Before you ask, 'No, I haven't read the Book in the time since I wrote about The Trench.'
That said, the Wiki on the Book is very thorough and, well, I'm either going to do this now or never.
Hannibal was released in 1999 and the Film followed in 2001.
As noted in my Review, the Film was rewritten over 15 times to coax Jodie Foster back.
When you read about the Book, you'll know why she said 'no' and why this was required in the first place.
Let's take one last bite out of...
What's the Same?
The core Story remains unchanged here.
The big moments- like the Dinner Scene and the Hanging- are in both.
It's still about Hannibal being hunted, taking out his hunters and confronting Clarice once again.
What happens when they interact at the end...is a bit different in the Film.
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What's Different?
In the Book, Lecter returns to a Home that he somehow rented under a fake name. On top of that, he got plastic surgery to disguise himself.
In the Film, he goes to Krendler's House and wears a hat sometimes.
He lures her to the House in the Book but takes her there himself in the Film.
In the Book, he fixates on Clarice Starling now as she reminds him of his dead Sister. She'd be a key part in Hannibal Rising, which wouldn't be written until 2006 (which was only done to appease Dino DeLaurentiis).
His plan is to brainwash her, remove her personality and make her into a version of his Sister. Gross.
Speaking of gross, Verger's Assistant in the Book is his muscle-bound, lesbian Sister named Margot. She wants his...essence to create a child with her lover, since she's infertile.
I misread who the recipient would be at first, which was obviously much grosser.
He has a put-upon Doctor in the Film.
Verger has Barney (the Guard) working for him as well in the Book. He's gone by Act 1 of the Film, simply selling Lecter merchandise and being told off by Starling.
Verger is killed by the Pigs he trained to possibly eat Lecter.
In the Book, well, how can I say this nicely? He has an unpleasant thing put in one end of him and a different, also unpleasant thing put in the other end of him.
Also, his Sister takes the sample from this. Gross.
Here's where things get *really* controversial...
In the Book, Starling falls for Lecter (after he lets her talk to the exhumed skeleton of her Father!!!!), offering to be his lover if he lets her personality stay intact. He accepts and they live happily ever after in Buenos Aires, funded by Margot.
In the Film, Lecter cuts off his hand to escape the handcuffs put on him by Starling. They don't live happily ever after.
I'm not upset by most of these changes. Can you blame me?
After watching the Film, I was annoyed by how it all played out. I had to read what happened in the Book.
It's worse- it's so much worse.
Yes, Film Starling loses all agency in Act 3, with the simple act of putting the cuffs on to do a thing for her. It's disappointing.
Book Starling goes off to live with the Cannibal Murderer and abandons her entire life. It's character assassination.
Dino De Laurentiis supposedly knew that Jodie Foster would turn this down after reading the Book in 1999. She genuinely expressed interest in doing another Film as Starling as late as 1997.
I did read that parts of this were adapted- with many changes- in Hannibal on NBC. I still haven't watched it.
Given that it covers everything BUT Silence of the Lambs (due to rights issues), I'll have to someday. Maybe once we're past November.
That and the Book version of Hannibal Rising, which I already own.
For now, I'm done with 'the late, great Hannibal Lecter' for a while.
Skip the Book.
Skip the Film- just less, I guess?
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