For any actor, it’s playing with fire to take on a role as iconic as Hannibal Lecter, a character as beloved as he is terrifying – and whose psychopathic skin has been so flagrantly worn by others, including Anthony Hopkins, who scored an Oscar for sheer creepiness in The Silence of the Lambs.
Yet for the Danish star Mads Mikkelsen – who wowed the world in 2006 as the Bond villain “Le Chiffre” and wept blood at the gaming table opposite Daniel Craig in Casino Royale – slipping into the serial-cannibal’s hide turned out to be a perfect fit.
In fact, where lesser talent would go down in flames, Mikkelsen sears to perfection a fresh, delectable helping of the twisty psychiatrist in Hannibal, the new thriller series from NBC, a prequel set in the years before the police grew aware of the murderous gourmet’s appetite for human flesh and his macabre sense of play.
“I think our goal for this series is really to make the definitive Hannibal Lecter story,” says the creator and executive producer Bryan Fuller, who is also behind the critically acclaimed series Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls as well as a writer for the fan-fave first season of Heroes.
Hannibal follows the investigations of the gifted criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) who’s on the hunt with the FBI for a serial killer. Graham’s unique way of thinking gives him the astonishing ability to empathise with anyone – even psychopaths. He knows what makes them tick.
But when the mind of the warped killer he’s pursuing proves too knotty for even Graham to untangle, he enlists the help of Lecter, one of the premier psychiatrists in the country.
Armed with the uncanny expertise of the brilliant doctor, Graham and Lecter (known to be a serial killer only to viewers) form a brilliant partnership; it seems there’s no villain they can’t catch. (Sigh … if only Graham knew that Lecter would one day become his most cunning foe.)
The co-stars include Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI) as special agent-in-charge Jack Crawford, the head of Behavioural Sciences at the FBI and Graham’s boss, and Caroline Dhavernas (Wonderfalls) as Dr Alana Bloom, a psychiatry professor and profiler who finds herself both intrigued by Graham and afraid for him.
Hannibal reeks with horror; this is one genuinely scary show that puts viewers into the minds of victims who experience excruciating ends. Yet amid all the gore on the floor, the series is awash with the finer things in life, with the best in fashion and flourishes of gourmet cooking in Hannibal’s gleaming, to-die-for kitchen – where the meat sizzling in the pan in a flash of brandy is part of the mystery. “This show is elegant horror,” adds Fuller. “That is what we’re striving for.”
The New York Post hails it as “the most beautifully shot and produced show on network TV”. And it’s already been renewed for a second season of 13 episodes for 2014.
“The human monster will always be fascinating,” adds Dhavernas, “and this one even more so, because he’s not your typical psycho – he’s a dandy.”
Says Fishburne: “He has that language and sophistication and supreme intelligence that is going to make his Hannibal Lecter quite irresistible.”
“I think the dark places have always been intriguing and interesting for people. The villain is always interesting,” says the 47-year-old Mikkelsen.
When asked what panics him, however, his answer is pragmatic: “I don’t like big lines to restrooms when I’ve just had four [beverages]. That scares me, really.”
• Hannibal is broadcast at 11pm on Wednesday on OSN First HD
artslife@thenational.ae
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Recycle Reuse Repurpose
New central waste facility on site at expo Dubai South area to handle estimated 173 tonne of waste generated daily by millions of visitors
Recyclables such as plastic, paper, glass will be collected from bins on the expo site and taken to the new expo Central Waste Facility on site
Organic waste will be processed at the new onsite Central Waste Facility, treated and converted into compost to be re-used to green the expo area
Of 173 tonnes of waste daily, an estimated 39 per cent will be recyclables, 48 per cent organic waste and 13 per cent general waste.
About 147 tonnes will be recycled and converted to new products at another existing facility in Ras Al Khor
Recycling at Ras Al Khor unit:
Plastic items to be converted to plastic bags and recycled
Paper pulp moulded products such as cup carriers, egg trays, seed pots, and food packaging trays
Glass waste into bowls, lights, candle holders, serving trays and coasters
Aim is for 85 per cent of waste from the site to be diverted from landfill
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
India squad
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
Company%20Profile
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The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Scoreline
Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)
Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Mission%3A%20Impossible%20-%20Dead%20Reckoning%20Part%20One
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