The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – J. Demme

Revisiting this classic thriller after many years, I was somewhat startled to see just how many close-ups director Jonathan Demme used, particularly in the early scenes of the film when FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) first meets imprisoned serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).  We are treated to a lot of shot-countershots of giant heads in dialogue; I suspect that this was meant to have a psychological effect on viewers, to focus them in on the tete-a-tete (so to speak) underway, the mind games, as it were.  (But these aren’t the only close-ups – we also see Scott Glenn, head of the FBI Behavioural Science squad, up close and probably others too).  You’ll recall that Starling and the FBI want to use Lecter’s knowledge of serial killers (he was a psychiatrist as well as a killer himself) to track down a new serial killer, Buffalo Bill, who is killing young women and skinning them. After the close-ups, I noticed the editing of the film which keeps things moving and toward the end, includes a good use of cross-cutting (between the SWAT team descending on a house near Chicago and Starling entering another house in Ohio all on her own) that pulls the rug out from under viewers. Apart from that, the editing isn’t conspicuous or flashy but it is solid and effective.  The third thing I thought about was the fact that Buffalo Bill is portrayed as someone having gender identity issues – as we so often see in thrillers, it is too easy to choose a villain from a group seen as different or other, one that is already stereotyped or stigmatised (does this make it easier for mainstream crowds to cheer for the hero? Ugh).  This is unfortunate but I guess it is heartening to realise that we have come a long way in understanding and respecting the rights of people from different gender “categories” (transgender, gender fluid, etc.) -- and perhaps the gender dysphoria that Buffalo Bill supposedly has would be lessened if stigma were also lessened.  But that doesn’t excuse the film from linking these issues (or mental health concerns more broadly) to murderous intent.  Nevertheless, if you are willing and able to set aside this flaw, then The Silence of the Lambs is an enjoyable thriller, somewhat gory but not especially scary (although that may be how I feel on this third or fourth viewing), with strong acting from Jodie Foster in particular and a rather over-the-top but chillingly effective performance from Anthony Hopkins.   Nothing deep here but one of the pivotal influences on a host of forensic crime dramas (on big and small screens) for decades to come – and on a thousand psychology students who hope that they can find jobs tracking criminals using crime scene evidence and their wits alone.