Hannibal is a victim of extremely poor production values, horrendous Italian directors, and even worse Italian actors. Mature does his best to salvage the film, but it is as hopeless as the war between Rome and Carthage, which would end with the complete destruction of Carthage after its third and final disastrous war against Rome.
The great Italian directors and actors excelled in neorealism. This film is about as far from realism as you can get. The corny love story subplot only worsens the film with an ugly B Italian actress. Almost every great Italian film ever made, with the exception of modern Tornatore films, like the great Cinema Paradiso and a few others since the post-1980s, have been in black and white. This turkey had a hack director, hack actors, and hack production values that tried to use visual violence and gore in place of acting, directing and a script. It is a mess. I wrote a book on Italian Cinema (The Development of Italian Cinema).
The book analyzes the great Italian neorealism period immediately following WW2 and lasting for two decades before Fellini and other great Italian directors took over the transition to modern films. Hannibal was not part of the process; it was a hack project from the start. Don't waste your time with this junk.
The great Italian directors and actors excelled in neorealism. This film is about as far from realism as you can get. The corny love story subplot only worsens the film with an ugly B Italian actress. Almost every great Italian film ever made, with the exception of modern Tornatore films, like the great Cinema Paradiso and a few others since the post-1980s, have been in black and white. This turkey had a hack director, hack actors, and hack production values that tried to use visual violence and gore in place of acting, directing and a script. It is a mess. I wrote a book on Italian Cinema (The Development of Italian Cinema).
The book analyzes the great Italian neorealism period immediately following WW2 and lasting for two decades before Fellini and other great Italian directors took over the transition to modern films. Hannibal was not part of the process; it was a hack project from the start. Don't waste your time with this junk.