Does Shrek Really End Happily Ever After?
"Also, critics respond to Swordfish, Evolution, and The Road Home, plus more reader recommendations"
Jeffrey Overstreet | posted 6/01/2001 12:00AM
5 of 5
Table Talk
Hannibal
, one of the year's biggest—and most critically maligned—box office hits, certainly attracted attention. This indulgent cinematic celebration of a serial killer's repulsive habits stirred even non-religious critics into a fury; its glorified portrayals of a cannibalistic vengeance were so melodramatic and manipulative that audiences were duped into cheering for the villain.
In a commentary on the film in Crisis magazine, Terry Teachout argues that the viewers who thought they saw some religious imagery at work in the film were not mistaken. In fact, he shows how the image of the cross is specifically abused by the director, Ridley Scott, and how the theological beliefs of the writer Thomas Harris are part of what compels him to take such a dark and twisted view of the world.
Next week: Even more recommendations from Film Forum readers, and responses to the Angelina Jolie action flick Tomb Raider.
Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
See earlier Film Forum postings for these other movies in the box-office top ten: Pearl Harbor, The Animal, Moulin Rouge, What's the Worst That Could Happen? The Mummy Returns, A Knight's Tale, and Bridget Jones's Diary.
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