great movie

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2008)

It seems as if Dr.Lector is so devoid of emotion and empathy, so removed from human emotion, that he has 'quid pro quo' games with Clarice having her reveal emotional memories to him, with him sublimating them almost as a 'vampire' revels in drinking blood. Thus I thought it quite apt the a policeman asks Clarice if Lector is a 'vampire'. Indeed he is, but he doesn't want blood. Lector is so totally devoid of emotion, or suffering depression to such a desperate degree, that he has to resort to the most heinous act possible, cannibalism, to evoke any emotion, any feeling whatsoever. Lector is indeed dead inside - no good, no bad, no nothing - that is the ultimate tragedy of this empty shell of a man. Lector is played as a man who always has a quiet steady voice and even indulges in classical music as he commits acts of cannibalism. The scene in which Hopkins talks to the camera is nothing short of miraculous. Ted Levine as Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumbis also is nothing short of astounding in his portrayal of someone seriously lost mentally, a man who so despises his own flesh, that he adorns himself in the flesh of others, to achieve a feeling a normalcy. A great movie about sanity and insanity with magnificent actors at their best.