Hannibal (2001)

Gary Oldman: Mason Verger

Photos 

Quotes 

• Mason Verger : So what do ya think, Cordell? Does Lecter want to fuck her or kill her or eat her alive?

  Cordell Doemling : Probably all three, though I wouldn't want to predict in what order.

• Mason Verger : Cordell, shoot him! Get the gun and shoot him!

  Cordell Doemling : Go into the pen?

  Mason Verger : Yes!

  Cordell Doemling : No, I'm staying out of this.

  Mason Verger : You're involved, is what you are, in all of it! Now do it!

  Cordell Doemling : No.

  Mason Verger : Yes!

  Hannibal Lecter : [Cordell is standing behind Mason's wheelchair on a ledge overlooking the wild boar]  Hey, Cordell! Why don't you push him in? You can always say it was me.

• Mason Verger : Isn't it funny?

  Clarice Starling : What's that?

  Mason Verger : You can look at my face, but you shied when I said the name of God.

• Mason Verger : When the fox hears the rabbit scream he comes a-runnin'... but not to help.

• Mason Verger : [watching a tourist's video of Hannibal, waving from the balcony after killing Pazzi]  Tell me, Cordell, to you does that look like a wave goodbye... or hello?

• Mason Verger : I have immunity from the Justice Department, and I have immunity from the Risen Jesus. And nobody beats the Riz!

• Mason Verger : Oh, coulda, woulda, should. I mean what do you think about the money?

  Paul Krendler : Five.

  Mason Verger : Oh, let's just toss it off like 'five'! Let's say it with the respect it deserves.

  Paul Krendler : Five-hundred-thousand-dollars.

  Mason Verger : Well, that's better, but not much. Will it work?

  Paul Krendler : It'll work. Won't be pretty.

  Mason Verger : What ever is?

  [Line disconnects] 

  Mason Verger : Cocksucker!

• Mason Verger : You know, I thank God for what happened. It was my salvation. Have you accepted Jesus, Agent Starling? Do you have faith?

  Clarice Starling : I was raised Lutheran.

  Mason Verger : That's not what I asked.

• [Hannibal and Mason see each other for the first time in years] 

  Mason Verger : Hylochoerus Meinertzhageni. Ring any bells from high school biology, doctor? No? Well, I could list its most conspicuous features if that would help jog the memory.

  [wheels around the restrained Hannibal] 

  Mason Verger : Three pairs of incisors, one pair of elongated canines, three pairs of molars, four pairs of pre-molars, upper and lower, for a total of forty-four teeth.

  [stops to face Hannibal] 

  Mason Verger : The meal will begin with an hors d'oeuvre tartare: your feet. The main course - the rest of you - won't be served until seven hours later, but during that time, you'll be able to enjoy the effects of the consumed appetizer with a full-bodied saline drip. I guess you wish now you'd fed the rest of me to the dogs, hmm?

  Hannibal Lecter : [perfectly calm]  No, Mason... No, I much prefer you the way you are.

  Mason Verger : [holding back anger]  So... dinner at 8.

• Mason Verger : [as Barney opens a pastry box]  I might be able to get a cookie down. What do you think, Cordell?

  Cordell Doemling : I think it would kill you.

• [Mason Verger is going to have Hannibal Lecter fed to wild pigs] 

  Mason Verger : You will stay for the evening's entertainment, won't you, Cordell?

  Cordell Doemling : If it's all the same to you, I think I'd rather not.

  Mason Verger : Rather not? Or *will* not?

• Mason Verger : Cordell, I think you can leave us now.

  Cordell Doemling : I thought I might stay. Perhaps... I could be useful.

  Mason Verger : You can be *useful* seeing about my lunch.

• Mason Verger : I showed him my toys, my noose set-up, among other things - it's where you sort of hang yourself, but not really. It feels good while you, uh... well, you know. Anyway, he said "Mason,"...

  Hannibal Lecter : Mason, would you like a popper?

  Mason Verger : And I said, would I! Oh wow! Once that kicked in I was flying... He said "Mason, show me how you smile to gain the confidence of a child." I smiled, and he said "Oh, I see how you do it."

  [In flashback, Mason kicks out a full-length mirror] 

  Mason Verger : The good doctor approached me with a piece of broken mirror. "Try this,"

  Hannibal Lecter : Try peeling off your face...

  Mason Verger : "... and feeding it to the dogs."

  [In the flashback, Mason does so, still laughing hysterically] 

  Hannibal Lecter : No, I can still see it. Try again! No, I'm afraid not...

  Mason Verger : That's entertainment!

  [dissolve to the present] 

  Mason Verger : Ah, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

• Clarice Starling : How did he end up at your house?

  Mason Verger : I invited him of course... to my pied-à-terre. I came to the door in my nicest come-hither outfit. I was concerned... that he'd be afraid of me. But he didn't seem to be. Afraid of me. That's almost funny now.

• [Barney opens a pastry box and shows Mason what's inside] 

  Mason Verger : How much?

  Barney : Two hundred and fifty... thousand.

  Mason Verger : Cordell, cut a check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

  [Angle inside the box shows it contains the hockey mask used to gag Lecter at the asylum]