative issue.

Entertainment Weekly: You’ve had a ban on telling rape stories on Hannibal…
Bryan Fuller: It’s one of the things on the show that we really wanted to avoid. They’re ubiquitous on television, and there’s an entire series [NBC’s Law & Order: SVU] that’s about rape. It was challenging approaching the Red Dragon story because the crimes that Francis Dolarhyde commits [in the novel] include the horrible raping of corpses, and near-corpses. In crafting the story arc of the Red Dragon, it became a challenge on how to keep true to the novel but deemphasize the exploitive qualities of woman being raped. That was one of the big challenges in terms of how do we keep our promise [to not tell rape stories] to our audience—which is largely female—and also service the novel. It became a tricky matter of deemphasizing women being targeted, and making more pronounced the crimes against the victim’s family as a whole. We didn’t wanna glorify it—well, not “glorify,” because I don’t think any of the crime procedural shows are actually “glorifying” rape. But it is certainly explored so frequently that it rarely feels genuine.

So rape will still take place, but it will be merely suggested?
You will have to read between the lines. It happens, but it’s a horrible cherry on top of the shitty sundae of crimes committed against a family.

What bothers you about the way other shows approach this subject?
There are frequent examples of exploiting rape as low-hanging fruit to have a canvas of upset for the audience. The reason the rape well is so frequently used is because it’s a horrible thing that is real and that it happens. But because it’s so overexploited, it becomes callous. That’s something I can’t derive entertainment from as an audience member – and I’m the first person in the audience for Hannibal. My role, as a showrunner, is to want to watch the show we’re creating. And if something feels exploitative or unnecessary, I’ll try to avoid it.



“A character gets raped” is a very easy story to pitch for a drama. And it comes with a stable of tropes that are infrequently elevated dramatically, or emotionally. I find that it’s not necessarily thought through in the more common crime procedurals. You’re reduced to using shorthand, and I don’t think there can be a shorthand for that violation— it’s an incredibly personal and intimate betrayal of something that should be so positive and healthy. And it’s frequently so thinly explored because you don’t have the real estate in 42 minutes to dig deep into what it is to be a victim of rape. It appears over and over again in crime procedurals without upping the ante and without exploring everything that happens. All of the structural elements of how we tell stories on crime procedurals narrow the bandwidth for the efficacy of exploring what it is to go through that experience.

And I’m saying this as somebody who can derive immense entertainment from cannibalism – there’s an irony to cannibalism that I find horrific and amusing. I can totally get behind cannibalism and have fun with it. But rape? Not so much.

Plus cannibalism is so rare and extreme, it’s almost like a fantasy crime; not a societal problem. But it’s definitely interesting because Hannibal is so infinitely creative in exploring other forms of violence but you take one thing off the table one that’s otherwise so frequently used.
I take very seriously how to get around avoiding this facet of what’s happening to these characters. And that may have been misguided in its own right. If I was really putting my money where my mouth is, I would have explored rape so thoroughly that it would have taken over the show. But there were other elements that seemed more entertaining as an audience member to explore than that one.

We chatted about Game of Thrones before our interview. What was your take on the controversial Sansa Stark scene?
I thought it was handled tastefully, all things considered. You could have done that scene on broadcast. With Thrones, you’re telling a story based on a time where those sort of violations were common. And women did not have the stance in that world to effectively resist. And with Sansa Stark, and that particular attack, we know Ramsay Bolton as someone who is a horrible violator of all things human—what he did to Theon Greyjoy is part and parcel of his cruelty. So it felt organic to the world—not only what happened to Sansa, but [the attempted rape of] Gilly. It feels like we’re in the Wild Wild West, and that’s part of how they’re choosing to explore the story. I see why they’ve made the choices they have in the stories they’ve told, so I can’t criticize them for using that tool.

