Red Rising Book Series

[Ernest Babin]

TheRising is a 2022 British supernatural crime drama television series produced by Sky Studios.[2] It is based on the 2017 Belgian series (Hotel) Beau Sjour, created by Bert Van Dael and Sanne Nuyens.[3][4][5]

The Rising tells the story of Neve Kelly, a young woman who finds out that she is dead. After realizing that she has been murdered, she determines to find her killer and get justice. As she begins her investigation, Neve discovers that she has the ability to interfere in the world around her as well as interact with certain individuals, one of whom she grows close to.

Deadline Hollywood reported that Sky Studios was developing a series based on Hotel Beau Sjour in October 2019.[8] The show was announced in April 2021 and is the first full in-house production for Sky Studios, written by Pete McTighe, Charlotte Wolf, Roanne Bardsley, Gemma Hurley, and Laura Grace. Ed Lilly served as lead director, with McTighe, Serena Thompson, and Julian Stevens executive producing, while Lilly and Wolf also served as associate producers.[9]

Principal photography began in May 2021 in the north of England, with filming locations that included the Lake District and areas surrounding Manchester. The eight episodes were split into four filming blocks, with each two episodes helmed by different directors. Filming ended in October 2021, and post-production continued into early 2022, with final picture and sound work being completed in London.[10]

McTighe stated in May 2022 that he had plans for a second season,[11] to be titled Risen. Sky Studios however cancelled production in March 2023, two months before it was scheduled to start.[12]

In Cumbria, a hologram of the protagonist, Neve, was projected onto Derwentwater the day before the series was released. The figure mouthed "come and find me" to passers-by, who were surprised to stumble upon the projection on their morning walk.[10]

Writing for Fiction Horizon, Nelson Acosta gave the show a mostly positive review, praising Clara Rugaard's acting, as well as the cinematography. He also commented that it lacked humour and dynamism.[13] At The Upcoming, Andrew Murray also complimented newcomer Rugaard and wrote positively about the show's plotlines and hooks. He criticised its focus on teen drama, however.[14]

Unpleasant mainly because this entry to the series really shouldn't exist. If you'll recall in our discussion of Hannibal, I went into some detail about Harris's revelation that the titular doctor was not entirely a product of nature, as he insists in the above quote. Harris tells us that witnessing his sister Mischa's death and cannibalization by deserted Nazi soldiers during WWII in part shaped this erstwhile innocent boy into the man-shaped monster we've come to know. Hannibal Rising takes this backstory many steps further, exploring the aftermath of this horrific event, predominantly Lecter's pursuit of revenge.

Basically, this narrative is the Hannibalverse equivalent of the Star Wars prequels (there's even a hammy "NOOOOO!!!" moment). By making this comparison, I'm also hearkening Cath Murphy's recent piece "How Backstory Almost Totally Fucked-Up The Stars Wars Franchise," because that is exactly the same situation we're in with this last story from Thomas Harris. When I say it shouldn't exist, what I mean is, the overarching story of Hannibal would be far more interesting without revealing the circumstances of Hannibal's ascension, as it were. As a character, Lecter is far more terrifying in the shadows, and any attempt, however noble or even well-crafted, to "reduce [him] to a set of influences" will inevitably end badly.

So let's jump right in, shall we? Other than being pointless by default, what is it about Hannibal Rising that just doesn't work? And do either of the screen incarnations, the 2007 film of the same name or the TV series Hannibal, best the novel in any way?

I'll try not to dwell on the plot here, primarily because it isn't as complex as previous entries in the series. When all is said and done, Hannibal Rising is a fairly standard revenge narrative. In short, Hannibal lives in a castle with his well-to-do patriarch Count Lecter, his mother, his sister Mischa and a host of servants and tutors. World War II is in its final year, and the Lithuanian family are packing up and going into hiding in their hunting lodge several miles from the castle. The Lecters and most of the servants make it to their destination without incident, but the cook and another servant are murdered by Vladis Grutas and his gang of marauders, who are all defected Russians.

The Lecters spend several winter days and nights locked up in their cabin, wanting a little for food but otherwise happy. This all changes when a band of Russians in a tank stop off at the cabin to get some water, but are bombarded by a German air fighter. The Russians manage to fell the plane with a canon blast, but unfortunately the resultant plane crash and explosion is too close to the cabin, killing everyone but Hannibal and Mischa.

