KarateParty.org - Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)

Jodie Foster – Clarice Starling
Anthony Hopkins – Dr Hannibal Lecter
Scott Glenn – Jack Crawford
Anthony Heald – Dr Frederick Chilton
Ted Levine – Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb

When I am watching a dvd in order to review it for this site, I like to watch it on my computer. That way, I can capture images and post an appropriate picture at the bottom of the review. These images are usually quite diverse, and I pick the best one on whether I can make some sort of witty remark or whether the picture is itself funny, or it captures the mood of the film, or it just looks cool. For my review of The Silence of the Lambs, I had taken four screenshots. It was only in looking over them just before I started writing these very words that I realised that in this case, they weren’t very diverse at all. All four were pictures of Dr Hannibal “the cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). But that is how it should be.

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an agent in training for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She is an intelligent and attractive woman in an environment dominated by men. She is recruited by one of her seniors - Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) - to interview Dr Hannibal Lecter, a psychopathic psychiatrist who is a serial killer with a taste for human flesh. He is unapologetic about this, “A census taker tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti,” he says. Starling initially labours under the belief that she is interviewing Lecter in order to build up a general profile of serial killers, but Crawford later reveals to her that she is interviewing Lecter in order to track down one particular serial killer at large – Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb (Ted Levine). There is all the more urgency because a senator’s daughter has been kidnapped and time is running out.

So you would think that The Silence of the Lambs would be about tracking down Buffalo Bill - that certainly is the goal of Starling and the rest of the FBI in the movie - but the film really is a character portrait of Lecter. He is a smart, resourceful villain. Think about how rare that is in most movies. In most movies with a villain, he (usually it’s a he, but sometimes there’s a femme fatale) is never as smart as he thinks he is, he lets something slip or makes a mistake. Not so with Lecter. Since he knows who Buffalo Bill is, he has all the cards. He is in total control, even when he is behind a thick plexiglass wall in his maximum security cell. The best parts of the film are the four or five conversations between Starling and Lecter. He gets Starling to reveal deeply personal details (as a quid pro quo for his help) and we witness a sort of respect, if not a bond, develop between the two. This is quite a contrast to the obvious distaste (sorry about the pun) that Lecter has for Dr Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald) the leering head of the facility Lecter is housed in.

The film is more tense than action-packed – it is a thriller, but it doesn’t really keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. That is not a bad thing, because it allows for the character development. Jonathan Demme, the director, is not afraid of toying with the audience in the final minutes leading up to the climax, either.

The thing is; The Silence of the Lambs is all about the villain – or rather a villain, and it’s not Buffalo Bill. Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter is what the punters are paying to see (in fact, the sequel is called Hannibal). I wouldn’t say he alone carries the film – Foster nails her character and Scott Glenn turns in an understated, yet bang-on performance as Jack Crawford, but Hopkins’ smooth voice full of menace will remain with me for a very long time.

Buffalo Bill is the only detracting feature of the entire movie. He is meant to be a monster capable of the most disgusting crimes, but he is more of a joke than anything else – doting on his poodle, Precious. Maybe he is there to be a contrast to Lecter – he doesn’t appear to be particularly bright and when he talks he is forgetful and self-contradictory. He doesn’t have the wit and assuredness that Lecter has.

Though it is not within the ethos of Karate Party to pander to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I am prepared to concede that in this case, they got it right. Hopkins richly deserved the Oscar he was awarded for his role, as did Foster. The Silence of the Lambs deserves its accolades and for me it remains the benchmark for all thrillers.

If you enjoyed The Silence of the Lambs you may also like:
Hannibal
LA Confidential
Se7en