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Red Dragon
Director: Brett Ratner (2002)
Distributor: Universal Pictures
and Dino DeLaurentis Company.
Certificate: 15
Brett Ratner’s chilling film takes us back in time, prior to the events portrayed in The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, the second and third instalments of the Hannibal Lecter trilogy. Former FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) is enticed back onto the job by his boss Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel) in a desperate attempt to track down a serial killer before he strikes again.
The reluctant Graham, who quit the FBI after almost losing his life in the capture of the insane Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) knows that the Bureau’s best chance of preventing further bloodshed is to utilise Lecter’s insights into the perverse mind of the serial killer dubbed ‘The Tooth Fairy’ by the press. Lecter, of course, embarks upon a series of mind games with Norton.
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Will Graham’s turmoil is well-portrayed. Having survived the horror of a personal encounter with Lecter and settled into a content family life away from the world of killers, he is unable to resist being drawn back into the work even though it means continuing his relationship with Lecter. Graham is driven through knowing that the Lecter’s perverse insight might be the only thing that can prevent ‘The Tooth Fairy’ from continuing his trail of devastation. |
As the plot unfolds the killer is identified as Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), a social misfit who, in his own life, has reaped the whirlwind of an appalling childhood. The tension builds as the net closes in upon Dolarhyde with Lecter’s less than straightforward help ensuring that the conclusion is somewhat unpredictable. There is, in fact, quite a surprise at the end of the film.
Red Dragon, a remake of Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter and based like the other Hannibal Lecter films on the books of Thomas Harris, is an unsettling film as you would expect. Any consideration of the subject of serial killers is never likely to be light in tone. There is considerable violence in the film, thought it is less gratuitous that the gore-laden Hannibal. Anthony Hopkins again delivers a frightening portrayal of Lecter, cementing his place firmly within the fictional hall of infamy.
THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Some key themes: Self-sacrifice; responsibility and consequences.
In certain respects, Red Dragon could be regarded as a film that Christians should avoid. Some would certainly argue that case. The subject matter is disturbing and the film confronts us with the darker side of human nature. Anyone deciding to watch such a film needs to know that it does not make for easy viewing and if violent subject matter is not for you then don’t do it!
However, there are some interesting issues raised by the film along with a number of challenges. So if you make an informed decision to watch Red Dragon, here is some food for thought.
The theme of self-sacrifice for the sake of others is strongly rooted in the Christian tradition. For example, the following words are attributed to Jesus: ‘There is no greater love than this, that someone should lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15.13 Revised English Bible). Will Graham puts himself in the path of a serial killer not because he has to ~ he is, after all, retired from the FBI ~ but because he cannot bear the thought of another family being senselessly killed when his actions could help to prevent the crime. He risks everything for people he does not even know. It is a selfless and costly act.
Most of us will not be asked to physically put our life on the line for others but all of us will, at some point in our life, be called to put others first at varying degrees of cost. It is part and parcel of being human and, for Christians, highlights the paradox: ‘Whoever gains his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it’ (Matthew 10.39 Revised English Bible).
A more controversial theme to emerge from Red Dragon faces us with the uncomfortable question of who is responsible for the evil that we see around us. In the film, we rub shoulders with two serial killers. Hannibal Lecter is behind bars, already locked up for his appalling crimes. Francis Dolarhyde is on the loose wreaking terrible havoc. What we see in Dolarhyde is a very damaged individual. It becomes evident that from his earliest days, Dolarhyde was taught that he was worthless and disgusting, due in part to a slight disfigurement.
With any sense of self-esteem and dignity crushed from him, Dolarhyde is a tragic human being who crosses into the realm of insanity in a desperate bid to become something great and powerful. His crimes are indefensibly and the matter of his being held accountable for them is not in question. But we are left with the uncomfortable realisation that Dolarhyde did not evolve into a killer in a vacuum. The appalling treatment that he received as a child was certainly a contributing factor. Though Dolarhyde committed the dreadful acts, perhaps not all the guilt was his alone.
Don’t get me wrong at this point. I am not for one minute challenging the sense of a person’s accountability for his/her actions. Rather, I am stressing it. Each of us is responsible for the way we treat others, not least because our words and actions have consequences. Sometimes this is immediate and obvious, sometimes it is long term and hidden. Who we are is always due to the relationships that we have with others and the consequences of a person’s actions can be far-reaching. Maybe this is what is meant in the Old Testament in God’s words to Moses:
‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation’ (Numbers 14.18 NIV).
Perhaps God’s ‘punishment’ refers less to something that is inflicted upon us by God and more to the tragic and long-lasting effects of human evil and wickedness. How we treat others will affect them for good or ill. It is a challenging thought.
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