The former continues to care for the latter, and they make out okay for a while. Until, that is, Grutas and his men stumble upon the cabin and decide to shack up there for the winter. The gang is starving, and eventually the men resort to cannibalism, first eating a little boy they find wandering in the woods...

We jump ahead in time, and witness young Hannibal greeted by a group of Russian soldiers as he stumbles out of the woods, his arm broken and his ability to speak buried along with his memories. He is sent, ironically enough, back to Lecter Castle, which has now become a boy's orphanage. There, he gets into fights with bullies, showing the first signs of his mercilessness when it comes to dispatching the rude and inconsiderate.

More time elapses, and at the age of thirteen, Hannibal is taken in by his uncle Robert Lecter, a somewhat successful painter, and his wife, Lady Murasaki, who was also orphaned by the nuclear blast in Hiroshima. Working with a psychologist, Robert and Murasaki hope to draw out the awful memories Hannibal has kept repressed all these years, particularly the fate of his sister Mischa (long story short, he eventually remembers the ghastly details that we already know from Harris's previous novel, Hannibal).

Hannibal develops an affection for Murasaki, and his speech returns when defending her honor at the market. He attacks a Vichy butcher for loudly and lewdly suggesting that "Japanese pussy runs sideways." In a barely audible whisper, he calls the man "Beast." Because the butcher was well hated for being a German sympathizer during the war, the incident is more or less brushed under the table. However, Robert Lecter goes to the butcher himself and berates him, the exertion triggering a heart attack in the middle-aged man, the heart attack triggering death. Goodbye Robert Lecter, we hardly knew you.

Because the incident is first believed to a be a war crime, the French police call in Inspector Popil, an expert in the field and a man who lost his family to the war, just like Hannibal and Lady Murasaki. He quickly surmises that Hannibal was responsible, but he cannot prove it (Murasaki helps Hannibal dispose of the evidence).

More years go by. Hannibal is now eighteen years-old and in medical school. Lady Murasaki, now living close-by in Paris and lonely after the departure of her attendant Chiyo, begins to spend more and more time with Hannibal. Popil still keeps tabs on Hannibal, unconvinced that Hannibal isn't guilty of the butcher's murder. Moreover, he has developed feelings for Lady Murasaki himself.

Now is the point we can pretty much hit fast forward. There's a love triangle of sorts between Hannibal, Lady Murasaki and Popil, with no party ever really acting on their impulses (for a while at least). In the meantime, Hannibal discovers his sister's murderers are now, conveniently, living in France as well, and he begins a systematic process of killing and eating them to avenge Mischa's death. Murasaki more or less knows what Hannibal is up to, and offers him her body and her love in exchange for a promise: that he will stop his evil deeds and live quietly with her. He refuses her advances, however, stating firmly, "I already promised Mischa."

Two, to Harris's credit, it does not seem that Hannibal's evil was a result of the horror he experienced as a child, but rather that the evil was always within him, waiting for the right set of circumstances to set itself free. As Harris writes in his prologue to the novel:

Robert Lecter's letters, recently unearthed, may help us establish the vital statistics of Hannibal, who altered dates freely to confound the authorities and his chroniclers. By our efforts we may watch as the beast within turns from the teat and, working upwind, enters the world.

When taking these passages into consideration, we can see that Lady Murasaki's attempts to quell the beast within are futile. It seems that Harris suggests Hannibal has no other trajectory to follow, that because of what he is, the monster would have eventually gotten out anyway. This is important because it shows Harris is at least not willing to explain away this character's evil, in the same way he reduces Francis Dolarhyde, Jame Gumb and Mason Verger to a set of influences. Yes, these events unlocked the beast from its cage, but if not this horror, than it would have been something else. In this way, we can commend Harris this much for keeping some of Hannibal's mystery intact.

Basically, the movie, released in 2007 and directed by Peter Webber, IS the book. This is mostly due to the fact that Harris actually wrote the screenplay himself, making a few changes here and there, most of which are inexplicable and do more harm to the narrative than good.

For one, the film skips Hannibal at age thirteen, jumping straight ahead with eighteen and older Hannibal with a clearly adult actor (Gaspard Ulliel). I suspect in the scenes meant to depict the newly teenaged Hannibal, we're supposed to accept Ulliel as a boy of this age, but it decidedly doesn't work.

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