As a forensic psychologist once commented, Hannibal Lecter is what serial killers think they are, whereas. Buffalo Bill is what they really are. Excellent review!
The dialogue between Lecter and Clarice particularly in the gymnasium when she’s recalling her trauma with the slaughter of the lambs is one of the greatest exchange in film, in my opinion. Her every expression down to the smallest witch of her eyes is wholly absorbing.
My favourite film of all time. I remember watching it late one New Year's Eve when I was about 10 with my grandmother who had fallen asleep. I was transfixed right from the opening shot; the score, cinematography, intrigue of Clarice and themes that I couldn't quite work out at the time. As soon as Hannibal appeared on screen I hid behind the sofa instead and continued to watch as if it was something forbidden and terrifying but a life changing piece of art. I fell asleep probably half way through - about 2am in fairness, but had constant nightmares for months afterwards. A few years later I was desperate to find that terrifying film I watched late one night. I did and upon watching it properly, it was just as affecting as the first time. Today as a 16 year old film lover, it remains my favourite film of all time and the film that began my love of cinema in general.
I've had people tell me they're not interested in the movie just because the title sounds cheesy... then proceed to praise Se7en like its the only good crime thriller ever made
@@rajdixit1605 Silence of the Lambs is undoubtedly a decent film and whilst Hopkins’ performance was entertaining, I found it a bit too much, something of a caricature tbh. I preferred Brian Cox and as for Tom Noonan, that guy is genuinely disturbing. He made the casting agent cry on the reading, stalked some of the other cast members, just a really unsettling individual. I also love the 80s and the ost for Manhunter was exceptional. I do however prefer Foster’s performance to Peterson’s.
@@jewelcitizen2567 I would have much preferred Brian Cox. Foster and Buffalo Bill’s actor came off as very real and raw, which for me made Hopkins’s Hannibal feel like a popcorn slasher villain who wandered onto the wrong set.
@@Misericorde9 Don’t get me wrong Hopkins is a great actor, I just think his approach to that particular character was rather myopic. His performance in _Remains Of The Day_ was superb and ironically, far more unsettling in terms of character.
Thank you for being a Clarice fan! All I've ever heard is Hannibal, Hannibal, Hannibal, but it's Clarice's story that carries and sustains me. In my mind I've long had a movie title, "Starling and Somerset," in which she teams up with Morgan Freeman's detective from Se7en, presuming that they share the same universe, but I'm not sure I could dream up a case harrowing enough to need both of them.
You’re my favorite person on RUclips. I love your videos so much and I hope you do some more Lynch reviews in the future. Thanks for all the knowledge and entertainment.
Thanks for discussing. Glad you watched it again. I first saw part of it late at night while visiting a friend. I was tired and couldn't stay with it. I got to watch it several years later and loved it. Since then, it has jumped into my top five of all-time favorite films. Nice analysis of Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. The one thing I notice in her portrayal, and in much of Jodie Foster's work, is the sense of intelligence she gives Clarice. When I watch her, there's generally a sense that she's the smartest person onscreen. I get that sense, too, when watching one of her costars from "Inside Man": Denzel Washington. Other aspects of it I love include Howard Shore's score. As Roger Ebert pointed out years ago, Shore's somber music gives the film extra emotional weight. It underscores the story's grim nature. Have you read Thomas Harris' book? If so, what did you think? Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular (and movie buff)
0:55 finally someone said it. the film is about Clarice Starling and her struggle so Jodie Foster did an amazing job since her character goes though emotions. dealing with her childhood, trying to find Buffulo Bill, trying to proof she is a good FBI student, resisting Lector's mind f@@k, basically try to survive in the men's world. I love you review. Thank you. Next month they will release a 4K blu ray edition. Cant wait to watch it again.
Thank you for your review ! This is one of my favourite movies, indeed. During their last meeting, I love how Lecter throws the Marcus Aurelius reference in order to put Clarice on the right track ("What is his essence, what does he do, this man you seek?"). In the novel, he uses it in far more ironical way, in order to expose Crawford to ridicule, and mock his limits as a Chief of behavioural science department. Hopkins and Foster are absolutely brilliant in every scene, and their alchemy on the screen is always a delight to watch.
It's hard to argue with any of these points. As a key example, Lecter as an archetype romanticizing the inner demon is one of the harder pills to swallow since being fascinated by that performance as a viewer means falling into that trap. (If I had a nitpick from a characterization standpoint, it would be Crawford, who fills a role in Clarice's life that warrants further exploration of HIS motives than the film gives us.) Jonathan Demme left this Earth with a body of work that displays towering artistry. I think being based on an acclaimed book and spawning a bankable horror icon is what makes "Silence of the Lambs" stand out for most people, rather than the deeper reasons one would hope for. But it's still a great lynchpin for anyone's legacy to have. Those scenes in the hospital corridor benefit from their placement as setpieces in the narrative: Demme and the editor Craig McKay clearly prioritized subconscious association between ideas in how all the scenes were assembled (hearkening back to the likes of Eisenstein). Apparently an entire 20 minutes' worth of subplot (involving Congress investigating Crawford and Starling) was deleted despite its plot relevance because it would've killed the psychology of the pursuit. Smart move.
For one, the source material is top shelf. Thomas Harris came up with one of the great literary villains and heroins when creating both "Red Dragon" and "Silence". As far as Demme's movie, "Silence" is one of the few flawless movies i have ever seen. I think it is one of the best edited movies of the last 40 years. Not an ounce of fat and it might be the most perfectly paced movie I have ever seen. That said, I do think Michael Mann's "Manhunter" is also a great movie despite the technical flaws and dated 80s look. And it goes without saying the the t.v. series Hannibal for being on a broadcast network was very good as well. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who might now be one of the greatest actors in the world, portrayed Lector using a "fallen angle" angle that had it's own uniqueness. Special props for Demme using really obscure "needle drops" for the music played in the lair such as "Alone" by Colin Newman (of the band Wire) and "Real Men" by Savage Republic. Made those scenes much more eerie.
I always loved this film. In retrospect it's kind of the perfect intersection of commercial, popcorn, procedural mystery and a more arthouse character study. The film takes a novel that was way more of a pot boiler and really opens it up. And yes, Clarice Starling is one of the great feminist heroes of the medium. I also think people forget just how chilling it is seeing Hannibal's face take up the whole screen staring into us. It's definitely become a cliche, but there's something about Anthony Hopkins' eyes that's horrifying. And finally I can't hear Tom Petty's American Girl without thinking of this film ;D
Enjoyed your review. In October Fathoms Events is showing the film in select theaters throughout the country on the 17th & the 20th. Really looking forward to seeing it on the 'big screen'!.
The actor who plays Jack Crawford is so sympathetic. Foster is brilliant. I met her at a children’s musuem program I was running in new orleans - she was so engaged with her precocious son
Something Wild is another underrated movie of his, that's a film people need to check out great performances great tonal shifts in the movie as well he really gets the balance between comedy, romance, and real menace in that movie (there's even a bit of social commentary thrown into the movie) really well it's one of those films once you see it you never forget it and it has a killer soundtrack as well......
I agree Rachel Getting Married is very underrated in my opinion. It's like "grown-up Mumblecore" and a wonderfully observed portrait of a family in turmoil.
Rewatched this last night, loved it. Really left me wanting to understand Buffalo Bill more. It isn't clear what sort of abuse he went through, but his birth name being a spelling error his parents/caregivers never bothered to fix points to a lot.
