The Silence Of The Lambs (1990)
Year: 1990
Country: USA
Director: Jonathan Demme
Criterion Spine Number: 13
Reviewed: April 2014
Country: USA
Director: Jonathan Demme
Criterion Spine Number: 13
Reviewed: April 2014
The Silence Of The Lambs is one of those films that everyone has at least heard of and is widely regarded as one of the best films of all time, but I had my apprehensions about sitting down to this one. It’s known for being truly terrifying and the snippets I had seen didn’t prove this wrong. I was thus expecting a fairly straightforward horror freak-out. As is becoming customary with the Criterion Collection, my expectations were again subverted. The Silence Of The Lambs is one of the best films I’ve ever seen, a true masterpiece where everything just seems so, so right. It is scary and it is tense, but those things work in the film’s favour, creating one of cinema’s most disturbing and challenging representations of the criminal mind. Hannibal Lecter is the film’s most famous character for good reason. He’s a violent and sadistic psychopath and yet we almost find ourselves rooting for him, because he is so damn charming and clever. His scenes with Clary are some of the most famous and stunning moments of character ever committed to screen. They’re exemplary examples of shifting power, powerful acting (Anthony Hopkins’ Lecter is creepy and charismatic, Jodie Foster looks like a deer in the headlights, being strong but failing hiding her fear), excellent writing and intense direction. We are
like Clarice, constantly trying to piece together the clues that Lecter is giving us, and yet somehow falling into his traps. He’s sexual and challenging to his audience, making them question the clues he is giving them, making them despise him. He’s one of cinema’s most enigmatic, challenging and downright sophisticated characters who you really should hate. However, the film is more than his character. There’s another serial killer being chased down by Clarice and the FBI who is again disturbing, but is hateful and deeply unnerving. Clarice is dealing with her own personal demons which Hannibal draws out, making her one of cinema’s most rounded and three-dimensional characters. It’s incredibly well-directed, incredibly deep and challenging to a viewer. It also features some of the scariest moments ever seen on the screen, such as Hannibal’s escape, the nerve-shattering climax (the night-vision goggles thing…) and most famously of all, Anthony Hopkins’ delivery of the line, ‘A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti’ and the indescribable noise that follows it (which sends a shiver down my spine every. Damn. Time). It’s a freak-out, but an intelligent one. A really intelligent one that is an incredibly memorable and powerful insight into the persuasive dual nature of the criminal. The music is a perfect representation of this, as it is somehow incredibly unsettling and profoundly beautiful. This is one of the best films I’ve ever seen and not only that, it is one of my favourites. This was an incredible, important and challenging film that is completely perfect. A true masterpiece.
like Clarice, constantly trying to piece together the clues that Lecter is giving us, and yet somehow falling into his traps. He’s sexual and challenging to his audience, making them question the clues he is giving them, making them despise him. He’s one of cinema’s most enigmatic, challenging and downright sophisticated characters who you really should hate. However, the film is more than his character. There’s another serial killer being chased down by Clarice and the FBI who is again disturbing, but is hateful and deeply unnerving. Clarice is dealing with her own personal demons which Hannibal draws out, making her one of cinema’s most rounded and three-dimensional characters. It’s incredibly well-directed, incredibly deep and challenging to a viewer. It also features some of the scariest moments ever seen on the screen, such as Hannibal’s escape, the nerve-shattering climax (the night-vision goggles thing…) and most famously of all, Anthony Hopkins’ delivery of the line, ‘A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti’ and the indescribable noise that follows it (which sends a shiver down my spine every. Damn. Time). It’s a freak-out, but an intelligent one. A really intelligent one that is an incredibly memorable and powerful insight into the persuasive dual nature of the criminal. The music is a perfect representation of this, as it is somehow incredibly unsettling and profoundly beautiful. This is one of the best films I’ve ever seen and not only that, it is one of my favourites. This was an incredible, important and challenging film that is completely perfect. A true masterpiece.
Best Scene: Hannibal Lecter's first scene
Overall Verdict: 10
Overall Verdict: 10