Manhunter (film)

Manhunter
Manhunter
	File:Manhunter.jpg
Directed by	Michael Mann
Written by	Thomas Harris (novel Red Dragon); Michael Mann (screenplay)
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis; Richard A. Roth
Starring	William L. Petersen; Kim Greist; Joan Allen; Brian Cox; Dennis Farina
Cinematography	Dante Spinotti
Music by	Michel Rubini; The Reds
Distributed by	De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)
Release dates	August 15, 1986 (U.S. release)
Running time	119 min.
Language	English

Manhunter (1986; see also 1986 in film) is a film based on Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon. Directed by Michael Mann, it features Brian Cox as the popular character Hannibal Lecter (spelled "Lecktor" in the film, the only time in the series), and stars William Petersen, Joan Allen, Dennis Farina and Tom Noonan. The cinematographer/director of photography was Dante Spinotti.

Petersen plays Will Graham, a former FBI agent who captured the infamous Lecter and was almost killed in the process; he is so traumatized by the event that he retires from the FBI. His former partner, Jack Crawford, calls him out of retirement to help find a killer called "The Tooth Fairy" who is murdering entire families. Graham is a profiler who has an uncanny ability to get into the mind of a killer and think as he does. Graham visits Lecter in prison in order to help get back in the state of mind necessary to empathize with a psychopath.

There is a subplot about the Tooth Fairy himself, a tortured soul named Francis Dolarhyde (played by Noonan in a critically acclaimed performance) falling in love with a blind coworker named Reba McClane, interfering with his killing spree.

The movie has a distinctive 1980s, "Miami Vice" feel to it: There is heavy emphasis on washed out pastels, the homes feature white minimalist decor, and the soundtrack features synthesizers as well as acoustic tracks. The director, Michael Mann, also produced the Miami Vice series. The song "Heartbeat," performed by Red 7 plays over the closing credits also features in an episode of Miami Vice.

Despite generally positive critical reviews the film was a box office failure. After The Silence of the Lambs (which was never approached by Orion as a sequel to Manhunter due to said box office failure) was released in 1991, it experienced something of a revival on video and later as a DVD release. In 2002, another adaptation of the book, titled Red Dragon, was released. It was more faithful to the novel but included more screen-time for Lecter's character, who only appears in a few scenes in the book. The remake was subjected to a mostly positive critical response.

Whether Anthony Hopkins or Brian Cox is the better Hannibal Lecter is a topic of frequent and often passionate discussion on various internet forums.

Cast

Trivia

Frankie Faison is the only person to appear in all four Hannibal Lecter films, having played Lt. Fisk in Manhunter and Barney, the orderly, in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon.
When the film was first broadcast on TV, the title was changed to Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter. This was done to capitalize on the success of The Silence of the Lambs; however, this is misleading, since when Manhunter begins, Lecktor has already been captured and incarcerated.
The film was originally going to use the novel's title, Red Dragon. When Year of the Dragon (1985) bombed at the box office, writer/director Michael Mann decided to change the title. Also, Mann was concerned that moviegoers would mistake this for another Kung Fu action movie, as many of those have the word Dragon prominently in their title (an example being the Bruce Lee film Enter The Dragon (1973))
According to an interview with Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Mandy Patinkin, and Brian Dennehy were all considered for the role of Hannibal Lecktor before Cox himself was cast.
Many scenes were filmed in Atlanta. The asylum was actually that city's High Museum.
Because William Petersen's role was so emotionally exhausting, he did everything he could to rid himself of Will Graham after principal photography wrapped. Petersen shaved off his beard, cut his hair and dyed it blonde.
Will Graham's home in Captiva, Florida is actually the home of artist Robert Rauschenberg.
William Petersen and Dennis Farina currently have leading roles on the flagship television series (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Law & Order, respectively) of competing U.S. television networks (CBS and NBC, respectively).
In a third season episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Tom Noonan played an illusionist pursued by forensic scientist Gil Grissom, who is played by William Petersen.
David Lynch was the first director attached to Manhunter, but he eventually left the project and was replaced by Mann. During this time, screenwriter Walon Green wrote a draft of the script, and though he is uncredited on the final film itself, many online resources list him as a co-writer.
In the Red Dragon novel, Francis Dolarhyde's last name is spelled with only one "l," but for some reason, Michael Mann added an extra one in the screenplay.
William Blake actually painted a series of four watercolors depicting the Great Red Dragon - his name for Satan - two of which depict the red dragon with a woman. One of these two is called The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun - it shows the great red dragon's back as he towers over a woman and this is the picture that so dominates Dolarhyde's mental state that he had it tattooed on his back in the novel. The other painting shows the great red dragon floating over a woman and is called The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun: The Devil Is Come Down - a similarly named, but definitely different painting - yet this other painting is the one that is shown a few times in Manhunter.
In the novel, Will Graham's son is called Young Willy, but he is renamed Kevin for the movie, with no explanation that Graham is not his biological father.

External links