Red Dragon (film)

At the beginning of the film, Hannibal Lecter appears in the image of a brilliant doctor, socialite and philanthropist . He is one of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Philharmonic, calling himself “the piglet of the Epikurov herd” (quote from Horace ). After one of the concerts, the doctor holds a dinner party where he treats guests with a delicious pate, but refuses to tell what this dish is made of.

At night, an FBI agent , Will Graham, comes to him to investigate a series of murders of people who had some parts of his body cut out. During the visit, Graham realizes that the unknown cannibal is Lecter. Hannibal is trying to kill Graham, but the agent at the last moment manages to neutralize the doctor.

Lecter is sent to conclusion. Graham struggles to recover and leaves the bureau. He lives with his wife and son on the coast of Florida . A few years later, his former boss Jack Crawford comes to Graham. He asks Graham to help investigate the crimes of the new serial killer. After some hesitation, Graham agrees to help. The press gives the unknown criminal the nickname "Tooth Fairy."

The boss invites Graham to seek help from Hannibal Lecter. The agent goes to a special psychiatric hospital where the maniac is located. Hannibal agrees to help, but starts a psychological game with the agent. On the advice of Lecter, Graham returns to the victim’s house, where he finds an amateur video cassette made in the studio and finds the label of the criminal - the hieroglyph “Red Dragon” from the mahjong game (the hieroglyph in the form of a vertically crossed rectangle actually means “middle”, “center” )

In parallel, the film tells the story of the life of a serial killer - Francis Dolarheide. Francis works at a film studio, where he meets a blind employee - Riba McClain.

Dolarchide writes a letter to Lecter, which the FBI is trying to analyze. In the meantime, Lecter and Dolarhide have correspondence, during which Lecter tells Graham the Tooth Fairy. The FBI has to hide Graham’s family. As a retaliatory strike, the FBI attracts a Tattler reporter Launds to publish facts in the newspaper that should cause anger at the maniac. However, Dolarchide grabs Launds and shows him his tattoo on his back - a drawing by William Blake, "The Great Red Dragon and the wife, clothed in the Sun." Dolarheid forces Launds to record a message on the recorder, after which he kills the reporter. On film, Launds says that he was lucky to see the transformation of the Great Dragon.

Graham goes to Lecter, trying to bargain with him, but without much success. In the meantime, Dolarchide and Rivva have a kind of relationship. After a romantic evening, during which Dolarheid, using the blindness of Riba, watches a video of her future victims, Riba seduces him.

The next day, Dolarchide travels to the Brooklyn Museum, where Blake’s original drawing is located. Dolarchide eats a drawing.

Meanwhile, Graham analyzes the film and realizes that the maniac is working in the studio where the recording was made. Maniac realizes that the FBI has attacked his trail. Dolarheid kills Ryba's ex-lover and kidnaps the girl. Dolarchide sets his house on fire and simulates suicide. The girl manages to get out of the house. In the ashes, the police discovers the remains of a man with a broken skull. Since Riba was a witness to "suicide", the remains are initially mistaken for Dolarheide. In addition, the police find in the safe a diary of a maniac - "On the way to the Great Dragon."

Crawford receives information that the remains in the house are not Dolarchide. Dolarchide finds Graham's family and takes the son of an agent hostage. However, Will manages to predict the actions of Dolarchide, and with the help of his wife, he kills the maniac.

Meanwhile, a visitor from the FBI comes to Lecter ...

This is not the first film adaptation of the book “The Red Dragon” - in 1986, the director “ Manhunter ” was shot by director Michael Mann . However, the new film adaptation is closer to the plot of the book than the free interpretation of 1986.

The first and last film by Brett Ratner, shot in the psychological thriller genre. Before and after the director filmed comedies or comedy action films.

• In the novel "Red Dragon" there is no mention of the Baltimore Philharmonic, it appears only in "Silence of the Lambs."
• Harris’s affair begins after Lecter's arrest. Unlike the film, where it is hinted that Lecter was a permanent consultant to the FBI agent, in the book Graham had previously only questioned Lecter as a witness and saw him only twice. The maniac was arrested due to the fact that Graham manages to ask for reinforcements over the phone, and not injure Lecter. He decides to meet Lecter again on his own.
• Dolarheide suddenly attacks Graham when he, having already guessed everything, hurries home to answer Crawford's call. Graham's wife, on her own initiative, distracts the maniac from the wounded husband and kills him.
• The book also lacks a scene of Graham's family reunion. The novel “Silence of the Lambs” mentions the further fate of the disfigured Graham: his wife leaves him and he gets drunk.
• Hannibal’s letter, which the addressee never receives, is not philosophical, but philosophical.
• In the film, the company Dolarchide worked for is called Chromelux, and in the book is Gateway.
• In the maniac’s book they nicknamed “Zuboscal” and not “Tooth Fairy”

• 2002 - Nomination for the prize of the Catalan Film Festival in Sitges for the best film (Brett Ratner)
• 2003 - three Saturn Award nominations : Best Action / Adventure / Thriller Movie, Best Supporting Actor (Rafe Fiennes), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Watson)

• Official website
• The Red Dragon on the Internet Movie Database
• Red Dragon on allmovie  
• Red Dragon on Rotten Tomatoes
• Will Graham (Graham) at the Widoc Office website