enthralling

Rating: Null/10 (9 April 2004)

"The Silence of the Lambs" is ostensibly about a young FBI agent pursuing a serial killer who skins his victims, but it is the subplot that really stands out. Jodie Foster is impressively convincing as Agent Clarice Starling, and Anthony Hopkins' Academy Award was well-deserved. Anthony Hopkins does not PLAY Hannibal Lector, he IS Hannibal Lector. The first time we see him, the camera slowly moves past the jail cells of other criminals and when Clarice arrives at Hannibal's cell, he is standing there smiling, as if he was waiting for her. It is not his one-liners that make him memorable ("I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti" and "Tell me, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming") but rather it is the way his eyes stare at Clarice. He is both gripping and scary at the same time. And when we see him wearing a straight jacket, muzzled like an animal, he is truly terrifying. The only regrettable thing about this movie is that Hannibal Lector did not get more screen time (he appears in less than 1/3 of the movie). The winner of five Academy Awards, "The Silence of the Lambs" is a brilliant psychological thriller that will stand the test of time to become a true classic.