I agree with you on this film - for the most part. First and foremost I do have to say that this movie is the most faithful book to movie adaptation of all time, so when you talk about characters and what they represent, or themes or tired stereotypes you need to understand that all of that was taken directly from the written words of Thomas Harris. So I think the only comments that can be valid to a movie like this are of the performances, the direction, the overall tone, the look and the music. All of which are outstanding. That being said, I agree with you completely on Jodie Foster, she is one of those actresses (can we still say that? Or, is it 'actor'?) that is always present on screen. Never a wasted moment or look. She is gracious to other actors in that regard. That is the best way I can describe her. I can't say that for the vast majority of performers out there. Then with Anthony Hopkins, this may be the role that put him on the map, but, my personal favorite performance of his is as Stevens, the butler. Now THAT is a beautifully understated performance. I recommend you see that movie, I would love top hear your take on that. Thanks for another good review
Excellent suggestion. I've seen part of it. It would be interesting to compare/contrast Brian Cox's portrayal of Hannibal with Anthony Hopkins'. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/movie buff
Loved the review! Unrelated; I was wondering if you have any takes/opinions on Richard Linklater? I've always found his style of filmmaking very original and would love to hear some of your thoughts on it!
Love your channel! Algorithms just brought me here as I love these genres of thrillers, dramas, gangster, crime etc... even though I haven't typed it on RUclips, maybe Google have just been listening to my conversations or reading my mind 😅
I was working at my local theater when I received this cylinder shaped package from UPS. It was a week after Halloween 1990 & I opened this package & what the company sent was a huge teaser banner for: "What in the hell? Silence. Of. The Lambs. Anthony Hopkins. Ok, he was in Magic, Desperate Hours. Jodie Foster. Accused, Little Man Tate. Scott Glen? Maybe it's a cowboy movie. Orion is releasing this on Valentine's Day. Yeah, this thing will flop hard." Boy, was I wrong!! I saw this opening weekend & was blown away at how good this film is. A strong cast. Strong story. Great director. Silence deserves all the accolades it earned. It's still the only film in it's genre to win Best Picture.
Love this movie. Have never read the book. Maybe it goes into why Jack Crawford chose Clarice for this assignment. There are so many good scenes. Anthony Hopkins praised Jodie Foster’s performance, particularly the scene of their first meeting where he psychoanalyzes her on the spot with her “cheap shoes.” Her reaction to him was amazing acting, he felt. Although I love Jodie Foster’s performance in SOTL, my favorite Jodie Foster performance was in The Accused. She was simply excellent. Such a brave performance. All of the scenes in the bar are very difficult to watch.
Great Review! You are so right about Dr. Chilton. I always thought that he was exaggerated and grating. And you nailed it when you said the ending would have been bone-chilling had he been a more nuanced character. Great insight!
Imo you all missed the point with Chilton. He’s supposed to be cliche and one-note, like the quintessential establishment administrator. Also, the reviewer said she wanted some complexity with Chilton but we already have 3 complex characters, which is plenty for a film.
I just re-watch the film, I was looking for recent reviews of it. I saw the film at the cinema when it came out. Surprisingly I didn’t saw it after that and it was a bit strange to see the film after all the references that came out since in pop culture. My thoughts, it was ok, a lot less tension then I was expecting (the final minutes when Foster is in the basement). I noted a few flaws in the storytelling proving that it not always easy to adapt a novel for the big screen. I appreciated then (and now) the multi layers of the story. In the times the film was made you didn’t had a rushed ending like we are having now. But nonetheless we have a shortcut in the way the J.Foster character find out about Buffalo Bill. If I make a quick plot summary (excerpts from IMDB actually), FBI agent Starling (Foster) analyze Lecter's annotations and find the first victim, Frederica Bimmel. She knew Bill in real life before he killed her. Starling travels to Bimmel's hometown and discovers that Bimmel was a tailor and has dresses with templates identical to the patches of skin removed from Buffalo Bill's victims. Realizing that Buffalo Bill is a tailor fashioning a "woman suit" of real skin, she telephones Crawford, who is already on the way to make an arrest... Maybe this is explained more in the novel but how on earth does Starling makes the link so quickly with Buffalo Bill just by seeing the dress at Bimmel’s house? This part was not clear in the film, then by sheer luck Starling happens to be at the right house where the killer is... So the ending for me was a bit farfetch. Thanks for your review!
Agreed that it's Jodie's show. Dynamite performance, and she's who comes to my mind when the name of this movie comes up, and not Hopkins in that metal facemask. I think she's the reason that I keep coming back to the movie. Her performance in the final act is the perfect amalgamation of strength and pure fear. And I think you're right. Her strength has a human quality to it. She goes into dangerous situations, but does so in a calculated way because she is very aware of the danger she's in. She's not unstoppable or superhuman. She's smart, and very good at what she does. Idk. My two cents on the movie.
Have you read the novel HANNIBAL by Thomas Harris? If so, I would be interested in your review and analysis of the relationship between Clarice and Dr. Lecter.
Silence Of The Lambs (1991) Se7en (1995) No Country For Old Men (2007) Zodiac (2007) The 4 best serial killer police investigation films of the modern cinema era in my book. Especially Zodiac IMHO is the quintessential procedural investigation film. Unlike most movies of the genre that rely heavily on action scenes and gory suspenseful killings, Zodiac focuses on the procedural aspect - evidence collection, trying to figure out killing patterns, analysing suspects, trying to connect the dots, psychological profiling of the killer, clues etc. To many this might seem boring to put on a film but it reflects reality far more accurately than any other standard Hollywood drama of jump-scares, rooftop chasing jumping and shooting etc.
@gpapa31 _Mean Season_ was a phenomenal 80s serial killer flick, Richard Jordan was absolutely superb! Also starred Kurt Russell, Andy Garcia, Mariel Hemingway and even the great William Smith had a short scene.
Memories of Murder is thematically similar to Zodiac but far better imo (Zodiac's a great film, far and away Fincher's best imo, nut MoM is my personal favourite film of the '00s decade)
@@tds7078 excellent film but i wouldn’t put it up there on my list. It’s a brilliant and very tense movie and Denis Villeneuve one of my current favourite filmmakers. I would add that Mare Of Easttown is up there with Prisoners on that genre.
I get a kick out of your shirt considering the movie you are talking about with the character Hannibal in it. Did you by any chance read the book? For some reason, I have read just about every book going with a movie either before or after. This one was very close to form when so many are not.
Spot on,Maggie, as always.In a way she resembles Sigourney's character from Alien, Buffy (SMG) as well. No damsel in distress there And I really like that green and black comment - Alien is full of that scenes A.H. was born to have that role. Just like Mitchum in Cape Fear or Night of the Hunter, Bardem...etc
It was interesting that he wants Clarice to succeed. A later film where everyone Hanibal kills was worse than him, was evidence of Clarice's effect on him.
I had the same experience. Saw the film when I was younger, thought it was good, but didn't fully appreciate it. Saw it more recently and found much more depth in it.
*Did you know?* ... that *Jodie Foster* was once a *pop singer in France* for just a few years from the *mid-to-late 70's?* Her "greatest" (only) hit was "Je t'attends depuis la nuit des temps" (or "I've been Waiting for You since the Beginning of Time") which came out in 1977. You can find it quite easily, as it's posted everywhere here on YT. She performed it with the late singer Claude François (aka "Cloclo") and Michel Drucker (who was and still is a talk-show host in France). ruclips.net/video/QH7Z43F8i5Y/видео.html
Brilliant review. I remember seeing Jodi Foster in the Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane when I was a little kid and she creeped me out. She's been acting her whole life and has been the obsession of both real and fictional psychos.
