04/28/09 - The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs (1991, 118 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/

I didn't really know what kind of film to expect when I began this. I knew just a few things going in: this movie was one of the three to get the "Five Oscar Sweep", Dr. Hannibal Lecter was voted one of the Best Villains by AFI while Clarice Starling was voted one of the Best Heroines.

The movie is about Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is trying to get Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to provide her with information on a local serial killer. There is an assortment of other characters such as Starling's boss, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) and Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald) as the man who runs the hospital where Dr. Lecter is. The serial killer "Buffalo Bill" is played by Ted Levine.

Anthony Hopkins delivers an amazing performance as Dr. Lecter. However, to say that he is the leading actor would not be true in my opinion. While I'll admit that he steals every scene that he's in, he just does not play that prominent of a role in that many scenes or advance the plot as much as a character such as Jack Crawford. Dr. Lecter, though, is immediately placed in the list of smartest (and also most insane) movie villains. I question calling him a villain in this movie, however. While he does kill people, it's hard to say, in my opinion, that he is a bigger villain to Clarice than Dr. Chilton is.

Jodie Foster's performance as Clarice is particularly good. She definitely holds her own on screen with Hopkins and is extremely convincing as the trainee detective in over her head in the case. The remaining cast does a fine job, but no one stands out in particular as being in league with Foster or Hopkins. I would say Levine as "Buffalo Bill" and Heald as Dr. Chilton do pretty well in their roles as well.

One thing I liked about the way the movie was shot was the "point of view" perspective employed a lot, usually with Starling's point of view being shown. The incredibly close shots of Dr. Lecter put the viewer entirely too close to this insane genius than we are comfortable being. It really works for the movie though and definitely adds a more pressuring feel.

Overall, I gave this film an 8/10. This was a great movie and had extremely good performances by Hopkins and Foster.