Brilliant if sometimes repellent horror thriller

Rating: 9/10 (4 September 2007)

One of the most celebrated films of the 1990's,THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is a superbly made and acted adaptation of the novel by Thomas Harris,with excellent lead performances,script and direction.The story of FBI rookie Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) being put in a position of trust by her superiors to trace depraved serial killer Buffalo Bill,but with the help of the equally depraved but charming and intellectual Dr.Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) grips totally throughout it's duration,with cleverly judged moments of violence and suspense,with some outstanding and ingenious twists in the plot and construction of the film.
This was talented director Jonathan Demme's finest hour as a director,with deeply impressive performances by Hopkins as the warped psycho genius Lecter,and Foster as the somewhat naive,but courageous and gutsy heroine Clarice,one of the most vividly etched female leads in cinematic history.Their duologue's could have been rather static and stagy,but thanks to Demme's faultless handling and the great acting on show by the aforementioned,it come across as totally compelling and fascinating. Support performances by such venerables as Scott Glenn,Anthony Heald,Charles Napier and Diane Baker are also of the top rank,and arguably very few pieces of cinema have ever matched the relentless thrills,shocks and tension that THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS achieves so successfully.
If there is one problem with the film,it is that the details and actions of the depraved principals involved are so overwhelmingly ugly,nasty and repellent that one even questions the imagination and mental state of the writers and filmmakers to invent such horrid,gruesome events for our entertainment.The filmmakers are to be congratulated that THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is so brilliantly made that it takes away the feeling of bad taste,but with the sheer repulsiveness of certain story aspects,it is occasionally something of a struggle.The eventually seen character of Jame Gumb (aka Buffalo Bill) must rank as the most relentlessly evil,disturbed and unpleasant villain ever witnessed in mainstream cinema.Convincingly played by Ted Levine,he even makes the murderous antics of fellow nut-case Hannibal seem as relatively innocent and wholesome as a children's picnic!
Despite these reservations,THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is a considerable success as a gripping and exciting horror thriller,which of course was deservedly rewarded at the Oscars.And if you can take it,it is probably one of the very best of it's kind ever made (if not the best).
RATING:8 and a half out of 10.