FAQ

It's up to each viewer to decide. But Dolarhyde putting the pieces of broken mirror into his victims eyes, then sets them up to watch him rape the female victims, suggests he believes he's transforming them into witnesses to his "transformation" or in to followers of the red dragon.

The film doesn't simply take place over a few days. The case takes months. The end scene could have had a bit of a time jump as well. Which leaves enough time for inmates to be transfered in or out. Also, the inmates, including Miggs likely weren't as vocal with Will Graham as they were with Clarice, because he's not a woman.

Will Graham did not go to the Dolarhyde Nursing home after he went to the Jacobi home.

Three years after retiring from the FBI, Agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) is asked to track down "The Tooth Fairy", a serial killer who is systematically killing entire families during full moons. They have three weeks until the next full moon to find the killer, who is currently wooing his blind co-worker Reba McClane (Emily Watson). In order to solve the case, Graham deems it necessary to ask for the help of criminal genius Doctor Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), the very same man who almost killed Graham when he subdued and captured him and who is currently putting his family in danger.

The movie is based on Red Dragon (1981), the first novel in a series of four Hannibal Lecter novels by American writer Thomas Harris. The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter Ted Tally. The novel was previously made into a movie, Manhunter (1986), but it was not very successful and is not considered to be a part of the four Hannibal franchise movies.

Four characters and three actors are returning. Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter in all three movies, but he does not return in Hannibal Rising (2007), as this fourth movie concerns Hannibal's childhood and how he became a cannibalistic serial killer. Anthony Heald as Dr. Frederick Chilton from The Silence of the Lambs (1991) also returns in that role (he did not appear in Hannibal). Barney Matthews (Frankie Faison) has appeared in all three movies (he also appeared in Manhunter (1986) but in a different role). Scott Glenn's role as Jack Crawford in Silence is played by Harvey Keitel. The character of Clarice Starling does not appear (although she is briefly referred to at the end).

"Red Dragon" refers to a series of watercolors, collectively called The Great Red Dragon Paintings, painted in the early 1800s (between 1805-1810) by the English poet and painter William Blake (1757-1827). One of these paintings, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun, was used in the movie to show Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes)'s transformation from man into dragon. The Great Red Dragon watercolors are Blake's interpretations of a biblical passage in Revelation 14:3-4 in which a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven stars on his head waits before a woman clothed in sun and about to give birth. The most common interpretation of this passage is that the red dragon is Satan, the woman is Jerusalem, and the child is Jesus Christ.

The murderer bites his victims with a custom-made set of teeth, leaving strange but clear bite marks.

An old camping favorite, s'mores are "sandwiches" made from graham crackers, chocolate bars, and toasted marshmallows. Using the graham crackers as "bread", fill with a layer of thin milk chocolate, e.g., Hershey's type. Place a hot, freshly-toasted marshmallow on top of the chocolate, and add a graham cracker to the top. The hot marshmallow will cause the chocolate to melt.

In Red Dragon, Lecter proved to be a disappointing research object since he had refused to participate in any test during the first years of his incarceration; as shown, he folds any questionnaire into origami. This made it impossible to accurately classify Lecter's mental condition, or give any more insight in his thought processes. However, Chilton probably had a change of mind after being able to observe Hannibal during his interactions with Will Graham in Red Dragon. Lecter was found to be silently resentful to Graham, even though there seemed to be an amount of respect as well; Lecter's secret communication with another killer showed that despite his high intelligence, Lecter is not above feelings of pride (he kept the Tooth Fairy's letter of admiration) and desire for revenge. Lecter is also seen enjoying his little victories over Chilton (gloating over the rejection of his latest submission, making a toast to him from his cell). All in all, the conversations with Graham have probably given more insight into Lecter's psyche than all the years of observation before. In the beginning of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Chilton still mentions that Lecter is far too sophisticated for normal study through standard tests, but does call him "a monster, a pure psychopath", implying that they have been able to learn more about him over the years.

One explanation is that Dolarhyde was having conflicting feelings about becoming the Red Dragon because of his growing feelings for Reba. When the Red Dragon started telling him to kill Reba, too, he thought that the only way he could release the Red Dragon's hold on him was by eating the painting. Another explanation would be that, by eating the painting, Dolarhyde was completing his transformation in trying to become the Red Dragon. Due to Dolarhydes mental condition (Dissociative Identity Disorder), triggered by Reba's kindness, an internal conflict takes places between Francis Dolarhyde and his alternate persona, the dragon, with Dolarhyde losing control. To regain the upper hand and take the dragon "hostage", he eats the painting. In Dolarhydes mind, the painting itself is a (or better, THE) symbol of his becoming and the source of the dragons power. By eating it, he takes control of its power and grounds for negotiations with the dragon. Source is the book, where the dragon and Dolarhyde are more distinct different personalities.

In The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal instinctively felt that Clarice was an inexperienced student, who could be easily intimidated and manipulated. So he used a deep and pronounced intonation to make her uneasy. However, Will Graham is a seasoned veteran who has experience with serial killers and their atrocities, and both men have known each other for some time, so Hannibal knows there is little use in trying to intimidate Graham through a chilling performance. Instead, he uses every opportunity to mock Graham (the remark about the aftershave, the fake American accent, trying to "comfort" him on the death of the tabloid reporter, etc).

Scott Glenn has refused to take part in any of the Hannibal Lecter movies following The Silence of the Lambs (1991) owing to the disturbing nature of his research, including listening to real audiotapes of serial killer victims. Brett Ratner, for his part, has said that he met with FBI agents as part of his research before directing the film and found the FBI agents to be quite different from Glenn's portrayal.

The four movies have been released in the following sequence: (1) The Silence of the Lambs (1991), (2) Hannibal (2001), (3) Red Dragon (2002), and (4) Hannibal Rising (2007). However, in story chronology, Hannibal Rising predates Red Dragon which predates The Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal is the last in the storyline.