The Silence of the Lambs 5/5

The Silence of the Lambs is a film, which has literally, changed my life. Not in a bad way, in fact I am very much indebted to it.

It is the Silence of the lambs that made me notice Jodie Foster, It is The Silence of The Lambs that got me interested in movies and it is The Silence of the Lambs that made me want to become an actress.

Of course the obvious things I could say are, that it is an amazingly insightful adaptation of a very popular crime-fiction novel and that the actors are infinitely fabulous, but I will refrain from that run of the mill review.

This film is remarkable because it touches you.

Regardless of your gender, race, sexuality or philosophy this film manages to strike you, and reach out to a part of you that no film I have ever seen has managed to do. Perhaps it’s the internal struggle of Clarice’s tortured mind, which she hides beneath a confident self-assured exterior. It could be incomprehensible intelligence and insanity possessed by Hannibal Lecter. Maybe even it’s the inexplicable sympathy we feel for Jame Gumb, a man so neglected by society (that we as the viewer can relate to i.e. racist, homophobic, unkind etc) that he is driven to commit brutal yet frighteningly, understandable crimes.

Jodie Foster of course delivers an outstanding performance, if you can call it that. To be honest what she did was not acting, what she did was become. She became Clarice and I think that humanity, that vulnerability, which we all can see in ourselves, is what touches the viewer the most.

Anthony Hopkins delivers a rather ostentatious performance compared to Foster’s. Unlike the subtle expressions that Jodie so marvellously uses, he chooses to stand out, as if silently screaming to us “See, told you I could act!”.

Personally I don’t think much can be said in terms of Directing. Of course it is done, but to me unlike the beautiful Shots in Anna and the King, it does not stand out. Of course often the sign of good directing is that you don’t notice it. I think what Jonathan Demme was trying to do was to take nothing away from the actors. To keep it simple, too keep it just that. After all who would want to take anything away from the quick fire, sharp dialogue exchanged between Starling and Lecter. The hostile, yet at the same time romantic exchanges, looks glances and undertones.

I could go on forever but to tell you the truth I would only bore you. All I can say is that Jodie deserved her Oscar, and that contrary to what many people say, this is NOT just some run of the mill ‘Thriller’.