The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological horror/thriller film starring Jodi Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, and Scott Glenn. The story centers around FBI agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Foster), who is sent to talk to the brilliant psychiatrist/serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) to try to get help with a current case involving a recent serial killer, “Buffalo Bill” (Levine). But Dr. Lecter is as dangerous as he is helpful, psychologically attacking the mind of the young agent while still putting her on the path to solving the case.
The Silence of the Lambs is one of those movies that, even if you’ve seen it a dozen times, it still manages to impress you. You know what’s going to happen. You know the dialogue. There are no surprises coming. But yet, it’s still, somehow, an impressive movie that they happened to pull off. And it is. Intense characters, dialogue that seems to flow so smoothly, and the delivery by actors who deserve all of the awards that they won for this movie. Which it did win. The Silence of the Lambs is one of only three movies to have ever won the “Big Five” categories at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Anthony Hopkins’ delivery of Hannibal Lecter is one of cinema’s all-time greatest performances. People who have never seen the movie, at the very least know the name. They might not know why they know the name. But they know it. That’s how important Hannibal Lecter is. When you know somebody’s name, and you don’t know why…
Agent Starling, not as important as Hannibal Lecter, but still, an important character in modern films. Jodi Foster does an amazing job in this movie of conveying what a young agent, just training to get into the FBI, would do in a situation like she was thrown into. It doesn’t seem like the kind of assignment you just toss an agent-in-training. It really seems like something a more experienced agent should be handling. But I don’t write them, I just review them.
And I can’t say anything but good about The Silence of the Lambs. It’s too good of a movie. So, yeah. Go and see The Silence of the Lambs. If not just because of how great of a movie it is, then simply for historical reasons. So you know that you’re being historically accurate when you discuss it with other people. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…
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