This is the story of the monster Hannibal Lecter's formative years. These experiences as a child and young adult led to his remarkable contribution to the fields of medicine, music, painting and forensics. We begin in World War II at the medieval castle in Lithuania built by Dr. Lecter's forebear, Hannibal the Grim. The child Hannibal survives the horrors of the Eastern Front and escapes the grim Soviet aftermath to find refuge in France with the widow of his uncle, mysterious and beautiful Japanese descended from Lady Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji. Her kind and wise attentions help him understand his unbearable recollections of the war. Remembering, he finds the means to visit the outlaw predators that changed him forever as they battened on helpless during the collapse of the Eastern Front. Hannibal helps these war criminals toward self-knowledge even as we see his own nature become clear to him.

Actors screen tested for the role of Hannibal include: Hayden Christensen, Macaulay Culkin, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Friend, Dominic Cooper,Tom Sturridge, and Tom Payne.

[from trailer]


Hannibal Lecter:
[holding a glass with wine] Good evening, Herr Kolnas. You drink better wine that you serve.

Continuity: When Hannibal Lecter is about to kill the guy in the houseboat when trying to rescue Lady Murasaki Shikibu, he has the guy on the ground with a knife next to his throat, with no blood on it, when the camera shoots back at Hannibal Lecter, the knife is shown with blood.

Written by Aleksandr Aleksandrov (as A. Alexandrov) and S. Alymov
Public Domain
(misspelled as "Pesnya o Staline")