Tuesday 15 July 2014

Movie Review : The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Movie Review : The Silence of the Lambs (1991)


Plot:

The Silence of the Lambs is an American thriller directed by Jonathan Demme and is based on a Thomas Harris Novel of the same kind. It is the second novel depicting the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
The movie was released in 1991 and is to date considered top class horror by its audience and world critics.
Director has however made some important changes to the main plot of the novel and shown a new perspective.
Clarice Starling is an FBI trainee sent to a violent psychopath Hannibal the Cannibal for help, upon finding her interesting he unveils some dog-eared pages of history to Clarice which would help her save senator’s daughter from the raging Buffalo Bill, only thing she has to do is to link the scattered pieces of information together.



Everything goes smooth until Dr. Hannibal is taken from his asylum to a Tennessee to help the senator himself without Clarice in between. He fleds the cage killing a few people and goes into a title hideout.
Will Clarice be able to decipher the information she poured out of Dr. Lecter, ultimately saving the day?
The changes that director brought into the story of book are of major character. Totally skipping some most important details from the plot did affect the theme of the movie but even after that it remains chartbuster and Oscar winning! Wonder why? Lets get deep into it.


Review:

Some bits of many reasons why you might Love The Silence of the Lambs: 

About The Cast: Casting Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and getting the best out of him is a victory for the movie. If there was someone who could play the creepy manhunter in the same eerie and mysterious yet heroistic style it would be none other than him. He was the first Oh! factor of the movie and from the very first scene he’s stuck to mind, getting ready some nice material for tonight’s nightmare. Then there is Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. The first look of the pretty lady takes you back to the book (if you’ve read it) and rings the bell of perfection in your ear. The look throughout the movie was in accordance to the book. The performance was even more toned. 



At some points however the point of boldness in Clarice slips out of Foster’s hand but she gains it back as the movie proceeds. She created the sense of delicacy as well as bravery which her role completely demanded. Clarice’s shoes were a total fit to Jodie and so she was my favorite and i prefer her over Julianne Moore who played Clarice in the sequel. Now the villain, Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill was another step towards making this movie a huge one. He transformed himself into the psycho serial killer who kills victims for a very different motive. The mood that he adds to the movie with first class acting and that voice!

The Competitive Advantage: Amongst thousand horror and thriller, this one remains on top for so many years. The superiority that it has over others is the impeccable storyline, remarkable creepiness of the anti-hero, a very rare kind of serial killer, screaming spring lambs and their savior, the quid pro quo, the basement, huge girls who need to apply lotions and the screen which shows all this in a flow of events which prints into mind like an unpleasant memory yet some well spent wealth! This movie is no-prisoner-held in order of its brutal scenes and uncomfortable moments. After adding Anthony Hopkins to all this, What else do we need?



But not everything is as flawless as it looks. There is a caution for the ones who are watching it after reading the book: You won’t find The Video of Mama in it along with many small yet important details such as Catherine Martin’s room sweep by Starling and her convo with Senator, the story of the head in the jar is also manipulated and there is no sailor who was killed in exotic sexual intercourse instead the head belongs to Benjamin Raspail who ‘wasn’t’ killed by Dr. Lecter. And now the most important one; No Maroon Eyes for Hannibal!!!!
With all the above stuff missing the movie becomes a little disappointing for book nerds but remains a big favorite and watch-over-again flick! But if you haven’t read the book first it’s just breath-takingly good!

The movie has won multiple Oscars and is without any ado a number one thriller.



I felt the adrenaline rush and chills run through my body during the whole movie and it just reached the epitome in finale.
For the sake of the effect those cold blue eyes of Hannibal had on me, 
I would rate it as:
****1/2

Reviewed by : Adina Farid

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