In the case of Sansa Stark, it feels like they are building toward something for this woman to overcome, and some horrible lessons that she has to learn about the patriarchy that surrounds her—such as Littlefinger knowing what could happen to her and knowing it might force her into taking more drastic vengeance [toward the Boltons] that could benefit him. If I was the showrunner of Game of Thrones would I make those choices? I have no idea. But in terms of me coming into a crime procedural story on Hannibal and seeing the things I don’t like about other crime procedurals, it’s easier for me to say I don’t want that aspect in the one I’m doing.

See next week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly for more on season 3 of Hannibal, which serves its first course on Thursday, June 4.

The Armitage Army had no doubt that their idol could undertake this challenging role and it appears they were right.
...
Anyone who follows his career closely, already knows that Richard Armitage is extremely talented and works hard in any role he undertakes. ...

Na ja, die RedDragon-Fans sind es wohl... Danke, Nimue!

Hannibal: season three promises to sate your appetite for more horror
As the much anticipated third season kicks off on 4 June, smack your lips at the prospect of even darker storylines, as two psychopaths go on the run in Europe
Gillian Anderson and Mads Mikkelsen
Gillian Anderson as Bedelia Du Maurier and Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter in NBC’s Hannibal. Photograph: NBC
Phelim O'Neill
Friday 29 May 2015 21.45 BST Last modified on Friday 29 May 2015 22.18 Last

The word on the third season of Hannibal, which returns to US screens on 4 June, is that things take a very dark turn. Let’s put that into perspective; in previous episodes, this show killed off one of its most decent, honest characters, then displayed her corpse cut lengthways into strips in a manner Gunter von Hagens would deem “a bit much”. They’ve had one character kept conscious while most of his internal organs were removed; another was sat down to a fancy meal that consisted of part of his own anatomy; yet another was drugged, given a blade and ordered to eat his own face. And now it’s getting dark?


So what can we expect now that the hitherto unnoticed light-heartedness of the first two seasons has gone? For many shows, it’s the third season where things truly take flight. Season one can often be a struggle to get everyone working on the same page; season two is usually where everyone pushes and pulls at their tasks to see how far they can go in whatever direction. Season three is where confidence and talent gel to produce something remarkable, something classic. That’s where we are now with Hannibal.

The scope has widened. Now Hannibal is hiding out in Europe, enjoying the “free range rude” folk of Paris, where he’s assumed a new identity. Along for the ride is Gillian Anderson’s Dr Bedelia du Maurier, who we once assumed was on the run from Hannibal and now know to be on the run with him. As if the story of two insane psychiatrists on the lam wasn’t enough, we soon return to the US to incorporate the story of serial killer and avid Hannibal fan Francis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy, aka the Red Dragon) played by Richard Armitage in a role previously taken on the big screen by Tom Noonan and Ralph Fiennes (so no pressure there). Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne and Caroline Dhavernas all return as the forces of good out to capture Hannibal. And, of course, Mads Mikkelsen is back and clearly having a great time as the titular cannibal.


Showrunner Bryan Fuller continues his excellent work weaving his web from whatever Lecter lore he can get his hands on. It’s an incredible juggling act, as some important characters, such as Clarice Starling, are out of bounds due to rights issues with MGM’s movie The Silence of the Lambs. Fuller also has to dance around network rules – there’s no anything-goes, Game of Thrones-style cable freedom here.



So it’s almost impossible to show people actually being murdered, but you can show the explicit and grotesque end results in the show’s spectacular postmortem tableaux. And, bizarrely, you can show them being eaten. You can’t have nudity or swearing either, but Fuller uses these limitations to create an off-kilter, surreal world for the show to play out in.

In this much-touted golden age of television, you’ll regularly hear it trumpeted that it’s a writer’s medium. True enough, there are plenty of shows that live or die by the pen of such talents as Matthew Weiner, Vince Gilligan or David Simon. But for Hannibal, the visuals and sound are easily as important as the words. Style and substance occupy the same ground here. Everything from the shifting, shallow focus of the darkly colour-saturated camerawork, to the wardrobe of strangely patterned fabrics, to the extreme sonic palette of the music and sound effects all conspire to assault the senses.

