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Hannibal
‘Every time I think it couldn’t get any more extraordinary it surprises me. It’s impossible, I hate it, it’s evil, it’s astonishing… I want to kiss it to death!’
The Doctor, S9.03 (Under the Lake)
My friends have been telling me to watch Hannibal since forever, and this year I finally did it. The outcome is that not only do I have my #Ineffable Husbands, I now also have #Murder Husbands.
This is an attempt at writing out my thoughts without any (overt) spoilers. I presume they will show up in comments. But if you’re curious, this is the post for you. ETA: AVOID COMMENTS. MANY SPOILERS.
First of all — the show is gory and sadistic and horrific. If you dislike physical violence and torture and people being carved up in ways you cannot imagine… stay away. The horror is real, and it’s ridiculously inventive. (Suspend all disbelief before you even start.) The body horror is literally something else. Trust me.
(Sidebar: Other shows will seem very tame and… one dimensional in comparison. The first time I watched a regular episode of a regular crime drama after starting Hannibal I was concerned that the murderer just killed the victim, and did not construct an elaborate metaphor out of the body. Like, what even is that? Does no one have any standards anymore? What even is the point of murder if there are no metaphors? <- Proof of how this show warps you)
So why did I watch? (Because I… am not really very good with body horror and goriness and I watched huge chunks of this through my fingers.)
Well, the characters: Rich, well-crafted, deeply layered, complex characters. They get broken (some of them literally, remember about all the violence?) and put back together and grow and change and… *chef’s kiss* It’s all exquisite.
However, it’s impossible to talk about the characters without talking about the mirrors and the metaphors. When I’d finished the final episode I went straight back to the first. I remember thinking (when I first watched it) that the show seemed… well, nice enough and fairly standard for a crime drama type thing. Re-watching, it was incredible to see the sheer amount of information and basic construction that was being laid down. The basic imagery is being established, the first few mirrors set up — the show takes the viewer by the hand and very very gently starts leading them down the path (to damnation).
It’s also one of the only shows where (as time goes on) you never know if what you are seeing is the truth, or a fantasy, or a dream. Did this character really die? Are they actually there? Are they a mirage? Is this a flashback? The truth is a mosaic that you have to piece together over time.
I can’t think of a show like it, although Moffat Who comes closest. To quote Liz Sandifer on The Beast Below:
“As above, so below,” the injunction goes - a declaration that manipulating symbols and manipulating objects is, in some sense, the same thing. That a symbol and a thing are in some sense interchangeable.
This is the at heart of how Hannibal functions as a show. The process is slow, the creators take their time in teaching the viewers to become familiar with the symbolism and the imagery and the way it works, but what it means is that the texture of the show is so rich it’s almost impossible to describe:
It’s poetry.
(By Season 3 this is quite simply the standard format, and you know that the important thing is what happens between the characters, the setting is (almost) incidental.)
But that’s only half the story.
“As above, so below,” I quoted above, except here the opposite is also true:
‘As below, so above.’
Many shows have characters being undone mentally. But on this show, it becomes physical. It's not enough to have the imagery: it manifests, people are cut open and violated — everyone who comes into contact with Hannibal is warped and undone by him; mentally, emotionally, metaphorically and bodily. Not that he, personally, hurts/kills/eats everyone (… well, not quite everyone), but that’s how the show works. Mental anguish is also physical destruction.
Which brings me to my icon and alllll the Angelus parallels:
“It was art. The destruction of a human being.”
This is Hannibal’s MO in a nutshell. He is an artist. An aesthete. A sensualist. A monster.
And in the dance of him and Will Graham, this exchange could serve as the leitmotif:
Spike: You made me a monster.
Angel: I didn't make you, Spike. I just opened up the door and let the real you out.
Forget Spike’s reply to that statement. Will Graham is no Spike — if he had to be projected onto AtS he’d be an amalgamation of William and Drusilla. And I say that, and immediately I want to add that no, Abigail is Dru. (Gillian Anderson’s character is basically Darla, and equally magnificent.) But then Abigail and Will are mirrored, except of course Hannibal and Graham are mirrored, and goodness, so is every other person. The mirrors never stop. I could make a case for (almost) every character being a mirror for every other character.
I just realised I haven’t even mentioned Jack so far, and ye gods, this is the show that Jack built (that’s built around Jack), he’s at the nexus of them all.
Hannibal is a monster, and knows that about himself, embraces it. Can not be anything other.
But is Will? Is Hannibal’s fascination with Will due to sensing a kindred spirit, or because he hopes to fashion himself a playmate? Who is the real Will Graham? (And now that is a Pandora’s Box of a question that could have endless answers…) ETA: There's a reason they're known as 'Murder Husbands'. The subtext is... painted all over everything in very large letters and exquisitely homoerotic. Also, it's a show that very much considers men as things to be looked at. (I.e. you don't spend three seasons fighting with The Male Gaze, the focus is elsewhere.)