I would be interested if any of you agree with this one. Back in the day when this came out I was convinced that the colour turquoise became more and more prevalent the deeper into the investigation Clarise got. To the point she became enveloped/surrounded by it in certain scenes. When I mentioned this to my friends at the time they felt I was being a bit pretentious and over reaching. Its such an odd colour and this seems deliberate. Anyone else have this thought? Also, "Was she a great big fat person" is indeed a memorable line as Jewel Citizen states, however nothing beats "Put the fucking lotion in the basket". Another great performance, among great performances. And the song "Goodbye Horses" was never the same.
It's a remarkable film on all levels and deserved all its awards, I do think that The Accused is Jodie's best role though, very raw and you should review this one as well as Remains of the Day being one of Tony's best roles.
See some comments saying Jodie Foster was overshadowed by Hopkins…hello… they both won the Oscar. Greatest duo of performances in one film ? Maybe, Foster is outstanding it’s a shame we never got a sequel with her.
Hopkins' performance was and is quite divisive, but to me it works. He is the embodiment of Clarice's nightmare, and it's like Lector is inside her head. Him being trapped inside a cage makes him even more frightening. In the sequel, Hannibal, he is no longer caged, and he ironically becomes something less fearsome.
You say that for Clarice to have had a romantic interest would have been insulting to the character. In the book, she did have a romantic interest (Dr. Pilcher) and they become a couple at the end.
Weird. I just watched this, like literally. My fave Demme film is always gonna be Something Wild. Silence of the Lambs is definitely a tone shift from his earlier work.
Buffalo Bill listens to The Fall & Colin Newman ( From Wire ) & thats interesting. Prefer the 1986 Manhunter & William Peterson & Brian Cox. Joan Allen is good as well.
I see what you are saying. That's because this film doesn't align with today's definition of "Horror", as now it has come to mean bleak, depressing, gory, and usually either about the supernatural or a variation of found footage. This movie was considered a horror movie until it won the Oscars in 1992 and then slowly some started referring to it as drama, suspense mystery, etc (admitting you like horror films back then was like saying you were a pedophile) You had everyone from Gene Siskel calling it a trashy slasher flick in his review and critics like Roger Ebert called it one of the best horror films ever made ). If it had come out in the 1970's it would no doubt be considered a horror film because horror movies during that era were thrilling, scary, but had strong characters and stories as well. As Maggie pointed out there is a lot of camp to this picture (there are also many nods to other horror films including cameos by George Romero and Roger Cormon if that says anything). I feel it's too far removed from reality to be seen as a drama or mystery (unlike all the films in the "Forensic Science/Serial Killer" sub-genre that came after this that wanted us to believe they were being "gritty" and "realistic"). I remember after it won all the Oscars, people were saying it was the first horror film in Oscar history to win the best picture. In any case, this movie is definitely seen as one of the scariest films ever made and is one of the few that still scares me. Sorry, hope I don't sound defensive I have been having this conversation with people for 30 years and it always fascinates me to hear people's takes!
@@lukess.s I don’t know man, if I saw someone ripped open hanging from a cage or was the girl at the bottom of the well I think I’d call all that quite the horror story
I absolutely love Manhunter and actually prefer Brian Cox's Hannibal but Silence of The Lambs feels a lot more comfortable and easier to watch. I've watched Silence of The Lambs more than I've watched Manhunter.
@@jewelcitizen2567 It's interesting that the late 80s and early 90s was the Golden Age both of FBI propaganda (Silence of the Lambs and Mississippi Burning) and of the emergence of AIM - the American Indian Movement - in cinema (Last of the Mohicans, Thunderheart). Seems like a lot came out of Peter Matthiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (the book that finally got past the FBI lawsuit in the mid-80s), with both sides trying to get the edge in Hollywood.
@@stanleyrogouski Yeah I don’t think the _’American Indian Movement’_ were EVER serious players on the propaganda front somehow. Sure they have a lot of Tribes in the US (over 500 different recognised ones if I’m not mistaken) but there’s only one Tribe that peddles any significant clout in terms of propaganda in Hollywood.
@@jewelcitizen2567 Well Russell Means, who played Chingachgook, was a member of AIM. But I will admit that last of the Mohicans was a bit "problematic" on its representation of Indians. Magua was a great character and Wes Studi a great actor but there was a bit too much of the "white woman in danger" trope in the movie for my taste. Admittedly of course it did work. Alice jumping off the cliff rather than go off with Magua may have been an echo of a similar scene in Birth of a Nation but damn did it work dramatically. I don't know how many people have seen the movie Thunderheart, with Vil Kilmer but I'd highly recommend it. Silence of the Lambs is a great film but there's no doubt part of its purpose was to rehabilitate the FBI. There's the scene where Scott Glenn tells Starling "you grilled me pretty hard on the bureau's Civil Right's record. I gave you an A." The film is saying "well the FBI may have done some shady stuff in the past against civil rights, anti-war and American Indian activists but now we're all about liberated young women tracking down serial killers." Thunderheart portrays the FBI as the bad guys, but not in a cartoonish way. Sam Shepherd as the head FBI agent in that film (in the Scott Glenn role) is one of the best villains of that era and while I'm usually not a Val Kilmer fan, he's great in the Jodie Foster role of the young apprentice agent. All that being said, I sometimes wonder if Demme meant Buffalo Bill as a subtle joke on J. Edgar Hoover (who was known to wear dresses).
Lecter serves as an archetype, but only before Clarisse and the audience get to know him. The whole point of him is that there is more than meets the eye, if one dares to look. I agree that Clarisse is a character that strives to find her way in the optics of society. She's playing political and social/cultural games in order to satiate society's expectations. So the world presented to us is one of social construct, where appearances and the roles we play in society matter for our careers. It's our surface and persona. Within that, Lecter is the archetype of a serial killer. He is introduced to us as such. But over time, he becomes a more complex character, as does Clarisse. We struggle with the idea that Lecter clearly shows compassion to Clarisse, and deny the fact that we like him for that. It's uncomfortable because this moves him out of the archetype of two-dimensional serial killer, but he is complex and able to have detestable and admirable qualities. His sessions with Clarisse also peel back her layers and it's only through examining her own shadows that she's able to really understand the criminal mind. Once Buffalo Bill ceases to be an archetype in her mind, she has the capacity to catch him. So the film is really about the disablement of archetypes. Clarisse graduates only after she is able to put herself in the shoes of a criminal. Perhaps Lecter going free and calling her represents how this skill will be essential for her until her career is over. How she will be entering this darkness over and over again and she tackles new cases.
I really enjoyed your analysis. I'm curious what you think of Brian Cox's version of Hannibal Lecter from 1986. His portrayal was much more naturalistic.
Hopkins was to play another serial killer in an early 90s adaptation of the book "Diary of Jack the Ripper." But the project was later abandoned due to the controversy surrounding the fraudulent nature of the material the book was based on. If this film had been made, Hopkins would've played a 19th century English cotton merchant who secretly kept a diary of his confession to being the Ripper.
I think this movie is all about the three way relationship: Lecter- Clarise - Buffalo Bill. Lecker's motives are completely different from the motives of Clarise and bill. Bill wants to continue to kill and not get caught; Clarises's motive is to catch him. Lecker's motives are somewhere between. He really doesn't care if Buffalo Bill is caught. His motive is to play with Clarise, to get into her head, and to ultimately 'solve" her personal mystery and - finally y make a physical connection. His escape is also another motivation. He cannot do this without Clarise and - by extension - without Buffalo Bill. He tells Clarise how different his motives are when he says something like we reckon time differently. Actually EVERYTHING is different. - - It's also a competition between Buffalo Bill and lecker - Who will get the girl (Clarise)? It is very significant that the last thing Bill does is try to TOUCH Clarise. before this happens lecker has already suceeded in actually touching her (the greatest scene in the film - the actual climax) and thereby wins the game.