If you are watching this show on a laptop or, heaven forbid, a tablet or phone, then you really aren’t watching it at all. Hannibal demands a big screen and a loud sound system. Perhaps only Penny Dreadful has such commitment to its visuals, but that show utilises the tools to portray the supernatural. Hannibal goes much further and employs its bag of tricks to explore a psychological landscape, where we are seeing things from the point of view of unstable, overstimulated and oversensitive minds. It really is unlike anything else that has ever been on TV.

The first few episodes are directed by Vincenzo Natali of Cube and Splice fame. Those who think a TV director just rocks up on the day and shouts action should check out Natali’s previous Hannibal episodes, some of the most stylish and gruesome, and get suitably excited for what’s to come.

So even if you’ve never seen an episode before, now is a great place to start. This is unique television.

Calling all Asia to get back the scent #HannibalAXN http://www.axn-asia.com/programs/hannibal …

HANNIBAL
THE HUNT BEGINS 5 JUN, FRI, 9.45PM SIN | 10PM MAL/HKG | 9PM JKT/BKK.



ABOUT HANNIBAL

The dark and haunting series "Hannibal" returns for a third season, revealing the fates of characters hanging in the balance, and the continuing psychological cat and mouse games they face.

After the shocking events of the season two finale, Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is on the run in Europe - accompanied by his psychiatrist Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) - sporting a new identity, but servicing the same insatiable appetite. As the lives of Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), Jack (Laurence Fishburne) and Alana (Caroline Dhavernas) converge toward Hannibal again, each with their own motivations to catch him once and for all, their deadly dance turns in startling and unexpected way.

Hannibal: season three promises to sate your appetite for more horror | Television & radio | The Guardian http://t.co/iV3DsEY6hp

Ich habe noch ein Problem mit der "überhöhung des Abartigen" ins "Künstlerische"...

Nun ja, jede Form von Kunst überhöht ihr Thema - und dabei je nach Sichtweise durchaus auch sozial Unerwünschtes. Gerade Heldenepik, bei der sich die Linie von der Antike bis zu Tolkien (und weiter) ziehen ließe, ästhetisiert z. B. Kampf und Sterben. Und ich möchte jetzt nicht die Büchse der Pandora öffnen, warum - je nach persönlicher Sichtweise - im 'Hobbit' für viele geht, was in SB kritikwürdig ist. Für jemand, der einstmals Psychologie im Nebenfach studierte, ist der Begriff des 'Abartigen' natürlich höchst problematisch - und was galt nicht alles schon in der Vergangenheit als "abartig" , was wir heute zum Glück besser wissen. Damit möchte ich allerdings keineswegs schwere Persönlichkeitsstörungen und soziales Fehlverhalten, das zur Bedrohung werden kann oder eine Bedrohung ist, schön reden.

Ich gebe auch offen zu, dass es reichlich Stellen in 'Hannibal' gibt, die ich mir nicht angucke(n kann). Für mich stehen aber die psycho-sozial fragwürdigen Pilzzüchter, Imkerinnen und Bildhauer nicht im Zentrum des Interesses, so dass ich mit ihnen vergleichbar umgehen kann wie Kinder mit verstümmelnden Müttern und gefräßigen Waldbewohnern in Märchen, weil der eigentliche Plot damit nichts zu tun hat. Mich hat die Übernahme der Rolle als Francis Dolarhyde durch Richard aber in vielerlei Hinsicht angeregt: Ich habe das DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) wieder herausgekramt und mich mit den Debatten über das aktuelle DSM-5 auseinandergesetzt (sehr, sehr spannend und auch irgendwie einmal mehr erschreckend), mich mit psychoanalytischen, sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Tabutheorien beschäftigt und mir Gedanken über die Behandlung von Tabus in der Literatur gemacht, so dass sogar gerade eben etwas "Abrechenbares" für meine Arbeit dabei herausgekommen ist. Und das ist viel mehr als andere (un-)problematische (Mainstream-)Bestseller/-Filme anregen können.

Freddie Lounds@Tattle_Crime

@RCArmitage I am DYING for an interview with you! Maybe Mr. Dolarhyde would agree to one too? I want to understand - so do my readers!