Manhunter Review

Manhunter is a 1986 Crime Thriller based on Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann. The film stars William Peterson who plays Will Graham who is a FBI profiler responsible for the capture of serial killer Hannibal Lecter played by Brian Cox and who is later assigned to capture serial killer Francis Dolarhyde (Tooth Fairy) played by Tom Noonan.

Plot

When a case comes up where they are having to investigate a killer known as 'Tooth Fairy' (Tom Noonan) FBI profiler Will Graham decides to come out of retirement to help out on the case however in the mean time he has to confront someone from his past and meet with a jailed killer who almost had Graham as one of his victims.

Will Graham is a former FBI profiler who retired after a breakdown when being attacked by Dr Hannibal Lecter a cannibalistic serial killer. Will's former FBI superior Jack Crawford comes and searches for him at his Florida home asking for help on a case Graham agrees to help seek out this serial killer. Graham goes to visit Lecktor is in his cell and asks him for insights, Lecter agrees to look into his case files.

Graham travels to the first crime scene in Birmingham when Jack Crawford contacts him telling him of Freddy Lounds involved a journalist that had bitter history with Graham. Lecter warden finds a note in his personal effects and it reads that 'Tooth Fairy' has an admiration for Lecter and an interest in Graham. Part of the note is missing and is analysied to see what Lecter has removed It is found to be an instruction to communicate through the personals section of the National Tattler, the newspaper run by Freddie Lounds.

They plan to fake an advertisment to replace Lecter however soon realising that Dolarhyde will know it is fake without the proper book code. Graham interviews Lounds during which he gives 'Tooth Fairy' a fake profile in order to stir things up. Lounds is then kidnapped by 'Tooth Fairy' and when he wakes up in the killers home he is set on fire in a wheelchair and killed his body is then rolled into the parking garage of the newspaper as a warning. 

They crack Lecktor code message to 'Tooth Fairy' it is the home address of Graham with the intruction to kill the family, the message ends 'Save yourself, kill them all.' Graham rushes back to his family home to find that they are all safe but terrified. At his job Francis Dolarhyde approaches a blind co-worker and offers her a lift home, they go to his house where Reba is oblivious to her surroundings of videos of his next victims. Dolarhyde is confused by this new found relationship though it helps to suppress his bloodlust. After some research Graham realises that 'Tooth Fairy' has an overwhelming desire for acceptance and therefore factors it into the murders. Dolarhyde is watching and sees that another co-worker takes Reba home, he mistakes them kissing and therefore gets jealous murdering the man and abducting Reba telling her that Francis is gone, forever. 

Graham realises that someone must have seen these home movies and there set out to find where, they figure that it is in a lab in St. Louis when Dolarhyde works. Graham works out which employees have seen the movies and then gets his home address. At his home Dolarhyde tries to kill Reba with a piece of broken glass. Graham lunges through a window when seeing this Dolarhyde injures Crawford and kills two police officers. Dolarhyde returns to the kitchen with the intention to shoot Graham however he misses due to his injuries and is killed himself as Graham returns the fire. Reba, Graham and Crawford are attented by paramedics before Graham returns home and retires permantely. 

Stills from the film. 

Visual Techniques 

A big focus on the film is the work that they do on the forensic team run by the FBI to help track down the killer. This highlights the effect that this cases have on Graham. This then highlights the similarities between him and his enemies. 

Thoughout the film the use of colour used is heavily stylized this is because it conveys a sense of duality. The scenes that are shared between Will Graham and his wife Molly there is a light blue while there was an unsettling green used for scenes between himself and killer Francis Dolarhyde. It has been observed that the colour blue is associated with Molly, sex and their family home while green is used for searching and discovering, the colour of his shirt at the start of the investigating and the green tone of the interior shots of the Atlanta police station. It is known that this helps identify the character of Will Graham with the 'goodness' of the natural world and that the Dolarhyde is in the city with all of the sickness and bad things happens. Originally the meanings behind the colouring were critisced however as the years have gone on people have grown to accept it.

Blue vs Green - Visual Techniques

The film is able to draw close attention to the relationships of Graham and Dolarhyde. This is because in the film Michael Mann has chosen to emphasise the novel's symbiotic relationships of Graham/Lecter and Dolarhyde by using this visual techniques of the blues and the green alongside screen acting where being subtle plays a key role.

Something that Michael Mann does very well is the soundtracks in his films, in this film in particular the soundtrack dominates the entire film. The reason behind this is so that the audience knows when to react and when to distance themselves from the film. 

I think that the way the sound and visual techniques are used within this film are really important because it is a lot different to anything I have ever seen before. I like the way Michael Mann does this in all of his films but especially in this one because although it wasn't received as well as people hoped it would when it first came out, over the years people have come to like it more because they believe that it is very unique within it's ways.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_(film)