Anthony Hopkins made Hannibal Lecter an iconic horror villain. Just refer to Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986) and you’ll see how much Lecter was under used by Brian Cox, this was a choice by the director.
Great review. Personally I see the civil.wat as critical as I view their relationship as an allegory for the civil war. Maybe that's my Irish background.
"This movie's great with details"... yep :) Absolutely required for a movie based on the book, which is very much based on true crime, forensics, and the psychology of serial killers and the people chasing them.
*@**5:30**-**6:10**:* Jodie Foster is very good at portraying someone who is overwhelmed by her surroundings, yet still keeps their sanity or dignity, even as the feral "Nell" (1994)! And along with Michelle Pfeiffer and - in a different way - Brooke Shields, she's one of those rare Hollywood child celebs who turned out normal and not f*ck-ups. *@**7:00**:* That's exactly what I would do if I were a film director; that is, to include strikingly up-close face shots focusing on their eyes, perhaps even breaking the "fourth wall" from a player who's going to be important in an upcoming scene. *@**8:30**, **10:15**-**10:34**:* Jodie Foster was certainly playing the real main character, as I don't think anyone thought with Anthony Hopkins as "Lecter" was anything more than a Jungian archetype. But with "Apocalypse Now" (1979), I personally think Albert Hall's "Chief" is a very neglected character with his own immense subjectivity who was, as Willard's senior soldier, quite analogous to him. *@**8:55**-**9:15**:* Kelsey Grammer and F. Murray Abraham would hate you for saying that, as both of them think that Americans and other trans-Atlantic English-speakers are better at getting to the core of the more "down-to-earth" Shakespearean character beyond that "artifice" that only applies to the upper-class and royal characters. Both of you are right in different ways, as "proper" English accents are always needed, only posh British people actually sound good when they speak. And as someone who watches British soap operas almost daily, I can tell you that most British people sound (and look) like village idiots with dental problems.
If you've never seen it, the “Every Frame a Painting” channel has a great analysis of Lecter and Starling‘s first encounter. The close up shots themselves actually alternate between the characters looking slightly off-center, and directly into the camera lens, which is a subtle difference visually, but in terms of film grammar is the difference between a third-person shot and a true POV. The invasive effect of looking directly into the characters’ eyes is used to ratchet up tension as the dialogue progresses. Don’t forget, Anthony Hopkins actually parodies Starling’s Southern accent, through his own parody of a trans-Atlantic accent!
0:10 I'm not sure if I've ever heard you refer to a director's career as "lucky" before. Was that to imply that his other work was somewhat mediocre and not totally worthy of commercial success, or just that it's surprising that his style of filmmaking made the impact that it did?
As much as I love silence of the lambs I have to say I prefer Manhunter and Brian Cox as Lecter , Hopkins is a bit too pantomime for me the most interesting thing about the movie and the novel is the interplay between Starling and Lecter . Silence is a very good movie though
You bring some excellent insight here as to why the movie worked 30 years ago and still works day. Hannibal as an archetype vs. Clarice as a complete character, an "observer" just like Martin Sheen in "Apocalypse Now", and, like him, a real person with hangups and backstories, like all of us. I hadn't thought of it that way, and now I can't unsee it. Great discussion as always!
I think the monent when they touch fingers is despicable. It plays into the worst female fantasies and desires - this guy is a monster but I'm special to him. Like women who wrote love letters to Ted Bundy. She's supposed to be this feisty women fighting in the female corner, but when she touches his finger she's betraying all of his female victims including the unfortunate nurse he mutilated.
I think I’d recommend Something Wild over either of those…more representative of Demme I’d say. Philadelphia is honestly kinda dull Oscar bait, Demme’s done so much better.
Well.... there's the excessive use of characters looking and talking to the camara. Something also excessively used in Philadelphia. This film has grown on me. The two main charactrs are too good for the rest of the movie. And how the hell did he get that piece of pen?? Still, i prefer Cape fear, from the same year. A much more balanced movie and a great remake.
Cape Fear came out a year later (in fact Silence started shooting in November of 1989 and was done by March of 90' while Cape Fear was shot in 1991, released at festivals in late 91' but commercially in early 92') and Scorcese was clearly inspired to make it because of the success of "Silence". He even said in an interview at the time that he had always wanted to try making a horror movie. Cape fear was great, but it borrowed heavily from a lot of other movies (horror and non-horror). I agree about the talking to the camera and I found it amusing how Jodie Foster often whispered the same line twice for dramatic effect "It was so cold....so cold."). I heard Foster and Hopkins filmed all of their scenes separately.
Demme was a humanist film maker. Such a waste to redo two films that didn’t need it, Manchurian Candidate and Charade. Something Wild and Married To The Mob we’re both brilliant. Stop Making Sense was great when it came out, but I prefer the early 4 piece band. Less is more onstage with them, the choreography gets old as it goes on.
As a forensic psychologist once commented, Hannibal Lecter is what serial killers think they are, whereas. Buffalo Bill is what they really are. Excellent review!
The dialogue between Lecter and Clarice particularly in the gymnasium when she’s recalling her trauma with the slaughter of the lambs is one of the greatest exchange in film, in my opinion. Her every expression down to the smallest witch of her eyes is wholly absorbing.
the book is 90% the screenplay, almost word for word
Lotsa unforgettable stuff in that movie. You can practically smell the corpse on the table in that examination scene.
Also, consider Howard Shore's score, which is as beautiful as it is haunting, very appropriate to the dark and unsettling subject matter.
Howard Shore is a legend!
My favourite film of all time. I remember watching it late one New Year's Eve when I was about 10 with my grandmother who had fallen asleep. I was transfixed right from the opening shot; the score, cinematography, intrigue of Clarice and themes that I couldn't quite work out at the time. As soon as Hannibal appeared on screen I hid behind the sofa instead and continued to watch as if it was something forbidden and terrifying but a life changing piece of art. I fell asleep probably half way through - about 2am in fairness, but had constant nightmares for months afterwards. A few years later I was desperate to find that terrifying film I watched late one night. I did and upon watching it properly, it was just as affecting as the first time. Today as a 16 year old film lover, it remains my favourite film of all time and the film that began my love of cinema in general.
This is definitely one of the greatest films ever made. Without a question. So many films have taken inspiration from this masterpiece!
I've had people tell me they're not interested in the movie just because the title sounds cheesy... then proceed to praise Se7en like its the only good crime thriller ever made
*_”Was she a great big, fat person?”_*
That line cracks me up every time.
Not a patch on *Manhunter*
Manhunter is damn good, and Bryan Cox has a great take on Lecter, but it's not Silence. Just my 2 cents.
@@rajdixit1605 Silence of the Lambs is undoubtedly a decent film and whilst Hopkins’ performance was entertaining, I found it a bit too much, something of a caricature tbh. I preferred Brian Cox and as for Tom Noonan, that guy is genuinely disturbing. He made the casting agent cry on the reading, stalked some of the other cast members, just a really unsettling individual. I also love the 80s and the ost for Manhunter was exceptional. I do however prefer Foster’s performance to Peterson’s.
@@jewelcitizen2567 I would have much preferred Brian Cox. Foster and Buffalo Bill’s actor came off as very real and raw, which for me made Hopkins’s Hannibal feel like a popcorn slasher villain who wandered onto the wrong set.
@@Misericorde9
Don’t get me wrong Hopkins is a great actor, I just think his approach to that particular character was rather myopic. His performance in _Remains Of The Day_ was superb and ironically, far more unsettling in terms of character.
