One of the "Great Films"

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2002)

Jonathan Demme's masterpiece `The Silence of the Lambs' is so laired in every sense of the word, it offers haunting drab scenes and some of the most beautiful dramatic pieces ever put on film. It truly at its heart is an actor's film. The camera is always right next to there noses so they are forced to look right in the lens and the result is one of the most thought provoking and brilliant pieces of film ever made. Many will never forget the scene where Lector (Brilliantly played by Anthony Hopkins) is talking to Clarice (Jodie Foster) about why she ran away from here uncles home. The filmmaking is so tender and so beautiful that you almost don't notice how great the film really is. It is a scary film, and a touching film an unlikely mix when you talk about a cross dressing serial killer and a cannibal. Claurice is so innocent and so confused not one person can't relate to her, Jodie foster gives the performance of her life and pushes the viewer to new heights of humanity and fear. I love this film aside from Coppola's `The Conversation' I think this is the best suspense film there is. It offers so much in every aspect, artistic and entertainment. The cinematography by Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense) is as humanly oriented as it gets, the way that camera `walks' and zooms is sort of how the human eyes work. All these aspects are in the film so finely that it almost is hard to acknowledge it is there. Jonathan Demme has since made a film that captivates its subject matter as well as this one. The characters are metaphors themselves, film and criminal investigators have all agreed that Claurice is a lot like the serial killer Buffalo Bill, which they both are searching for what they want and what they are. They are a lot alike I must admit, they are different in their physicality towards there desires obviously. The film is a piece of fact that of which `Saving Private Ryan' is. It is not true in its narrative but in its background facts it is completely factual. Hannibal Lecter is haunting and almost unrealistic but then again he is supposed to be. He is so polite and so snooty that he is evil. This film is just brilliant, that's all there is to it. In all of it's amazing scenes it truly gives the best acting of the 90's. This film may never be surpassed as one of the greatest horror/suspense films. This film does so much on so many levels, beautiful acting, great direction, screenwriting, and its thought provoking cinematography. It's sequel Scott's `Hannibal' does not offer the same depth charge that `Silence' offers, the film falls to much around how Hannibal is an evil cannibal and he is gonna get you. `Silence of the Lambs' is a brilliant scary film that will never be forgotten.