It started with revenge.|Feb. 06, 2007|Czech Republic, United Kingdom, France, Italy, United States|121 Min.|R
Genre: Crime;Drama;Horror;Thriller
Description: Hannibal Rising is a 2007 film that delves into the origins of the infamous character Hannibal Lecter. Set in 1944, the story begins with an eight-year-old Hannibal living in Lithuania with his family at Lecter Castle. As World War II ravages the region, the Lecter family retreats to a hunting lodge to escape the advancing German forces. After years of war, the Nazis are driven out, but their retreat brings tragedy when a Soviet tank is destroyed near the lodge, killing everyone except Hannibal and his younger sister, Mischa. The siblings survive in the lodge until it is attacked by a group of Lithuanian militiamen led by Nazi collaborator Vladis Grutas. Facing starvation in the harsh winter, the men turn their attention to Hannibal and Mischa.
Years later, in 1952, Lithuania is under Soviet control, and Lecter Castle has been turned into an orphanage where Hannibal resides. After a violent altercation with a bully, Hannibal flees to Paris to live with his aunt, Lady Murasaki. There, he thrives academically but also commits his first murder as a teenager, killing a local butcher who insulted his aunt. Inspector Pascal Popil, a French detective who suspects Hannibal, investigates the crime. However, with his aunt’s intervention, Hannibal evades punishment.
As Hannibal grows older, he becomes the youngest student admitted to medical school in France, working in Paris to prepare cadavers. One day, he witnesses a war criminal injected with sodium thiopental, a drug that unlocks suppressed memories. Seeking answers about his sister’s death, Hannibal uses the drug on himself, recalling the men responsible for Mischa’s murder and cannibalism. Determined to avenge her, Hannibal returns to Lithuania in search of her remains.
This film explores the traumatic events that shaped Hannibal Lecter into the chilling figure he would later become.
Cast director: Peter Webber
Cast actor: Gaspard Ulliel, Aaran Thomas, Gong Li, Dominic West, Rhys Ifans, Richard Brake, Kevin McKidd, Stephen Walters, Ivan Marevich, Helena-Lia Tachovská
Original name: Hannibal Rising