as the big fan of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, the CP pair, is separated After 12 years of rewriting, I finally decided to write this article. This is not a short story, and there are many clues that are difficult to sort out one by one. Although it is a bit difficult, I will try my best to present everything I feel to the reader.
Since this is a CP story for me, we might as well start from their first encounter.
Unlike Clarice Starling, who stepped on the main line shot the whole time, in this film of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 30 seconds, my dear Mr. Hannibal Lecter played only 16 minutes and successfully defended his title as the best man with the shortest Oscar playing time. main character. He is not handsome or tall, he has even crossed the boundaries of middle-aged and elderly people, and we can see the top of his hair loss from behind. He does not have an elegant suit or bow tie, nor does he have an exquisite crystal wine glass and good vintage red wine in his hands. He lives in the most special cell in a prison for mentally ill criminals. Even having a window is a luxury. When Clarice crossed the narrow and narrow corridor underground for the first time, the light was not bright on the stone bricks in front of him. On the left side of the row of mentally ill prisoners imprisoned by iron railings, the filthy cage is full of the stale breath of death. They screamed like crazy, soothed themselves with bare limbs, and even welcomed her in the most nasty language "I can smell your cunt". At the top of the walkway is a huge glass wall, and the cell is bright, clean and tidy. Dr. Lecter was standing in the middle of the room, his clothes and hair were meticulous, his waist was straight, his expression was indifferent but not sloppy. He smiled lightly, as if this was his usual posture, as if the world around him had nothing to do with him. On the walls of the interior are his vivid landscape paintings-Florence's Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
This is the first encounter between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. Before that, Hannibal Lecter had been imprisoned here for 8 years, and Clarice was a very attractive beauty. According to Dr. Chilton, "Lecter hasn't seen a woman in the past eight years. You are just what he likes." So Dr. Lecter's liking for Clarice is a coincidence of encountering beautiful women after 8 years of depression, and being lonely and intolerable?
I don't think so.
What kind of person is Hannibal Lecter? Clarice asked this question before. Dr. Chilton's answer was: "He is a demon, a pure metamorphosis." Even when he ate the nurse's tongue, his pulse never exceeded 85. Hannibal is only one word from Cannibal (ogre), which seems to be his label. For Dr. Lecter, there is no difference between people and food. We even saw his cannibal recipe in "Red Dragon". However, the ogre said to Clarice: "I have no intention of disturbing you. The world is more interesting because of you." Interestingly, Congressman Martin in the film also hoped that Buffalo Bill would treat her differently through a TV show. Daughter Catherine. But she failed. In the eyes of the murderer, she was just a piece of clothing. We can't help asking: What makes Clarice different from others, and what makes her different from food in Dr. Lecter's eyes?
Here we need to have a certain understanding of the social state in the film. At the beginning of the film, Clarice was ordered to go to Crawford's office. She was the only woman who entered the elevator. Clarice's cold gray shirt and the red T-shirts of the male agents behind them made the female petite body and the male tall body distinct. Strong contrast. This positive lens is deliberately elongated, which seems to imply the peculiar attitude towards gender in society at that time. Dr. Chilton also said to Clarice: "There are many agents here, but I don't remember such an attractive one." Throughout the film, it is not difficult to find that there are very few female characters in the film. With the exception of Clarice as the protagonist, other female characters are not even enough to make the audience leave a weak impression. In the suggestive environmental description of the film, we find that this is a man’s society.
So what about the dominant men in this society? We might as well take a look at the two main male supporting roles Jack Crawford and Dr. Frederick Chilton in this film.
As an FBI official, Crawford was almost helpless in the face of the perverted serial murder of Buffalo Bill, so he sent a beautiful female intern to visit the ogre in prison in order to obtain new inspiration and clues. As Dr. Chilton said, this is an exploit. When Crawford and Clarice went to Clay County, West Virginia to examine the newly discovered female body, Crawford told Sheriff Perkins that women should be avoided: "I think we should discuss the details of this type of sexual crime in private." Crawford explained to Clarice afterwards. Said: "I told the sheriff that we shouldn't talk in front of a woman, it makes you annoyed? It's just a smokescreen, I want to send him away." Although Clarice responded smoothly to the past, the sentence was repeated twice. The "It matters" obviously contains a double meaning. When the film reached its climax, Crawford mistakenly believed that Buffalo Bill's true identity had been locked, and flew with HRT to Calumet. On the plane, Crawford received a call from Clarice. Only then did he explain his direction of action to Clarice, and at the same time randomly assigned his female interns to investigate the irrelevant details of the case. He said to Clarice: "We wouldn't find him without you. Everyone will remember this, especially me." Of course, he hung up the phone first without waiting for the lady's response. It is worth mentioning here that HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) refers to the hostage rescue team. It is the highest-level special police in the FBI tactical group. The personnel are fully trained by the "Delta" and "Seal" special forces. It is the so-called "elite". Elite". There is obviously a strong contrast here. Chief Crawford, who led 45 HRT to Calumet but found nothing, and FBI female interns who encountered a perverted serial killer in Belvidere alone. At this point we seem to be able to understand the stiff smile on Clarice's mouth holding the microphone.
