MovieChat Forums > Hannibal (2001) Discussion > It works as a comedy

It works as a comedy

posted 5 years ago by Consul (2)
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Hi,
I think there is an unusual amount of unintentional comedic moments in this film and once you start looking it like that, all you see is a comedy.
From then on everything that is supposed to be unsettling becomes funny and ridiculous.
The moments between Liotta and Moore, the whole of Oldman's character (from the way he laughs to the way he eats oranges and even the way he dies), the scene with the brain... And then you even start looking at Lecter as a ridiculous exaggeration of a character. Everything is crowned by his last line to the boy in the plane.
It is so incredible that I even start to ask myself is it intentional. Could it be?

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

Because everything in this movie was amplified to outrageous levels. SotL had much more “show don’t tell” subtle filmmaking. Hannibal was just constantly bashing you over the head with its gore and themes. So most likely all the comedy was unintentional, which makes it even funnier.

[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

I broadly agree with this. Hannibal was definitely dumbed down and far less sophisticated than SOTL, but most of the humour was intentional.

It actually went overboard with some of it, Lecter was practically winking at the audience with some of his goofier lines like ‘heavy as bodies’ 🤦🏻‍♂️