Maybe my favourite line in the film.
Thank you for being a Clarice fan! All I've ever heard is Hannibal, Hannibal, Hannibal, but it's Clarice's story that carries and sustains me. In my mind I've long had a movie title, "Starling and Somerset," in which she teams up with Morgan Freeman's detective from Se7en, presuming that they share the same universe, but I'm not sure I could dream up a case harrowing enough to need both of them.
"WHAT'S IN THE BASKET?"
- "Lotion Clarice. Lotion. Can you smell it?"
You’re my favorite person on RUclips. I love your videos so much and I hope you do some more Lynch reviews in the future. Thanks for all the knowledge and entertainment.
Thanks for discussing. Glad you watched it again. I first saw part of it late at night while visiting a friend. I was tired and couldn't stay with it. I got to watch it several years later and loved it. Since then, it has jumped into my top five of all-time favorite films. Nice analysis of Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. The one thing I notice in her portrayal, and in much of Jodie Foster's work, is the sense of intelligence she gives Clarice. When I watch her, there's generally a sense that she's the smartest person onscreen. I get that sense, too, when watching one of her costars from "Inside Man": Denzel Washington.
Other aspects of it I love include Howard Shore's score. As Roger Ebert pointed out years ago, Shore's somber music gives the film extra emotional weight. It underscores the story's grim nature.
Have you read Thomas Harris' book? If so, what did you think?
Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular (and movie buff)
I'll never unhear (or unsee) the emo song played when BB is tucking and dancing in the mirror
Goodbye Horses - Q Lazarus
For shits and giggles also look up Lotion by The Greenskeepers.
There’s an amazing story behind that song and how it ended up in the film.
0:55 finally someone said it. the film is about Clarice Starling and her struggle so Jodie Foster did an amazing job since her character goes though emotions. dealing with her childhood, trying to find Buffulo Bill, trying to proof she is a good FBI student, resisting Lector's mind f@@k, basically try to survive in the men's world. I love you review. Thank you. Next month they will release a 4K blu ray edition. Cant wait to watch it again.
Thank you for your review ! This is one of my favourite movies, indeed. During their last meeting, I love how Lecter throws the Marcus Aurelius reference in order to put Clarice on the right track ("What is his essence, what does he do, this man you seek?"). In the novel, he uses it in far more ironical way, in order to expose Crawford to ridicule, and mock his limits as a Chief of behavioural science department. Hopkins and Foster are absolutely brilliant in every scene, and their alchemy on the screen is always a delight to watch.
It's hard to argue with any of these points. As a key example, Lecter as an archetype romanticizing the inner demon is one of the harder pills to swallow since being fascinated by that performance as a viewer means falling into that trap. (If I had a nitpick from a characterization standpoint, it would be Crawford, who fills a role in Clarice's life that warrants further exploration of HIS motives than the film gives us.)
Jonathan Demme left this Earth with a body of work that displays towering artistry. I think being based on an acclaimed book and spawning a bankable horror icon is what makes "Silence of the Lambs" stand out for most people, rather than the deeper reasons one would hope for. But it's still a great lynchpin for anyone's legacy to have. Those scenes in the hospital corridor benefit from their placement as setpieces in the narrative: Demme and the editor Craig McKay clearly prioritized subconscious association between ideas in how all the scenes were assembled (hearkening back to the likes of Eisenstein). Apparently an entire 20 minutes' worth of subplot (involving Congress investigating Crawford and Starling) was deleted despite its plot relevance because it would've killed the psychology of the pursuit. Smart move.
For one, the source material is top shelf. Thomas Harris came up with one of the great literary villains and heroins when creating both "Red Dragon" and "Silence". As far as Demme's movie, "Silence" is one of the few flawless movies i have ever seen. I think it is one of the best edited movies of the last 40 years. Not an ounce of fat and it might be the most perfectly paced movie I have ever seen. That said, I do think Michael Mann's "Manhunter" is also a great movie despite the technical flaws and dated 80s look. And it goes without saying the the t.v. series Hannibal for being on a broadcast network was very good as well. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who might now be one of the greatest actors in the world, portrayed Lector using a "fallen angle" angle that had it's own uniqueness. Special props for Demme using really obscure "needle drops" for the music played in the lair such as "Alone" by Colin Newman (of the band Wire) and "Real Men" by Savage Republic. Made those scenes much more eerie.
I always loved this film. In retrospect it's kind of the perfect intersection of commercial, popcorn, procedural mystery and a more arthouse character study. The film takes a novel that was way more of a pot boiler and really opens it up. And yes, Clarice Starling is one of the great feminist heroes of the medium.
I also think people forget just how chilling it is seeing Hannibal's face take up the whole screen staring into us. It's definitely become a cliche, but there's something about Anthony Hopkins' eyes that's horrifying.
And finally I can't hear Tom Petty's American Girl without thinking of this film ;D
Enjoyed your review. In October Fathoms Events is showing the film in select theaters throughout the country on the 17th & the 20th. Really looking forward to seeing it on the 'big screen'!.
The actor who plays Jack Crawford is so sympathetic. Foster is brilliant. I met her at a children’s musuem program I was running in new orleans - she was so engaged with her precocious son
wish Demme were still here with us. Rachel Getting Married was also phenomenal.
Check out Married to the mob classic!
Something Wild is another underrated movie of his, that's a film people need to check out great performances great tonal shifts in the movie as well he really gets the balance between comedy, romance, and real menace in that movie (there's even a bit of social commentary thrown into the movie) really well it's one of those films once you see it you never forget it and it has a killer soundtrack as well......
I agree Rachel Getting Married is very underrated in my opinion. It's like "grown-up Mumblecore" and a wonderfully observed portrait of a family in turmoil.
Rewatched this last night, loved it. Really left me wanting to understand Buffalo Bill more. It isn't clear what sort of abuse he went through, but his birth name being a spelling error his parents/caregivers never bothered to fix points to a lot.
Would love to see you review Contact! I really identify with JFs character in it and think its very under-rated. Thanks for the review!
I agree with you on this film - for the most part.
First and foremost I do have to say that this movie is the most faithful book to movie adaptation of all time, so when you talk about characters and what they represent, or themes or tired stereotypes you need to understand that all of that was taken directly from the written words of Thomas Harris. So I think the only comments that can be valid to a movie like this are of the performances, the direction, the overall tone, the look and the music. All of which are outstanding.
That being said, I agree with you completely on Jodie Foster, she is one of those actresses (can we still say that? Or, is it 'actor'?) that is always present on screen. Never a wasted moment or look. She is gracious to other actors in that regard. That is the best way I can describe her. I can't say that for the vast majority of performers out there. Then with Anthony Hopkins, this may be the role that put him on the map, but, my personal favorite performance of his is as Stevens, the butler. Now THAT is a beautifully understated performance. I recommend you see that movie, I would love top hear your take on that.
Thanks for another good review
Great review, I never really enjoyed this film much either when I was younger. As I got older, I grew to appreciate it in a sense.
Hope you do a review on William Blatty's The Ninth Configuration (1980) soon. Great video as always.
Where has this channel been all my life? I just subbed. 😍
As a suggestion could you review Manhunter (1986) I think you are spot on about Jodie foster by the way .
Excellent suggestion. I've seen part of it. It would be interesting to compare/contrast Brian Cox's portrayal of Hannibal with Anthony Hopkins'. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/movie buff
Loved the review! Unrelated; I was wondering if you have any takes/opinions on Richard Linklater? I've always found his style of filmmaking very original and would love to hear some of your thoughts on it!
