By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Hannibal Lecter’s first cinematic vehicle is coming back, looking better than ever.
StudioCanal has announced that it is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Michael Mann’s psychothriller by unveiling MANHUNTER: THE FINAL CUT this summer. The brand new 4K restoration will have its debut at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ David Geffen Theater on Friday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. PT and at Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna on Wednesday, June 24, followed by select U.S. theatrical bookings beginning July 24 from Rialto Pictures. The movie will also open theatrically in the UK September 25 via StudioCanal before the latter brings it to home entertainment in Germany October 1 and the UK October 5.
Scripted by Mann from Thomas Harris’ novel RED DRAGON, MANHUNTER stars William Peterson as Will Graham, a retired FBI criminal profiler called back into action to track down a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy (Tom Noonan). Attempting to get into the murderer’s mindset, he consults with the incarcerated Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (as it’s spelled in this film, played by Brian Cox, pictured above). Although not successful during its initial 1986 release, MANHUNTER has come to be celebrated for its style and suspense, and as a trendsetter for serial-killer cinema. THE FINAL CUT is a 4K scan of the original 35mm negative, with a few shots from an interpositive and a new 5.1 audio mix derived from an original 35mm magnetic six-track printmaster.
“40 years ago—though armed with Thomas Harris’ excellent novel, RED DRAGON—its subject matter, the profiling of serial killers, as well as being shocking and raw, was unknown,” Mann says. “When adapting, I wanted to make its storytelling deliver audiences into a certain state of threat and emotional engagement. Integral to that was the visualization and use of music with lyrics sometimes working like a libretto. We have carefully remastered the film to try to evoke that mood and intensity, heightened with audio sourced from the original 5.1 35mm analog masters. This latest iteration is that version of the film with which I’m most satisfied.
“If the picture was left the way it was,” he continues, “it would be interesting, but you’d feel some distance…you’d be observing it somewhat. I’m more interested in its original intent impacting you the same way it may have in 1986…that is, to bring you into it again in the original way.”
