Some new aspects

Rating: 9/10 (9 October 2004)

When I first saw this film, I was about 14, lying in my bed, watching it in German on TV late at night, with the lights on, and almost falling asleep (probably actually dozing for a couple of minutes now and then). When I was waking up once, noticing Hannibal Lecter on my television screen, looking at me with his alive, clear eyes and speaking to me about screaming lambs, that was surely one of the most exciting moments in my movie-interested life. So it is definitely a good idea to see this at night, with one's concentration wandering away.
Now I saw it again (at daylight!), and many other things struck me. The character of Catherine Martin is actually really cool. The snobbish daughter of a famous politician reacts to the terrible things that are done to her in an unusually offensive way - it looks as if she was never giving up.
And then did you notice how utterly serious this film is? There is not a single funny scene in it. And this is really great! Which other feature film today manages to be taken seriously by everybody and never being unintentionally funny although it does not have a single moment of irony? The humorous take-outs attached to the DVD version seem really weird and out of place when you are in the mood this unbelievable film creates.