What the show does excessively well is that it makes the viewer complicit. It invites us to take a seat at the table, to watch the monster smile and serve up a dinner that will make you want to choose the vegetarian option (seriously, watching Hannibal prepare meat must have made a good few viewers vegetarian), to urge the monster onwards, even as he destroys everything he touches. (But oh, so beautifully.)
We are all Will Graham.
Overall, I don’t know that this is a show I want to take apart (the above ramblings aside) — it’s just a place I like to sit? And everything is beautiful (and terrible) and exists entirely in metaphor about 75% of the time.
But look how beautiful it is (and yes, that is Gina Torres, yet another outstanding character). How peaceful. The symmetry is another through-thread of the show, like the mirroring reaching out and encompassing the very world it inhabits.
There are very few perfect shows in the world. This is one of them.
The Doctor, S9.03 (Under the Lake)
My friends have been telling me to watch Hannibal since forever, and this year I finally did it. The outcome is that not only do I have my #Ineffable Husbands, I now also have #Murder Husbands.
This is an attempt at writing out my thoughts without any (overt) spoilers. I presume they will show up in comments. But if you’re curious, this is the post for you. ETA: AVOID COMMENTS. MANY SPOILERS.
First of all — the show is gory and sadistic and horrific. If you dislike physical violence and torture and people being carved up in ways you cannot imagine… stay away. The horror is real, and it’s ridiculously inventive. (Suspend all disbelief before you even start.) The body horror is literally something else. Trust me.
(Sidebar: Other shows will seem very tame and… one dimensional in comparison. The first time I watched a regular episode of a regular crime drama after starting Hannibal I was concerned that the murderer just killed the victim, and did not construct an elaborate metaphor out of the body. Like, what even is that? Does no one have any standards anymore? What even is the point of murder if there are no metaphors? <- Proof of how this show warps you)
So why did I watch? (Because I… am not really very good with body horror and goriness and I watched huge chunks of this through my fingers.)
Well, the characters: Rich, well-crafted, deeply layered, complex characters. They get broken (some of them literally, remember about all the violence?) and put back together and grow and change and… *chef’s kiss* It’s all exquisite.
However, it’s impossible to talk about the characters without talking about the mirrors and the metaphors. When I’d finished the final episode I went straight back to the first. I remember thinking (when I first watched it) that the show seemed… well, nice enough and fairly standard for a crime drama type thing. Re-watching, it was incredible to see the sheer amount of information and basic construction that was being laid down. The basic imagery is being established, the first few mirrors set up — the show takes the viewer by the hand and very very gently starts leading them down the path (to damnation).
It’s also one of the only shows where (as time goes on) you never know if what you are seeing is the truth, or a fantasy, or a dream. Did this character really die? Are they actually there? Are they a mirage? Is this a flashback? The truth is a mosaic that you have to piece together over time.
I can’t think of a show like it, although Moffat Who comes closest. To quote Liz Sandifer on The Beast Below:
“As above, so below,” the injunction goes - a declaration that manipulating symbols and manipulating objects is, in some sense, the same thing. That a symbol and a thing are in some sense interchangeable.
This is the at heart of how Hannibal functions as a show. The process is slow, the creators take their time in teaching the viewers to become familiar with the symbolism and the imagery and the way it works, but what it means is that the texture of the show is so rich it’s almost impossible to describe:
We’re in a church — in Hannibal’s office — in a prison — in a field.
The characters change; they are in darkness; in light; bleeding, broken, dying; alive.
Flowers blossom. A river, ever restless and peaceful. A stag shakes its head. A snail moves, slowly, slowly. The moon wheels across the sky, is hidden by a cloud. A tree in snow. A drop of blood. A match is lit and burns through the screen.
It’s poetry.
(By Season 3 this is quite simply the standard format, and you know that the important thing is what happens between the characters, the setting is (almost) incidental.)
But that’s only half the story.
“As above, so below,” I quoted above, except here the opposite is also true:
‘As below, so above.’
Many shows have characters being undone mentally. But on this show, it becomes physical. It's not enough to have the imagery: it manifests, people are cut open and violated — everyone who comes into contact with Hannibal is warped and undone by him; mentally, emotionally, metaphorically and bodily. Not that he, personally, hurts/kills/eats everyone (… well, not quite everyone), but that’s how the show works. Mental anguish is also physical destruction.
Which brings me to my icon and alllll the Angelus parallels:
“It was art. The destruction of a human being.”
