Show Review: Hannibal

*NO SPOILERS*

Intense.

Artistic.

Gruesome.

A masterpiece put into camera. Once in a while, a representation comes along, that you feel you do not have the right to judge. The last time I remember feeling this way was when I had seen ’12 Angry Men’. You feel an utter lack of tools to do so, or a conspicuous lack of knowledge on how to use the tools you possess. The mistake you could do at this point is to read this void in your head as a lack of comprehension. It isn’t. It is the comprehension of the unconventionally beautiful, the strangely artistic.

The beauty with which this show has been filmed betrays an underlying care that is almost alarmingly parallel to obsession. As you get drawn into its mystic depths, with its surreal representations of the psychologically unexplored in terms of visual representations, you can’t help but ponder whether you will meet the maker of this show there. It’s almost as if the maker took some paint and a paintbrush and let loose on the canvas. If you do go into the depths, I cannot guarantee you shall be able to come back, or know that coming back is something to be done. I might come across you in those depths someday, wondering who you are.

Patience. You need patience and determination to see this through. The show does not make obvious efforts to grab your attention. The fact is, it never lets it go. The show is riveting to say the least, taking apart minds and bodies with pretty much the same intricacy and artistry. If I were a speedster, I would say that the show is slow in its own way, a way that makes you want to stop running through anything you see and take notice. Notice how the seemingly normal can be the seemingly extreme, in a slow journey convincing you to believe the same.

Mads Mikkelsen is irreplaceable and leaves nothing to be desired from his acting skills. The whiskey like flow of his voice combined with the intense psychological dialogue beautify any scenes with him doing the talking. In my head I have allocated a space for him to reside as Dr.Hannibal Lecter. I have not seen any other portrayal of the same character, and I do not doubt their excellence. But this is something which I do not see replaced.

If you feel that certain characters are forced or shallow, blame it on the high standards this show sets for its actors. What you see as shallow is but the normal, which seems pale in the context of the show. This show thoroughly exploits the field of psychology and mental disease to extricate some of the most interesting killers.

I know this show isn’t over. There is more to come. But for me, it is. I have reached a closure with the final episode of the second season. And I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful one.

After watching that episode, and the rest of the show before that, you might feel the need to be wary of me.

I might have to say the same for you.

Are you willing to find out?