FILM REVIEWS
FILM REVIEWS
Film: "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991).
As everybody knows, Jonathan Demme's multiple Oscar-winner deals with matters
that many will find repugnant. That it nevertheless made a clean sweep of the
key Academy Awards (best film, director, actor, actress and script) is a
measure of its power. It is no exploitation picture, but a look into a pit
where many may fear to stare.
Its theme is a descent into the mind of a madman. Clarice Starling (superbly
played by Jodie Foster) is an FBI trainee assigned to a unit trying to
identify a serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". To understand his motives
and actions, she conducts a series of interviews with another serial killer
already behind bars. A former psychiatrist, he is Hannibal Lecter and his
nickname ("Hannibal the cannibal") indicates why he's there.
The scenes between these two, filmed in a dank, dark dungeon, are the heart of
the film. As she is persuaded to reveal more and more about herself in
exchange for information that may help in tracking down Buffalo Bill, the
balance of power steadily shifts until he knows more about her than she about
him. If he were free, she would be in mortal danger and Hannibal is working on
that.
Hannibal Lecter had already appeared on screen (played by Brian Cox) in
Michael Mann's 1986 film Manhunter, based on an earlier novel by Thomas
Harris called Red Dragon. The definitive performance, however, was by
Anthony Hopkins in this film.
 |
 BOARD |