If Crawford has at least a decent description, then Dr. Chilton obviously lacks even the most basic cover-ups. When he saw this beautiful female intern for the first time, he grinned and showed a wretched smile. He almost nakedly invited Clarice to spend the night in Baltimore. After being rejected twice, he quickly replaced it. He took another cold face and accused Clarice of wasting his time. On the other hand, Dr. Chilton's attitude towards Dr. Lecter is also unforgettable. He declared that Hannibal Lecter is their most valuable "asset". At the same time, he is acting as God, enjoying the right to take his life and death. He was able to take away the paintings on Dr. Lecter's wall, he was able to play the preaching program at high volume after his meeting, and he could even watch Dr. Lecter being tied up with a mask, and then tell him, Ankers The island’s beaches and seabirds have nothing to do with you. You will never get out of this room without answering my questions.
It is not difficult for us to discover what a pathological world this is. People outside the prison seem to be well-dressed, and good people generally follow laws and morals, but in fact they are rude, stupid, hypocritical and indecent. They are as depressing as Miggs in a prison for mentally ill prisoners, exuding a stale and dead air. This kind of atmosphere is also consistent with the gloomy soundtrack used in the film and the gray tone of the picture. The American logo in red, white and blue has been repeatedly used in the film. For example, the American flag covering the car in the Mofet warehouse, the car is a corpse in different outfits, and for example, Dr. Lecter killed two police officers when he escaped from prison, and used the Stars and Stripes to hoist one of them to make it look like an eagle, and Buffalo Bill was shot at the spinning Stars and Stripes and so on. It is not difficult to find that the national symbols in these scenes are tightly bound with depression and death. In the three scenes, Banjamin Raspail, Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill are all in sharp opposition to the existing state of this society. Alienware, cannibalism, skinning, etc. The incompatible heresy and the combination of red, white and blue seem to be decayed at that time. A relentless mockery of the state of society that is toward death. As Dr. Lecter wrote to Will in the novel "Red Dragon": "What kind of primitive society do we live in! It is neither barbaric nor wise. Only half the level is the root of its evil."
Clarice is incompatible with this society. She is a woman and a low-class Caucasian from a small town in West Virginia. She tried very hard to get rid of her accent, her past, and enter a place that seemed high and bright. This woman is neither greedy nor hypocritical, she has both the courageous persistence of men and the gentle sympathy of women. When faced with the skinned corpse, Clarice didn't use superficial pity to cover up the nausea like Crawford and others did. She turned around slowly, a little surprised, but quickly calmed down. She looked at the corpse intently, deep sympathy in her light blue eyes. Judy Foster performed this role very meticulously. Her sincerity and perseverance eclipsed the men present.
From the perspective of genetic determinism, Clarice's character originated from her father. Because of the early death of his mother, his father became Clarice's everything. From the two tragic and joyful memories in the film, we find that the father of the sheriff who ended his life in service has left an indelible influence on Clarice. In the movie "Hannibal", Dr. Lecter also made an analogy to this. He said: "Harrier pigeons are divided into two types: superficial and deep. When two deep harrier pigeons are combined, their offspring will often dive and touch the ground. Dead. Agent Starling is a deep harrier. I hope that one of her parents is superficial."
Clarice's subsequent experience set the tone of her life. The story of the Silent Lamb, at the core of the film, became the key to unlocking Clarice's heart. She once told Dr. Lecter that when her father died, she became an orphan at the age of 10 and was fostered with relatives who ran the farm. She was awakened by the screams of lambs to be slaughtered in the early morning. She opened the sheep pen, but no sheep came out. So she picked up a lamb and tried to escape. She thought that at least one could be saved, but it was too heavy. In the end, the lamb was taken away and killed by the angry farmer, and Clarice was sent to the orphanage.
Dr. Lecter once asked, "Sometimes you still wake up, don't you? Wake up in the dark and hear the screams of those lambs?"
Clarice: "Yes."
Dr. Lecter: "You thought you saved Catherine ." Come out and stop them screaming, right? You believe that if Catherine is alive, you won't be awakened by those terrible lambs in the dark again?"
Clarice: "I don't know. I don't know."
Clarice's childhood story can obviously be regarded as the epitome of the whole film. Like a lamb, people are in the deepest night before dawn. They are used to being trapped in fences and weeping for the foreseeable fate. Even though the Prophet opened a door for them, they still shuddered and perplexed, standing still, without the courage to break free from their destiny. Clarice seemed to be a ray of light in this boundless darkness. The compassion for the ignorant and silent people, and the deep hatred of the eternally silent society have been torturing her and making her sleepless at night. She stubbornly insisted on her beliefs, and resisted the unreasonable discrimination and abuse of society against her without hesitation, and the end of her sight might just be the ground where the harriers and pigeons folded feathers.
