Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 15, 2012



Manhunter is a 1986 film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann (pictured), it stars William Petersen as offender profiler Will Graham, Tom Noonan as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde—"The Tooth Fairy"—and features Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor. Manhunter focuses on the forensic work carried out by the FBI to track down the killer and shows the long-term effects that cases like this have on Graham, highlighting the similarities between him and his quarry. The film features heavily stylized use of color to convey this sense of duality, and the nature of the characters' similarity has been explored in academic readings of the film. Opening to mixed reviews, Manhunter fared poorly at the box office at the time of its release, making only $8.6 million in the United States. However, it has been reappraised in more recent reviews and now enjoys a more favorable reception, as both the acting and the stylized visuals have been appreciated better in later years. Its resurgent popularity has seen it labelled as a cult film. (more...)

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