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The Silence of the Lambs
USA 1991
produced by Ron Bozman, Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt, Gary Goetzman (executive) for Strong Heart/Demme Production/Orion
directed by Jonathan Demme
starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Ted Levine, Lawrence A. Bonney, Charles Napier, Diane Baker, Brooke Smith, Stuart Rudin, Roger Corman, Kasi Lemmons, Lawrence T. Wrentz, Frankie Faison, Don Brockett, Frank Seals jr, Maria Skorobogatov, Jeffrie Lane, Leib Lensky, George 'Red' Schwartz, Jim Roche, James B. Howard, Bill Miller, Chuck Aber, Gene Borkan, Pat McNamara, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Dan Butler, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé, George Michael, Ron Vawter, Jim Dratfield, D. Stanton Miranda, Rebecca Saxon, Danny Darst, Cynthia Ettinger, Brent Hinkley, Steve Wyatt, Alex Coleman, David Early, Andre B. Blake, Bill Dalzell, Chris Isaak, Daniel von Bargen, Tommy Lafitte, Josh Broder, Buzz Kilman, Harry Northup, Lauren Roselli, Lamont Arnold
screenplay by Ted Tally, based on the novel by Thomas Harris, music by Howard Shore, cinematography by Tak Fujimoto
Hannibal Lecter
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an ambitious FBI cadet who's always
on top of her class, and thus has attracted the attention of Jack Crawford
(Scott Glenn), head of the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit, who tasks her
with interrogating serial killer Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter
(Anthony Hopkins), once a brilliant psychiatrist who could get into
people's minds, but not held in a high security facility - the reason for
this being is that they hope to secure his help in capturing another
serial killer, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), a psycho who has taken a liking
in skinning his plus-size victims. No Lecter has zero interest in helping
the FBI, but Clarice impresses him, both her resilience and her
intelligence, so he starts playing games with her, getting into her mind,
but also giving her bits and pieces of information that lead to Buffalo
Bill. Then the hunt for Buffalo Bill becomes much more urgent as he has
kidnapped the daughter (Brooke Smith) of a senator (Diane Baker), and
knowing he keeps his victims alive for several days before killing and
skinning them, it's a race with time ... which is when Hannibal's chief
doctor Chilton (Anthony Heald) makes several of Clarice's findings public,
selling them as his own of course, and offers Hannibal a deal - better
accommodations at least - in return for his help. Hannibal sees through
this, knows Chilton is only doing this to raise his own profile, so he
sends the FBI on a wild goose chase while dropping more clues to Clarice -
who sees to his charade with the FBI -, and then making a daring escape
from his temporary quarters. And while an FBI SWAT team storms an empty
house, Clarice, following clues provided by Hannibal, pretty much stumbles
into Buffalo Bill's lair - but he's not one to go down without a fight ... Genre
fave Charles Napier plays one of Lecter's guards who gets killed when he
escapes. The Silence of the Lambs is quite simply an
amazing movie, as it really manages to be several things at once, from
police procedural to serial killer horror, whodunnit to character study,
and manages to put in a women in the workplace message that doesn't seem
forced. This blend works though because director Jonathan Demme has
managed to work it into an homogenous whole, via a directorial effort that
puts just as much value on simple looks and gestures as on spectacle,
remaining really close with the film's main players rather than shooting
off into all directions for maximum overload. And of course, a first rate
cast helps immensely here, as does awesome camerawork, and an enjoyably
old school suspense score by Howard Shore. A must-see for sure!
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