A hybrid of genre's that can only be described as perfection

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2010)

The1992 Academy Awards was a very specific year in the acknowledgment of great film-making, and all because of one movie, one movie that accomplished something that very few other movies have. Sweeping all five of the major Oscar awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay, Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs" is a thriller, a horror, a psychological study into the mind of the serial killer, and a very powerful example of what film can turn out to be when actors, writers and directors are all at the top of their game.
Clarice Sterling (Jodie Foster) is a young FBI trainee who is pulled out of training and assigned the case of finding a serial killer named Buffalo Bill. She is sent to the mental institute to gain insight on the character by interviewing another serial killer, the notorious Hannibal Lecter, or "Hannibal the Cannibal", played by the great Anthony Hopkins. While Hopkin's gave one of the most chilling and disturbing portrayals I have ever seen, it's Foster's performance that keeps this movie rolling. Clarice has a troubled past, full of fear and repressed memory. Hannibal is the monster she is trying to learn from, but he is not going to give her anything without something in return, in this case, access to her deepest, darkest secrets. The relationship between these two figures is tauntingly fascinating. There's a certain poetry involved here and it's so provoking to watch. Some may call this chemistry, but I think it's just two talented actors with and an equally talented director playing their part, and doing one hell of a job.
Despite my gratitude for both actor's performances, if I had to choose which one I'd call my favourite, it would have to be Jodie Foster as Clarice Sterling. I fell in love with Foster after I saw this movie. Every time I think of her now I think of those old-fashioned clothes and burgundy shoes. I think of her amazingly delicate portrayal of a woman haunted by her past yet still trying to save the life of a teenage girl. Which reminds me, one thing that was really nice to see was that it wasn't a man trying to save the day for once, it was a woman. Almost every other Ameircan movie I've seen it's always been a man saving the damsel in distress. There was never a time where a woman got to have the acknowledgment or the parade, and I think Johnathen Demme picked up on this fact and expressed it as another theme to the movie. Close to the start of the film when Clarice was on her way to the office for her assignment, she walked into this elevator and she was surrounded by huge blokes, it made her like the smallest thing ever. It was quite funny, and I think it really said something. Clarice was a woman working in a man's world, guys would often chuckle or question at her presence, and occasionally even sexually harass her in mild ways. Witnessing all this it makes you think that there's something to prove here and that it was going to be interesting to find out how it would manifest into a final ending.
Jonathan Demme is probably never going to be able to do something like this ever again. It's possibly my most favourite film ever, but if not it's certainly in my top 3. It's perfectly acted, perfectly written, and perfectly directed. This is a top-notch movie that for me scores a perfect 10 / 10, no doubts, no regrets, AWESOME!