Dir. By Jonathan Demme
USA, 1991
One of only three horror movies nominated for an Oscar, The Silence of the Lambs, is a classic for any thriller lover. The performances and the writing is superb as well as the cinematography and direction.
While a large part of the success of this film is credited to Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, another aspect of the film is left unnoticed: the thematic story elements reflected in the writing, especially the motif of sight. A very large portion of the story line, dialogue, etc. is focused on sight. Clarice is told that once she sees Dr. Hannibal Lecter she will see he is a monster. When Clarice talks to anyone though out the movie, she is filmed talking to a character off screen while her dialogue counterpart is always filmed talking into the camera as if it is her. Jonathan Demme sited this as a way to get the audience to feel like they were in Starling's shoes; however, the straight forward look of these male characters into the camera provide an aspect of the "male gaze" from Clarice's point of view. The most apparent example of that is when she first meets Lecter, and Hopkins stares at the camera from his viewpoint as it moves, implying that he is watching Clarice.
Another way in which the theme of sight is played out is Hannibal's drawings. He lives in a cell without an ability to see the world around him. He also describes Buffalo Bill's weakness as coveting, "and what do you covet? Something you see every day." This clue to Bill's surroundings leads to a break in the case. Clarice is also a victim of "seeing", her experience on her cousins farm with the lambs is due to that she can't unsee what she saw as a child and has no driven her to the FBI. The image haunts her as well as the sound. An interesting piece of this movie is that when Starling does finally tell Lecter the story of the lambs, she speaks to the camera finally, fully in plain sight.
Finally, and perhaps the most obvious use of the theme in the film, is the climactic scene where Clarice and Buffalo Bill standoff in the dark. Clarice is completely deprived of her sight, while Bill uses his night goggles to stalk her and ultimately try and kill her. The scene, shot from Bill's point of view, is the ultimate test of Clarice's ability to see what's beyond her and face it off bravely.
Overall, the film is a classic and should be appreciated. The literary themes fused with cinematic techniques are a strong component of what makes this film great.