Love your channel! Algorithms just brought me here as I love these genres of thrillers, dramas, gangster, crime etc... even though I haven't typed it on RUclips, maybe Google have just been listening to my conversations or reading my mind 😅
I was working at my local theater when I received this cylinder shaped package from UPS. It was a week after Halloween 1990 & I opened this package & what the company sent was a huge teaser banner for:
"What in the hell? Silence. Of. The Lambs. Anthony Hopkins. Ok, he was in Magic, Desperate Hours. Jodie Foster. Accused, Little Man Tate. Scott Glen? Maybe it's a cowboy movie. Orion is releasing this on Valentine's Day. Yeah, this thing will flop hard."
Boy, was I wrong!! I saw this opening weekend & was blown away at how good this film is. A strong cast. Strong story. Great director. Silence deserves all the accolades it earned. It's still the only film in it's genre to win Best Picture.
Love this movie. Have never read the book. Maybe it goes into why Jack Crawford chose Clarice for this assignment. There are so many good scenes. Anthony Hopkins praised Jodie Foster’s performance, particularly the scene of their first meeting where he psychoanalyzes her on the spot with her “cheap shoes.” Her reaction to him was amazing acting, he felt.
Although I love Jodie Foster’s performance in SOTL, my favorite Jodie Foster performance was in The Accused. She was simply excellent. Such a brave performance. All of the scenes in the bar are very difficult to watch.
Great Review! You are so right about Dr. Chilton. I always thought that he was exaggerated and grating. And you nailed it when you said the ending would have been bone-chilling had he been a more nuanced character. Great insight!
Imo you all missed the point with Chilton. He’s supposed to be cliche and one-note, like the quintessential establishment administrator. Also, the reviewer said she wanted some complexity with Chilton but we already have 3 complex characters, which is plenty for a film.
great review! thank you Maggie!
Completely agree, a fantastic protagonist. Very vulnerable and brave.
I just re-watch the film, I was looking for recent reviews of it. I saw the film at the cinema when it came out. Surprisingly I didn’t saw it after that and it was a bit strange
to see the film after all the references that came out since in pop culture. My thoughts, it was ok, a lot less tension then I was expecting (the final minutes when Foster is
in the basement). I noted a few flaws in the storytelling proving that it not always easy to adapt a novel for the big screen. I appreciated then (and now) the multi layers
of the story. In the times the film was made you didn’t had a rushed ending like we are having now. But nonetheless we have a shortcut in the way the J.Foster character
find out about Buffalo Bill. If I make a quick plot summary (excerpts from IMDB actually), FBI agent Starling (Foster) analyze Lecter's annotations and find the first victim,
Frederica Bimmel. She knew Bill in real life before he killed her. Starling travels to Bimmel's hometown and discovers that Bimmel was a tailor and has dresses with
templates identical to the patches of skin removed from Buffalo Bill's victims. Realizing that Buffalo Bill is a tailor fashioning a "woman suit" of real skin, she telephones
Crawford, who is already on the way to make an arrest... Maybe this is explained more in the novel but how on earth does Starling makes the link so quickly with Buffalo
Bill just by seeing the dress at Bimmel’s house? This part was not clear in the film, then by sheer luck Starling happens to be at the right house where the killer is... So the
ending for me was a bit farfetch. Thanks for your review!
Your audio quality has improved so much.
Hey! Love your channel, especially your videos on Possession
Agreed that it's Jodie's show. Dynamite performance, and she's who comes to my mind when the name of this movie comes up, and not Hopkins in that metal facemask. I think she's the reason that I keep coming back to the movie. Her performance in the final act is the perfect amalgamation of strength and pure fear. And I think you're right. Her strength has a human quality to it. She goes into dangerous situations, but does so in a calculated way because she is very aware of the danger she's in. She's not unstoppable or superhuman. She's smart, and very good at what she does. Idk. My two cents on the movie.
Have you read the novel HANNIBAL by Thomas Harris? If so, I would be interested in your review and analysis of the relationship between Clarice and Dr. Lecter.
great analysis. I picked up many good tips for my short films. Thanks
Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Se7en (1995)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Zodiac (2007)
The 4 best serial killer police investigation films of the modern cinema era in my book.
Especially Zodiac IMHO is the quintessential procedural investigation film. Unlike most movies of the genre that rely heavily on action scenes and gory suspenseful killings, Zodiac focuses on the procedural aspect - evidence collection, trying to figure out killing patterns, analysing suspects, trying to connect the dots, psychological profiling of the killer, clues etc. To many this might seem boring to put on a film but it reflects reality far more accurately than any other standard Hollywood drama of jump-scares, rooftop chasing jumping and shooting etc.
@gpapa31
_Mean Season_ was a phenomenal 80s serial killer flick, Richard Jordan was absolutely superb! Also starred Kurt Russell, Andy Garcia, Mariel Hemingway and even the great William Smith had a short scene.
Add Prisoners to that list too
Memories of Murder is thematically similar to Zodiac but far better imo (Zodiac's a great film, far and away Fincher's best imo, nut MoM is my personal favourite film of the '00s decade)
@@helvete_ingres4717 oh yes, I forgot about that one. One of my all time favourites too but I personally like Zodiac more.
@@tds7078 excellent film but i wouldn’t put it up there on my list. It’s a brilliant and very tense movie and Denis Villeneuve one of my current favourite filmmakers.
I would add that Mare Of Easttown is up there with Prisoners on that genre.
I get a kick out of your shirt considering the movie you are talking about with the character Hannibal in it. Did you by any chance read the book? For some reason, I have read just about every book going with a movie either before or after. This one was very close to form when so many are not.
Spot on,Maggie, as always.In a way she resembles Sigourney's character from Alien, Buffy (SMG) as well. No damsel in distress there
And I really like that green and black comment - Alien is full of that scenes
A.H. was born to have that role. Just like Mitchum in Cape Fear or Night of the Hunter, Bardem...etc
You are often dizzy to the extreme from cigarettes. All you need to do is relax. I am here for you.
Hey Maggie. I don't if you've seen The Remains of the Days by James Ivory. It is my favourite Hopkins performance. Great review again. Love Gar
It was interesting that he wants Clarice to succeed. A later film where everyone Hanibal kills was worse than him, was evidence of Clarice's effect on him.
Great review, very well done. Thank You.
When Clarice examines the corpse and the way she tells all of those cops to leave.
I had the same experience. Saw the film when I was younger, thought it was good, but didn't fully appreciate it. Saw it more recently and found much more depth in it.
*Did you know?* ... that *Jodie Foster* was once a *pop singer in France* for just a few years from the *mid-to-late 70's?*
Her "greatest" (only) hit was "Je t'attends depuis la nuit des temps" (or "I've been Waiting for You since the Beginning of Time") which came out in 1977. You can find it quite easily, as it's posted everywhere here on YT.
She performed it with the late singer Claude François (aka "Cloclo") and Michel Drucker (who was and still is a talk-show host in France).
ruclips.net/video/QH7Z43F8i5Y/видео.html
Brilliant review. I remember seeing Jodi Foster in the Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane when I was a little kid and she creeped me out. She's been acting her whole life and has been the obsession of both real and fictional psychos.
I would be interested if any of you agree with this one. Back in the day when this came out I was convinced that the colour turquoise became more and more prevalent the deeper into the investigation Clarise got. To the point she became enveloped/surrounded by it in certain scenes. When I mentioned this to my friends at the time they felt I was being a bit pretentious and over reaching. Its such an odd colour and this seems deliberate. Anyone else have this thought?
