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One fateful midnight, it dawns upon crack FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) that the cannibal
in a series of crimes he has been investigating is no less than the doctor himself who has been assisting him on it—Hannibal Lecter. Lecter attacks Graham who fights
back, and both survive; Graham retires and Lecter is imprisoned with a sentence of nine life terms.
Several years later, Graham's old boss Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel) tracks him down for assistance on a pair of family massacres by the "Tooth Fairy" (Francis Dolarhyde, played by Ralph Fiennes) so-called because his "trademark" is the dental imprints he leaves at the crime scenes. Despite resistance from Graham's wife Molly (Mary Louise Parker), the retired agent accepts the challenge as an adviser, fired up by the chance "to save people." Graham then reestablishes contact with Lecter to get the killer's insights to the murderer's mind.
Red Dragon is one movie where tension comes from both action and the absence of action. While it has its share of "shockers" and hair-raising situations, the movie may be appreciated best if the viewer pays close attention to the dialogue. No intelligent viewer could say there is too much talk in
Red Dragon—or in any Hannibal Lecter movie, for that matter—because the character of Hannibal Lecter demands the viewer's intellectual absorption in order to be grasped
properly. But Red Dragon can't be said to be a purely Hannibal Lecter movie, since it draws into the limelight a second and just as effective villain, Fiennes'
Dolarhyde.
In fact, that part of the story depicting the love angle between Dolarhyde and the blind woman Reba McClane (Emily Watson) provides an almost tender touch to the otherwise simply gruesome story. As with any mystery thriller, the sound and lighting effects are of crucial importance, and in
Red Dragon, these elements achieved their aim, complementing the good acting and screenplay.
For us in a predominantly Catholic country currently focusing on family issues, two
things in Red Dragon
merit more than just our passing attention: love for family, and the effects of unresolved childhood issues on the life of a grown man. The "tooth fairy" Dolarhyde's victims are whole families—is he envious of children enjoying a happy family life? The retired FBI man's concern is the safety of his own family—that's partly the reason he agrees to get back into action to capture the family-killer. Dolarhyde, a heartless killer, is actually sexually impotent with women—a result, no doubt, of a grandmother's searing admonitions (over a boyhood weakness) that scarred his childhood. In watching mystery thrillers or psycho-killer movies, viewers should not only look for heart-stopping elements but also go deeper and scrutinize the story for the reasons behind the killings. Murderers are not born, they are "man-made." It's about time we asked ourselves how we are contributing to the making of murderers.
(Date reviewed: October 31, 2002)
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