’’while I thank u lord for this world,
I may never find peace with it.
I go on slaughtering the lambs,
cos I was born vicious and unfit’’
There are some movies which take you to a world you have never seen experienced or thought about. Some of them attempt just to give you an idea of that world and others drench you in the experience. if we consider serial killers and their psychology to be such a world, of which we have no experience, then Silence of the lambs is the movie which falls in the second category. It will terrorize, excite and make an impact that will last more than you will imagine. Brilliant. Dark. Gory. But its not the act of killing which leaves you stupified but the mind of these men, the sickness and the intelligence.
’’ CHILTON: Oh, he’s a monster. A pure psychopath... ’’
Story
The movie takes us into the mind of a serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter(Anthony Hopkins) who is incarcerated. Apart from being a cannibal, he is a very learned and brilliant man, a psychiatrist by profession. The lead part though is played by Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, a young F.B.I. officer with a haunting past.
Her challenge is to get information out of the incorrigible Lecter about another psychopathic killer Buffalo Bill who has kidnapped the daughter of a senator. The hunt for the killer and the conversations with Lecter, bring Clarice face to face with the worst and degraded kinds of crime. Its less of a thriller genre and more of a Horror genre.
’’ Hannibal Lecter: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. ’’
Performances
Anthony Hopkins : I think he cannot give a better performance than this ever again. The effect of his performance can be measured by the impact it makes on us. He won the oscar for best actor and its a record in academy cos his screen time was lowest among all other best actor winners ever(less than 16 minutes).To prepare for the role Hopkins studied files of serial killers and he visited prisons and studied convicted murderers.
Jodie foster : She looks stunning. Jodie was superb in her performance clearly showing the insecure , a little rattled rookie officer combating the psychological torture. She really scores in front of Hopkins. In preparation for their roles, homemade audio tapes that serial killers had recorded while torturing and killing captured victims were made available to Jodie Foster, which she declined to listen to.
The characters have also been performed very well. Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford and Anthony Heald as Dr. Frederick Chilton were very well acted. Ted Levine as James Gumb( Buffalo Bill) was really scary. especially when he dances semi naked with those rings and all with his dog. uuugh.
’’ Hannibal Lecter: People will say we’re in love. ’’
Information:
- The Silence of The Lambs was directed by Jonathan Demme. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Actress and Adapted screenplay.
- Based on the novels by Thomas Harris, the script was co-written by
Thomas harris and Ted Tally
- Buffalo Bill is the combination of three real life serial killers: Ed Gein, who was skinning his victims; Ted Bundy, who used the cast on his hand as bait to make women get into his van; and Gary Heidnick, who kept women he kidnapped in a pit in his basement.
- The inspiration for the Silence of the Lambs was the real life relationship between University of Washington criminology professor and profiler Robert Keppel and real life serial killer Ted Bundy.
’’ Hannibal Lecter: Tell me, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming? ’’
I recommend this movie to ppl with strong heart and a steady stomach.
So sum it up I will quote the last line of the movie.....
’’ Hannibal Lecter: I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye. ’’