Also, "Was she a great big fat person" is indeed a memorable line as Jewel Citizen states, however nothing beats "Put the fucking lotion in the basket". Another great performance, among great performances. And the song "Goodbye Horses" was never the same.
It's a remarkable film on all levels and deserved all its awards, I do think that The Accused is Jodie's best role though, very raw and you should review this one as well as Remains of the Day being one of Tony's best roles.
See some comments saying Jodie Foster was overshadowed by Hopkins…hello… they both won the Oscar. Greatest duo of performances in one film ? Maybe, Foster is outstanding it’s a shame we never got a sequel with her.
Demme was such a humanist in all his films, SOTL perhaps the most.
Jame Gumb is perhaps my most quoted film character. I’m not sure what that says about me…
Hopkins' performance was and is quite divisive, but to me it works. He is the embodiment of Clarice's nightmare, and it's like Lector is inside her head. Him being trapped inside a cage makes him even more frightening. In the sequel, Hannibal, he is no longer caged, and he ironically becomes something less fearsome.
It's an FBI film, not a horror film. The Clarice TV series that takes place after Silence is amazing.
You say that for Clarice to have had a romantic interest would have been insulting to the character. In the book, she did have a romantic interest (Dr. Pilcher) and they become a couple at the end.
Would you review Sunshine Cleaning?
Hopkins is fun, but Levine and Foster became their characters. They own this film.
Michael Mann’s Manhunter walks the other Lector films to school then eats their lunch for them.
Just saying.
At the end of the novel Hannibal, Clarice breast feeds Lechter, it’s similar to the ending of novel Grapes of Wrath.
Weird. I just watched this, like literally. My fave Demme film is always gonna be Something Wild. Silence of the Lambs is definitely a tone shift from his earlier work.
Yeah, I love Something Wild. Ray Liotta really burst onto the scene with his standout supporting performance in that one.
One of my favorite thriller movies.
Great review Maggie and take care and stay safe 👍.
Buffalo Bill listens to The Fall & Colin Newman ( From Wire ) & thats interesting. Prefer the 1986 Manhunter & William Peterson & Brian Cox. Joan Allen is good as well.
Best horror movie ever made in my opinion. Truly something special.
It's so not a horror movie though, its primary intent isn't to scare. It is one of the best thrillers ever though
@Luke S.
It's very often viewed as a horror movie by professionals and discussed in horror anthologies.
I see what you are saying. That's because this film doesn't align with today's definition of "Horror", as now it has come to mean bleak, depressing, gory, and usually either about the supernatural or a variation of found footage. This movie was considered a horror movie until it won the Oscars in 1992 and then slowly some started referring to it as drama, suspense mystery, etc (admitting you like horror films back then was like saying you were a pedophile) You had everyone from Gene Siskel calling it a trashy slasher flick in his review and critics like Roger Ebert called it one of the best horror films ever made ). If it had come out in the 1970's it would no doubt be considered a horror film because horror movies during that era were thrilling, scary, but had strong characters and stories as well. As Maggie pointed out there is a lot of camp to this picture (there are also many nods to other horror films including cameos by George Romero and Roger Cormon if that says anything). I feel it's too far removed from reality to be seen as a drama or mystery (unlike all the films in the "Forensic Science/Serial Killer" sub-genre that came after this that wanted us to believe they were being "gritty" and "realistic"). I remember after it won all the Oscars, people were saying it was the first horror film in Oscar history to win the best picture. In any case, this movie is definitely seen as one of the scariest films ever made and is one of the few that still scares me. Sorry, hope I don't sound defensive I have been having this conversation with people for 30 years and it always fascinates me to hear people's takes!
SHEEEEEESH
@@lukess.s I don’t know man, if I saw someone ripped open hanging from a cage or was the girl at the bottom of the well I think I’d call all that quite the horror story
I absolutely love Manhunter and actually prefer Brian Cox's Hannibal but Silence of The Lambs feels a lot more comfortable and easier to watch. I've watched Silence of The Lambs more than I've watched Manhunter.
Michael Mann is a f___ing genius.
Thief
Manhunter
The Keep
Last Of The Mohicans (one of the best finales EVER)
Heat
@@jewelcitizen2567 It's interesting that the late 80s and early 90s was the Golden Age both of FBI propaganda (Silence of the Lambs and Mississippi Burning) and of the emergence of AIM - the American Indian Movement - in cinema (Last of the Mohicans, Thunderheart). Seems like a lot came out of Peter Matthiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (the book that finally got past the FBI lawsuit in the mid-80s), with both sides trying to get the edge in Hollywood.
@@stanleyrogouski Yeah I don’t think the _’American Indian Movement’_ were EVER serious players on the propaganda front somehow. Sure they have a lot of Tribes in the US (over 500 different recognised ones if I’m not mistaken) but there’s only one Tribe that peddles any significant clout in terms of propaganda in Hollywood.
STRONG AS I AM.........!!! I love Tom Noonan in that movie!!
@@jewelcitizen2567 Well Russell Means, who played Chingachgook, was a member of AIM. But I will admit that last of the Mohicans was a bit "problematic" on its representation of Indians. Magua was a great character and Wes Studi a great actor but there was a bit too much of the "white woman in danger" trope in the movie for my taste. Admittedly of course it did work. Alice jumping off the cliff rather than go off with Magua may have been an echo of a similar scene in Birth of a Nation but damn did it work dramatically.
I don't know how many people have seen the movie Thunderheart, with Vil Kilmer but I'd highly recommend it. Silence of the Lambs is a great film but there's no doubt part of its purpose was to rehabilitate the FBI. There's the scene where Scott Glenn tells Starling "you grilled me pretty hard on the bureau's Civil Right's record. I gave you an A." The film is saying "well the FBI may have done some shady stuff in the past against civil rights, anti-war and American Indian activists but now we're all about liberated young women tracking down serial killers." Thunderheart portrays the FBI as the bad guys, but not in a cartoonish way. Sam Shepherd as the head FBI agent in that film (in the Scott Glenn role) is one of the best villains of that era and while I'm usually not a Val Kilmer fan, he's great in the Jodie Foster role of the young apprentice agent.
All that being said, I sometimes wonder if Demme meant Buffalo Bill as a subtle joke on J. Edgar Hoover (who was known to wear dresses).
Lecter serves as an archetype, but only before Clarisse and the audience get to know him. The whole point of him is that there is more than meets the eye, if one dares to look. I agree that Clarisse is a character that strives to find her way in the optics of society. She's playing political and social/cultural games in order to satiate society's expectations. So the world presented to us is one of social construct, where appearances and the roles we play in society matter for our careers. It's our surface and persona. Within that, Lecter is the archetype of a serial killer. He is introduced to us as such. But over time, he becomes a more complex character, as does Clarisse. We struggle with the idea that Lecter clearly shows compassion to Clarisse, and deny the fact that we like him for that. It's uncomfortable because this moves him out of the archetype of two-dimensional serial killer, but he is complex and able to have detestable and admirable qualities. His sessions with Clarisse also peel back her layers and it's only through examining her own shadows that she's able to really understand the criminal mind. Once Buffalo Bill ceases to be an archetype in her mind, she has the capacity to catch him. So the film is really about the disablement of archetypes. Clarisse graduates only after she is able to put herself in the shoes of a criminal. Perhaps Lecter going free and calling her represents how this skill will be essential for her until her career is over. How she will be entering this darkness over and over again and she tackles new cases.
I really enjoyed your analysis. I'm curious what you think of Brian Cox's version of Hannibal Lecter from 1986. His portrayal was much more naturalistic.
