Right ok for a change of tone in the movie reviews I've gone for a rather edgy choice as this time I will cover what is essentially the Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter trilogy, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon. So as this is the first part I thought I will start with Silence of the lambs.
OK so the story begins with Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) a rookie FBI agent, who is pulled from her training by Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) from the FBI's behavioural science unit. Crawford gives Clarice the task of interviewing the infamous cannibal serial killer, Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who was a former psychiatrist. Crawford thinks that Lecter may be useful and have insight into aiding the FBI to find a serial killer nicknamed "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine) who skins his victims. Clarice visits the Baltimore State hospital where Clarice meets with the smarmy Dr Chilton (Anthony Heald) who takes her down to the cells where Lecter is held. At first Lecter is pleasant toward Clarice but he soon grows tired of her attempts to try and get him to fill in a questionnaire, and he ends up rebuffing. Just as Clarice is about to leave however, one of the prison inmates, on the verge of climaxing from masturbation throws semen at her, which prompts Lecter to call her back, disgusted by the act, where he gives her some clues as to Bill's whereabouts by giving her the name of one of his former patients. Clarice on Lecter's information locates an old garage where inside she find a severed head. On returning to Lecter, he offers Clarice a chance to create a profile of Buffalo Bill, but in return he wants to be transferred away from Doctor Chilton, whom he depises.
Buffalo Bill next up kidnaps the daughter of a US senator, Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith) and Crawford has Clarice offer a fake deal to Lecter in exchange for the information about Buffalo Bill. Lecter however plays a game of quid-pro-quo (Latin for this-for-that if you need to know!) with Clarice telling her that he will tell her the information in exchange of personal information of her own past. Chilton however secretly records the meeting and goes on to reveal the deal to be a sham to Lecter and tells him he will offer a deal of his own for Lecter's transfer, which Lecter agrees to on some of his own conditions. Lecter is then flown to Memphis where he meets with the senator and tells him personal information on Buffalo Bill. Lecter is then transferred to a special cell in Tennessee courthouse, where Clarice visits him and pleads with him to tell her Bill's real name, but he instead insists on asking Clarice about her past, and she tells him that years ago as a child, she was raised by relatives at a farm in Montana, where she encountered a slaughterhouse and she tried to save a lamb, but failed. After this their conversation is interrupted by Chilton who has Clarice escorted out the building.
Later on that night Hannibal manages to uncuff himself from his handcuffs placed on by two guards, whom he kills, and he escapes the cell, by dressing up as one of the guards and being wheeled into an amublance, apparently unconscious he rises up, and reveals he is wearing one of the guard's faces, which he pulls off, and makes his escape by killing the paramedics and taking the ambulance (which we don't see). On hearing this Clarice realises that even though Lecter has escaped that she knows he wont come after her, and they continue on with the manhunt for Buffalo Bill, in which Clarice soon uses the information and clues that Lecter gave her to try and track down Bill and rescue the senator's daughter.
There is no doubt that Silence of the lambs remains a very powerful and intense thriller, based on the novel written by Thomas Harris, it was a huge success on its release and it saw the lead actors, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins both receive oscars for their work as did Jonathan Demme the director. And there is no doubt that Lecter remains one of the most iconic villains in any film as well as one of the most memorable antagonists in modern cinema. And Clarice Starling remains a strong yet vulnerable foil to his psychopathic personality as she refuses to back down when he confronts her, and in the end they both end with a strange respect for one another. And there is no doubt that the film has an intense and brooding atmosphere throughout and for the most part it is played pretty straight by its cast, but it is Lecter that offers moments of black humour throughout that at times offsets the film's grim tone.
Which brings me onto the cast who are all in top form in the film, starting with Jodie Foster who is great in her role of Clarice Starling, the strong but vulnerable rooke FBI agent who thrown into the dark world of tracking down Buffalo Bill and meeting with Lecter. Foster's scenes with Hopkins are engrossing and intense throughout as the two of them share some great moments, especially in the scene where Lecter insists that Clarice tell him about her past and the lambs. Scott Glenn is also really good in his part of the straight laced Jack Crawford who recruits Clarice to interview Lecter as was impressed with her record, and Lecter later teases Clarice that maybe she was picked because Crawford fancied her!
Ted Levine also deserves alot of credit for his performance as Buffalo Bill, as he delivers a disturbing and complex performance of a man twisted from years of abuse. The scene where he feigns struggling to get a sofa into his car and the senator's daughter, Catherine Martin tries to help him remains of the most chilling in the film. Also the scene where after he has kidnapped Catherine and he places her down in a well, as he get's her to rub lotion on her body, she puts the lotion back into a bucket which he lifts up, and Catherine looks up she noticed a broken fingernail embedded in the wall, and she screams over and over, which remains the film's most disturbing moment. This also raises the suggestions that the fingernail belonged to one of Bill's previous victims who tried to climb out of the hole. Chilling stuff indeed. Anthony Heald on the other hand provides a little levity to the film as Doctor Chilton, the smarmy doctor who tries to charm Clarice at first and remains Lecter's nemesis for most of the film (but that changes!).
But the film belongs to Anthony Hopkins who's potrayal of Hannibal Lecter remains of the crowning achievements in his career. Hopkins plays Lecter with about as much relish as one actor can possibly be allowed on their plate with asking for seconds. Hopkins's Lecter is brilliant, amusing and above all chilling as an intellectual psychopath who is kept under guard and toward's he effects his incredible and terrifying escape. Hopkins pretty much get's all the film's best dialogue, and one of my favourite scenes is when he meets with the US Senator and he asks "tell me senator, did you breast feed your daughter? Toughens the nipples doesn't it?". Then there is of course the infamous scene where he first meets with Clarice and he tells her that "a census taker once tried to test me. I ate his live with some fava beans and a nice chianti!". Also in the same scene where he is disgusted by the cellmate, Miggs, who lobs his jism at Clarice, and he says "go now, i don't think Miggs can manage, quite so soon, even though he is crazy enough! GO NOW!!". One of the Hopkins best scenes of course is his escape from his prison cell, and the guard goes to uncuff Lecter who sudddenly puts one of the cuffs onto the guard and he proceeds to bite his face and beat him with his truncheon. Later on course in the ambulance when Lecter rises up from his stretcher, dressed in the guards uniform he takes off his oxygen mask and pulls off the face that he cut off one of the guards, this remains one of the film's most memorable moments.
Moving onto the direction, Jonathan Demme seldom puts a foot wrong here as he keeps the suspense and intensity of the film high throughout, and he builds on the tension as the film reaches its dramatic climax. Also worthy of note is of course Howard Shore's score, which is very dramatic and has many fine passages, particularly in the scene where Lecter escapes.
Flaw wise the film doesn't have too many although one thing that did strike me about the film during Lecter's escape that the body the police find in the lift shaft, which lies inert is clearly dead, as one of the policemen shoots it in the leg and it does not move. As the police assume it is Lecter when they shoot the body the fact that he doesn't scream out clearly revels it is a dead body, unless Lecter has tremendous pain suppression, which he may well do, but it seems pretty silly and unlikely that would be the case. Lecter's escape is also a bit ridiculous in that how would be able to escape the country without being detected, especially if he were to fly out of the country, with the whole FBI and police force out to get him! He certainly couldn't fly his way out, unless he travelled by another method such as by boat, but by conventional travel he would sure to be found!
Anyway despite that Silence of the lambs remains a distrubing, intense and at times exciting thriller that remains memorable to this day, and if you haven't seen it before, well where have you been and if haven't you won't forget it in a hurry.
So on that note I will leave it there. (Gnashes teeth!!).
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