This is Hannibal’s MO in a nutshell. He is an artist. An aesthete. A sensualist. A monster.
And in the dance of him and Will Graham, this exchange could serve as the leitmotif:
Spike: You made me a monster.
Angel: I didn't make you, Spike. I just opened up the door and let the real you out.
Forget Spike’s reply to that statement. Will Graham is no Spike — if he had to be projected onto AtS he’d be an amalgamation of William and Drusilla. And I say that, and immediately I want to add that no, Abigail is Dru. (Gillian Anderson’s character is basically Darla, and equally magnificent.) But then Abigail and Will are mirrored, except of course Hannibal and Graham are mirrored, and goodness, so is every other person. The mirrors never stop. I could make a case for (almost) every character being a mirror for every other character.
I just realised I haven’t even mentioned Jack so far, and ye gods, this is the show that Jack built (that’s built around Jack), he’s at the nexus of them all.
Hannibal is a monster, and knows that about himself, embraces it. Can not be anything other.
But is Will? Is Hannibal’s fascination with Will due to sensing a kindred spirit, or because he hopes to fashion himself a playmate? Who is the real Will Graham? (And now that is a Pandora’s Box of a question that could have endless answers…) ETA: There's a reason they're known as 'Murder Husbands'. The subtext is... painted all over everything in very large letters and exquisitely homoerotic. Also, it's a show that very much considers men as things to be looked at. (I.e. you don't spend three seasons fighting with The Male Gaze, the focus is elsewhere.)
What the show does excessively well is that it makes the viewer complicit. It invites us to take a seat at the table, to watch the monster smile and serve up a dinner that will make you want to choose the vegetarian option (seriously, watching Hannibal prepare meat must have made a good few viewers vegetarian), to urge the monster onwards, even as he destroys everything he touches. (But oh, so beautifully.)
We are all Will Graham.
Overall, I don’t know that this is a show I want to take apart (the above ramblings aside) — it’s just a place I like to sit? And everything is beautiful (and terrible) and exists entirely in metaphor about 75% of the time.
But look how beautiful it is (and yes, that is Gina Torres, yet another outstanding character). How peaceful. The symmetry is another through-thread of the show, like the mirroring reaching out and encompassing the very world it inhabits.
There are very few perfect shows in the world. This is one of them.
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It's so deep and so gruesome and so beautiful!
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It's a show of paradoxes. I love it. ♥
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I love everything.
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and no one shipped them like the Korean promo team. it was amazing
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Which isn't like me... But then it's sort of like trying to talk about the air, it's just fundamental. Plus I was trying to make is spoiler free! So I suspect I will write a proper post about the two of them at some point.
and no one shipped them like the Korean promo team. it was amazing
They the Johnlock shippers? I can imagine. <3 <3 <3
ETA: Although I wrote this out in my head:
The Vault, early days
[on screen]:
Hannibal: “This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.”
Will: “It’s beautiful.”
Missy: *bawls like a baby* *gestures to the screen* That's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Why - why would you never? Don't you see?
Twelve: ... I'm going to have to be more careful about what we watch.
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Yes! I have been on the Hannibal train since 2013, and I'm still obsessed with it. It's just so different and unlike anything I've seen. There are layers upon layers and of course there is the relationship between Hannibal and Will. I watched in real time, and even by the end of season 2, I didn't personally ship it, though I could see why people did. But then season 3 happened, and I fell hard, and wonder how I didn't see the seduction in season 2 the first time around. It's definitely a show that's improved by rewatching.
Also, the first time I watched, I never suspected Will was actually like Hannibal (per whatever definition of "like" you want to apply). Like, if the season had ended at season one, there would be some support for fics with dark Will, but not a lot, if you know what I mean. But as season 2 goes on, you kind of start going "eeehhh, I'm not sure about this guy." Again, watching in real time week to week, and without the knowledge of season 3 in your head, you're just kind of sitting there saying "oh yeah, here's another show with a protagonist who might be like the people he hunts, seen it all before." Then he's skinning a guy in his barn, making murder tableaus, and setting people up to be attacked by the Red Dragon, and it's like, "huh, you know, I haven't seen that before." And of course all that is entwined with the twisted obsession he and Hannibal have, and then you've really not seen anything like it before.
Links!
Speaking of symmetry in Hannibal: https://vimeo.com/158402455
A promo for season 3, just because it captures the show beautifully and is one of the best TV promos I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLb12Eg4f00
One of my favorite vids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u0IYzxJZdw
Though vordeel is my favorite vidder. They do really short vids with impeccable editing and mixing. All of theirs are great, though these two are my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djMWiHYxi7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfmWE7iIOYc
Also, Bryan Fuller is one of us, lol.
