Gosh, today really has been an unproductive day. Even by my standards, and that is certainly saying something. In fact, I've kinda totally run out of food, and still haven't quite got the motivation to get off my arse and wander to town for a bit. Alas, just leave it to tomorrow, eh?
My little Welsh stowaway (from Wednesday's trip), Rhybudd the Snail, appears to be doing very well; I finally have a pet in my uni room - haha room inspectors, I'd like to see you find him in the chaos here! He lives out of a vodka-shot glass and seems to be happy on his diet of Stubb's lettuce and my windowsill herbs. Bless. Plus, I can say anything in front of him, and he won't understand. Because he only speaks Welsh. Anyone kept snails before? Having got Shrimp doing a little Wikipedia research, apparently you have to give them soil or something? I'm thinking he can have a new 'snailquarium' soon. Well, as soon as I finish that jar of pasta sauce (wait, I forgot. Don't own any. Crap).
Other than a ridiculous amount of time spent watching him slime around his little shot glass (amazingly funny to us for some unknown reason), I've only had one lecture today (Oh. That makes a grand total of... one lecture this week), and spent a very productive hour or two this morning watching Hannibal Rising.
[Possible Spoilers Ahead]
Hmm, mixed views here.
First of all, to anyone who isn't too sure what this film is about, it's a prequel to the 'Lector trilogy' - that is; Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon - a kind of exploration into the origins of 'Hannibal the Cannibal' and an insight into the reasons behind his psychopathic behaviour. Written by Thomas Harris (both the original book and screenplay), a mixture of talented veteran-actors (Gong Li, Rhys Ifans) and exciting newcomers (a wonderful Gaspard Ulliel playing Lector himself), I think the premise for this movie was highly promising. It's slightly confusing as to why it didn't quite work.
The main problem appears to be the pace and flow of the plot - with the exception of a few 'delightful' moments (that is, if, like me, you enjoy sadistic torture scenes), I felt it seemed to (how do I describe this?) simply start and end, there weren't huge twists, turns and exciting plummets into Lector's madness. Even the final scene wasn't a massive adrenaline rush, rather an acceptable ending to a moderate film.
Having said this (and I can accept people may have opposing views about this), I thought the acting was great, particularly with Lector's portrayal. His cold, dangerous aura was captured wonderfully by Ulliel, and the scene where he first tastes blood is a fabulously chilling moment. However the actor also pushed past these boundaries, displaying an impressive array of talent - a deranged, apathetic monster, yet not losing sight of the inner workings of the man. Gong Li, too, is an interesting character; stunningly beautiful with an unspoken mystery to her that I found quite compelling. So yeah, not just because she is hot! Several great supporting roles from a British cast too; Dominic West, Kevin McKidd (okay, so he's Scottish, but he was wonderful!) and, of course, the creepy Rys Ifans (aah, Rhybudd, a fellow Welsh-dude).
I'd still recommend it, not least for the superb cinematography, but it's a good film to have on in the background; entertaining, but not quite grasping that 'wow' factor.
Enjoy it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
(Hope you have a fabulous day too!) x