Hopkins was to play another serial killer in an early 90s adaptation of the book "Diary of Jack the Ripper." But the project was later abandoned due to the controversy surrounding the fraudulent nature of the material the book was based on. If this film had been made, Hopkins would've played a 19th century English cotton merchant who secretly kept a diary of his confession to being the Ripper.
I think this movie is all about the three way relationship: Lecter- Clarise - Buffalo Bill. Lecker's motives are completely different from the motives of Clarise and bill. Bill wants to continue to kill and not get caught; Clarises's motive is to catch him. Lecker's motives are somewhere between. He really doesn't care if Buffalo Bill is caught. His motive is to play with Clarise, to get into her head, and to ultimately 'solve" her personal mystery and - finally y make a physical connection. His escape is also another motivation. He cannot do this without Clarise and - by extension - without Buffalo Bill. He tells Clarise how different his motives are when he says something like we reckon time differently. Actually EVERYTHING is different. - - It's also a competition between Buffalo Bill and lecker - Who will get the girl (Clarise)? It is very significant that the last thing Bill does is try to TOUCH Clarise. before this happens lecker has already suceeded in actually touching her (the greatest scene in the film - the actual climax) and thereby wins the game.
@justthink5854 hey - thanks - i appreciate it.
Fantastic review. Thank you.
GOODBYE HORSES I'M CRYING CRYING CRYING OVER YOU!
It puts the lotion on the skin or it gets the hose again, I had to Maggie one of the all time great psych thrillers I liked Red Dragon as well
Anthony Hopkins made Hannibal Lecter an iconic horror villain. Just refer to Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986) and you’ll see how much Lecter was under used by Brian Cox, this was a choice by the director.
Anthony Hannibal corrected the mistakes from Manhunter in Red Dragon, which was more faithful to the book of the same name.
I should watch this again. Its been a long time since I seen this.
Great review. Personally I see the civil.wat as critical as I view their relationship as an allegory for the civil war. Maybe that's my Irish background.
"This movie's great with details"... yep :) Absolutely required for a movie based on the book, which is very much based on true crime, forensics, and the psychology of serial killers and the people chasing them.
I don't want to sound mean but the look on your face in the thumbnail is great.
*@**5:30**-**6:10**:* Jodie Foster is very good at portraying someone who is overwhelmed by her surroundings, yet still keeps their sanity or dignity, even as the feral "Nell" (1994)! And along with Michelle Pfeiffer and - in a different way - Brooke Shields, she's one of those rare Hollywood child celebs who turned out normal and not f*ck-ups.
*@**7:00**:* That's exactly what I would do if I were a film director; that is, to include strikingly up-close face shots focusing on their eyes, perhaps even breaking the "fourth wall" from a player who's going to be important in an upcoming scene.
*@**8:30**, **10:15**-**10:34**:* Jodie Foster was certainly playing the real main character, as I don't think anyone thought with Anthony Hopkins as "Lecter" was anything more than a Jungian archetype. But with "Apocalypse Now" (1979), I personally think Albert Hall's "Chief" is a very neglected character with his own immense subjectivity who was, as Willard's senior soldier, quite analogous to him.
*@**8:55**-**9:15**:* Kelsey Grammer and F. Murray Abraham would hate you for saying that, as both of them think that Americans and other trans-Atlantic English-speakers are better at getting to the core of the more "down-to-earth" Shakespearean character beyond that "artifice" that only applies to the upper-class and royal characters. Both of you are right in different ways, as "proper" English accents are always needed, only posh British people actually sound good when they speak. And as someone who watches British soap operas almost daily, I can tell you that most British people sound (and look) like village idiots with dental problems.
If you've never seen it, the “Every Frame a Painting” channel has a great analysis of Lecter and Starling‘s first encounter. The close up shots themselves actually alternate between the characters looking slightly off-center, and directly into the camera lens, which is a subtle difference visually, but in terms of film grammar is the difference between a third-person shot and a true POV. The invasive effect of looking directly into the characters’ eyes is used to ratchet up tension as the dialogue progresses.
Don’t forget, Anthony Hopkins actually parodies Starling’s Southern accent, through his own parody of a trans-Atlantic accent!
I do wish that I could watch this video right now, but I am having an old friend for dinner. Bye.
Ready when you are Sgt. Pembrey
“wouldja??”
Hannibal is the hook but Clarice carries the movie.
0:10 I'm not sure if I've ever heard you refer to a director's career as "lucky" before. Was that to imply that his other work was somewhat mediocre and not totally worthy of commercial success, or just that it's surprising that his style of filmmaking made the impact that it did?
look at his filmography when you ask that question
U improved the audio?
I've read the books and seen the films there all a master piece
BANG !
As much as I love silence of the lambs I have to say I prefer Manhunter and Brian Cox as Lecter , Hopkins is a bit too pantomime for me the most interesting thing about the movie and the novel is the interplay between Starling and Lecter . Silence is a very good movie though
I respect that, I don't know that I prefer Manhunter but it is very good.
do you have letterboxd
Perhaps the working title of this channel was The All-Seeing Eye? | No indeed, Clarice doesn't whine about stuff. You can do that for her.
Such a great movie, had a little bit of everything
You bring some excellent insight here as to why the movie worked 30 years ago and still works day. Hannibal as an archetype vs. Clarice as a complete character, an "observer" just like Martin Sheen in "Apocalypse Now", and, like him, a real person with hangups and backstories, like all of us. I hadn't thought of it that way, and now I can't unsee it. Great discussion as always!
"she knows that and doesnt whine about it...."....a major problem with our society today
The black list borrows alot from silence. The James Spader character has a lot of Hannibal traits
I think the monent when they touch fingers is despicable. It plays into the worst female fantasies and desires - this guy is a monster but I'm special to him. Like women who wrote love letters to Ted Bundy. She's supposed to be this feisty women fighting in the female corner, but when she touches his finger she's betraying all of his female victims including the unfortunate nurse he mutilated.
I totally agree! Demme can direct I highly recommend Married to the mob and Philadelphia!!
Since she is a De Palma fan, I would be curious about her opinion on "Last Embrace".
I think I’d recommend Something Wild over either of those…more representative of Demme I’d say. Philadelphia is honestly kinda dull Oscar bait, Demme’s done so much better.
@@toddpinkstonisgod I do agree with you on Something Wild that's a good one, however I disagree Philadelphia is phenomenal!
@@rodriguezreviews8566 fair enough!
Well.... there's the excessive use of characters looking and talking to the camara. Something also excessively used in Philadelphia. This film has grown on me. The two main charactrs are too good for the rest of the movie. And how the hell did he get that piece of pen?? Still, i prefer Cape fear, from the same year. A much more balanced movie and a great remake.
Cape Fear came out a year later (in fact Silence started shooting in November of 1989 and was done by March of 90' while Cape Fear was shot in 1991, released at festivals in late 91' but commercially in early 92') and Scorcese was clearly inspired to make it because of the success of "Silence". He even said in an interview at the time that he had always wanted to try making a horror movie. Cape fear was great, but it borrowed heavily from a lot of other movies (horror and non-horror). I agree about the talking to the camera and I found it amusing how Jodie Foster often whispered the same line twice for dramatic effect "It was so cold....so cold."). I heard Foster and Hopkins filmed all of their scenes separately.
So you think Hannibal Lecter is an archetype, do you? We should definitely have lunch together some day, ...
Great film - but the scenes with clarise and lecter stand above the rest.
Demme was a humanist film maker. Such a waste to redo two films that didn’t need it, Manchurian Candidate and Charade. Something Wild and Married To The Mob we’re both brilliant. Stop Making Sense was great when it came out, but I prefer the early 4 piece band. Less is more onstage with them, the choreography gets old as it goes on.