The collision between first impression and true identity in Silence of the Lambs

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2013)

Finally the time came and I decided to watch all of the Hannibal movies (because after the end of Hannibal's season 1 I was left with a void that only Hannibal Lecter could fill up). So I started with the famous Silence of the Lamb.
If you are familiar with this movie, you probably know the plot: FBI agent Clarise Starling plaeyd by Jodie Foster needs the help of an incarcerated prisoner Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins to catch a serial killer on the loose.
So what was most interesting for me is that people aren't what they seem from the first impression. Yes, we see Clarise training but that is because she is the character with whom we are growing together, the main character. She is running through the forest what might be a metaphor that she is trying to defeat evil as forest always was a gloomy and scary place where monsters were hiding. But that is not how she is viewed by others. There are various scenes where she is the only woman in male company and everybody is looking at her as if she is not capable of anything, but she proves them wrong.
On the other hand we see Hannibal as a calm person standing in his cell. You could not tell that this person is a heartless murderer who eats his victims. But that's what everybody knows about him. And that is why he is in the cell. Later we see his change when he attacks the guards, but I think more important is his entrance scene. It is just radiating with innocence, but you still have this feeling that something is wrong. Maybe it's not the cell, but most probably it's how he looks, how he smiles. But that you notice just a bit later.
So that's what I saw in this movie – the difference between first impression and true people's nature. It's a bit scary how wrong can we sometimes be. Maybe next time we will regard the innocent looking person with more care.