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It does seem to grab people... (and here I am, peak material. I look forward to many years of obsessing!)
But then season 3 happened, and I fell hard, and wonder how I didn't see the seduction in season 2 the first time around. It's definitely a show that's improved by rewatching.
Mmmm, I am skipping through S1 at the moment. And yes, the seduction/the ensnaring is beautifully subtle.
Then he's skinning a guy in his barn, making murder tableaus, and setting people up to be attacked by the Red Dragon, and it's like, "huh, you know, I haven't seen that before." And of course all that is entwined with the twisted obsession he and Hannibal have, and then you've really not seen anything like it before.
It follows through in ways not done elsewhere. And done properly, as it were. You see every step, every increment, the progression is a thing of beauty.
And lovely links! :D
I had seen the promo before (as I said, my friends have been nagging me, and threw that promo at me as soon as I wasn't going to be spoiled), but have not seen the symmetry vid, nor the other ones you linked to. I shall be indulging muchly, thank you. <3
Also, Bryan Fuller is one of us, lol.
Quite right too! :D That's brilliant.
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It follows through in ways not done elsewhere. And done properly, as it were.
I also love the way it blurs typical story telling lines. Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? The show is called Hannibal, but Will is the one you're first introduced to, the one who you begin to follow as a viewer. But they get equal screen time, and actually Mikkelsen and Dancy were billed equally on the title credits. It's just all very fascinating. Both characters can claim the title of protagonist, even though they're set up to want opposite things (at least at the beginning).
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*nods* As you say, Will is definitely the one we, as viewers, follow, disappearing into his head, his world, his seduction by Hannibal.
Hannibal is the thing we are watching, through Will's eyes.
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But do you know what got me the most there? I never noticed that Hannibal had two desks. One directly behind the two seats, and the other back left in front of the fire. In my head, it was just the one - the big desk in the foreground, but it was in the position of the back left one near the fire. Interesting!
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To be fair, I was aware there was *something* behind the two consulting chairs, but hadn't clocked that that was the big desk. It's weird how sometimes it can take sooo long to get the geography of a set in my head! And then once it's there it's all so obvious!
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But I guess I just need to find the time to rewatch it and maybe I'll spot some more myself! Certainly the first time round I kind of let myself just sink into it and enjoy the sumptuousness without trying to analyse it too much; second viewings tend to give more insight anyway, with hindsight, so perhaps that will work for me! :-)
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I am predictable. ;) Also, the show is entirely composed of mirrors & symmetry & poetry & metaphors. I'll probably write more at some point, but having skimmed through S1 yesterday I can confirm that all the mirrors stand out v clearly. Mmmm, lovely show.
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I rewatched ep 1 last night, because Hannibal was in my head after reading this *and* starting an RP thread with a new Hannibal, and I still got distracted by the story (and the hotness) and found it hard to actually analyse anything, but I guess all the metaphors and symmetry must be having their intended effect if I'm enjoying it so much!
Actually, I think it's also that I'm naturally far more interested in studying the characters themselves (what makes them tick, how they think, how they move, how they speak) than the visuals, direction etc., which is maybe why I can *appreciate* good direction without necessarily analysing it all that much. And why some of Moffat's Who frustrated me because while the storytelling as a whole was beautiful, I frequently had problems with the characters' motivations making sense. Hannibal, I think, has both. Incredibly complicated, still, on the motivations side, but I feel like if I delve deep enough the motiviations are there for the finding - so I think that's what I'm going to be looking for this time around! :-)
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It... really does.
and I still got distracted by the story (and the hotness) and found it hard to actually analyse anything, but I guess all the metaphors and symmetry must be having their intended effect if I'm enjoying it so much!
Being distracted by the story most definitely means that it's working.
Actually, I think it's also that I'm naturally far more interested in studying the characters themselves (what makes them tick, how they think, how they move, how they speak) than the visuals, direction etc.
I love character stuff too, and Hannibal especially is very rich. It's very very tightly plotted and executed, and ridiculously rewarding. So happy watching! <3
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Yes, he is like Angelus. To me, to take pleasure in someone's pain is insane, but it's how they are. Shivery goodness!
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Do iiiiit. I mean, get ready to watch through your fingers, but it's worth it! (Also I am one of those weird outliers who does not find Mads Mikkelsen sexy. He's incredibly watchable and mesmerising, but I am not at all attracted to him.)
Yes, he is like Angelus. To me, to take pleasure in someone's pain is insane, but it's how they are. Shivery goodness!
I might have vaguely pondered having Angel show up to talk to Hannibal. It could be very interesting delving into similarities and... the differences. Hannibal after all *is* human.
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But one day.
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