Inferior to "Se7en" but a good movie - just overrated!

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2004)

Hannibal. The very name sparks fear, discomfort, and ultimately recognition. He is one of the most popular screen characters of all time, the incarnation of evil, and yet strangely likable despite his distasteful savoring of human flesh. "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti," he tells FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) after she meets him in a prison, metal bars their only means of separation.
Their first conversation and face-to-face interaction is a vital element of the film's narrative; the bars represent Starling's own self-defense; they have wide-open spaces that are easily penetrable. And Hannibal Lecter, a psychologist and cannibal, knows exactly how to reach past her own mental cell bars and crack into her brain, and he does so in the classic scene where she recalls memories from her childhood, of the lamb she tried to save...
Agent Starling is on the case of a bizarre serial killer whose victims tend to be young women. Although they are unaware of his motives, it turns out the infamous "Buffalo Bill" is using the skin of these unfortunate victims for his own sick pleasure. He's not the sort of person you'd feel comfortable being stuck next to in an otherwise empty elevator.
Clarice is smart, a feminine icon of the movies. Her brains are what propel her own investigation into the case while her desire to unearth the truth and succeed past the results of her male counterparts stems from a sort of egotistical dominance. Not many people comment upon Sterling's own sexuality, her almost overly excessive efforts at saving the victims (who happen to be females). Buffalo Bill seems to represent her own image of men: cruel creatures who inflict pain and suffering upon helpless women. Her sole friend, the only man she can rely on for help and inside tidbits, is an outcast upon society -- a metaphor for the repressed homosexuals who are abandoned by their own societies, shunned by those who feel they are not "normal." Harris's underlying implications of homosexuality and female dominance in the novel are admittedly stronger than in the film, although the presence of the suggestions is clearly evident under close examination.
Or, it could just be about serial killers and FBI agents. You decide.
Sure, the movie is famous, but we must ask ourselves whether or not the film's reputation has given it a better face over the year than it has deserved. It is well directed, but never does the film fascinate us as the bold and daring "Se7en" did. "Silence of the Lambs" is a fine film, but pales in comparison to some of its imitators and fellow genre occupants.
The acting and writing is not at fault. Hopkins and Foster are superb. Hopkins received the most critical acclaim, although in 2001 we all realized that Foster was a key to the series as well, when she was unsuccessfully replaced with Julianne Moore in the sequel, "Hannibal," directed by Ridley Scott, which was a total failure and disappointment for the fans of the original and source material, the novels by Thomas Harris, who has reportedly never seen "Silence of the Lambs" for fear that it would influence his writing.
"Lambs," more than any other film in the series, is terribly manipulative, complete with tacky flashbacks that are out of place and all too convenient. That's where the film ultimately fails. The direction by Jonathan Demme is, truth be told, rather poor and borderline mediocre; Demme does not use cinematography to his advantage, does not use darker tones to evoke feelings from the prints as Fincher did with "Se7en." It's a great movie with convincing performances and a realistic script packaged in the form of a typical Hollywood thriller -- it might have a good reputation, it might be a good movie, but compared to other classics of the genre, "The Silence of the Lambs" just doesn't hold up as much as I had hoped it would after all these years. It's revolutionary, but isn't the masterpiece it used to be.
On the plus side there's always that terrific ending to look forward to.