A Masterpiece - but not in all facets

Rating: 9/10 (12 November 2017)

Without doubt it is the first half hour, that displays the full thrilling beauty and astonishing furtiveness that makes the story of Hannibal Lecter one of the greatest serial killer stories of all time. Just from the complete beginning the audience is held in a mode of everlasting tension; in fact the first scene is one of the best in the whole movie. With its depressing atmosphere and tricky used camera movements, the thrill rises in just seconds to an extraordinary level and will not lower until the end of the movie. Of course the very best scene is the first meeting with Haniball Lecter himself. Here Jonathan Demme creates on of the greatest, most well-known and most impressive moments of movie theater - accomplished through Anthony Hoppkins astonishing play of the charming serial killer, as it is unique in modern role playing. Unfortunately after this scene the movie loses a part of its quality for quite a while. Putting the most remarkable scene quite in the beginning leads to a permanent comparison of it with the rest of the movie. The middle part for sure has its heights, but tends to lose itself in disinterest. However, due to the impressive character of Hannibal Lecter, the tension never falls and the movie leads to an remarkable height in the second half. It is Lecters breakout, that makes the climax of the movie with its impressive aesthetics and cruelty. Even the audience feels betrayed by the charming and cultivated psychiatrist. The excellent interpretation of Hannibal Lecter even compensates for some cinematic foolishness: While trying to trick the audience, Demme shoots himself at some point. Both the fact that the injured Guard is Lecter himself and that the police breaks into the wrong house are quite obvious - to obvious to fool the audience -, additionally the second scene mentioned is a cliché as big as the ending scene. In the end the "Silence of the Lambs" is on of the most remarkable and exciting pieces of movie theater at all. Only the fact that it often stands in it's own light, and that many parts of the movie can not measure up to Lecter himself (think of the horribly uninteresting Buffalo Bill for example) causes it to stand one step below untouchable masterpieces like "The Godfather" or "Psycho".