Here it is necessary to compare Clarice with the other women in this film. I mentioned earlier that the female characters in this film are very least, not only in the number of characters, but also in the time of appearance. The characters who are touching the water, but the finishing touches are generally just right. Catherine, the victim of the last kidnapping case, appeared as a weak person. Although she tried to escape, she fell into deep despair in panic. His mother Martin, Senator, appears to be much smarter and more capable. She tried to evoke the humanity of Buffalo Bill in the TV show, treating Catherine as a person who is different from things. The decently-makeup Congressman Martin was deeply disgusted by Dr. Lecter's straightforward sexual descriptions. This disgust almost overwhelmed her as a mother's concern for her daughter who was struggling with life and death. The last words Dr. Lecter said to her are very interesting: "Your suit is beautiful." Yes, the suit, not the woman wrapped in the suit. Ardelia, Clarice's contemporaneous student, is a strong masculine black girl. The policewoman in the Shelby County Courthouse is a beauty with trimming eyebrows and eyeliners. She showed a slightly hostile and somewhat frivolous look towards Clarice, then she turned her head and looked at the person next to her with trust and admiration. Sheriff. These four female characters are either assimilated by this dead vine-ridden society, or self-exiled in a slim hope. In contrast, Clarice is brave. She didn’t want to stay on a farm in West Virginia or Montana, and she didn’t want to take a ride with Crawford or Dr. Chilton. She "want to go out and go to the end of the world". What she longed for was that the lambs would accept God's Guide her out of the sheep pen and let her get peace of mind.
I can't help but think of the most classic poster in this film. The death-bearing moth on the poster stopped on the woman's face and silenced her voice. The skull pattern on the torso is clearly visible, and the spread wings indicate its reborn changes. The purple-gray tone makes the woman's face carry an icy breath, but the eyes leading to the soul are the same warm brown as the moth. Silence, death, metamorphosis-the theme of the whole film is obvious.
Having said that, I think we can finally understand Dr. Lecter's love for Clarice. Dr. Lecter is a psychiatrist with the highest honor. He loves reading and has a deep understanding and thinking about human nature. As early as when I met Clarice for the first time, Dr. Lecter was able to accurately predict Clarice's life trajectory based on the clothes, accent, and the smell of moisturizer on his body. His deep gaze traversed all kinds of bodies and the clothes and identities that wrapped them to see the soul that could not be disguised. Because of this, he is as hostile to this pedantic, lifeless world as Clarice is, and his loyal way of expressing himself is cannibalism. He said: "Any rational society will either let me die or return me the right to read." Unfortunately, everything he desires is obviously incomprehensible in this society. When he saw Clarice, he knew that he was not walking alone. He feels joy and satisfaction, his blood is like Bach's music, full of freshness. I believe that all viewers who have watched this film must remember that the huge cage on the top floor of the Shelby County Courthouse was splattered with blood. Dr. Lecter was obsessed with the brisk jumping rhythm of the Gothenburg Variations. The table was holding his paintings. Clarice of Lamb. This is what it says in Ecclesiastes—
and I perceive wisdom with my heart, and I also perceive madness and evil;
I know that those are also spiritual distress.
Similarly, we can understand Clarice’s firm and decisive expression at the moment when the police officer who was holding her pushed away and rushed towards Dr. Lecter, and that after learning that Dr. Lecter had escaped from prison, she said with certainty to the worried Ardelia: “He doesn’t Will come to deal with me. He won't." I believe that neither Clarice nor Dr. Lecter should be aware of this relationship. Together, they resisted this conservative, hypocritical world that refused to change, but one was obsessed with ideals and the other was instinct. However, they are also very clear that their relationship will not have a future. As an idealist, Clarice cannot accept Dr. Lecter's extraordinary means to break through the bottom line of human morality, and Dr. Lecter cannot accept Clarice's compromise in any form.
This is the insurmountable gap between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, the cannibal and the FBI agent, desire and ideal, instinct and reason.
In the aftermath of watching the complete film, I felt a lingering surging and regret, but Clarice finally saved Lamb’s life, hoping that she would no longer wake up from the darkness. And my beloved Dr. Lecter was able to see the scenery he longed for and freely stretch his life. At the end of the movie, his figure gradually disappeared into the crowd, as if he had always been there, in everyone's heart. This may also be a kind of hope.
At the end of the novel, he wrote in a letter to Clarice:
"I have windows. The
constellation Orion is on the horizon, close to Jupiter, brighter than it was at any time before 2000. I hope you can see it too. Some of our stars are the same."
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