Review of The Silence of the Lambs

The story “The Silence of the Lambs” is a very exciting and suspenseful one. The film, directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Ted Tally. Tells a story of Clarice Starling (Jodi Foster) a student of the FBI who gets the opportunity to work on a new case, which is to find a psychopath who skins his victims. Jodi Foster does an amazing job with her role you find yourself, the audience in her shoes during the movie. Feeling what she feels and seeing what she see.

In this movie the photography is impossible not to notice. Which is not a bad thing at all, Take Fujimoto does a great job making sure that you do not miss a single expression on any character. When Clarice Starling needs to get in the head of a psychopath she decides she’ll go talk to one of them, Dr. Hannible Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) the king of psychopaths who is witty, smart and o so sinister. Fujimoto does a great job of doing extreme close ups at the right time on Hannible’s face to show the expression of a mad man. Which creeps you out as the audience because Anthony Hopkins does a wonderful job playing his role as a psychopathic killer.

The special effects and costume which are done by Carl Fullerton are flawless. The dead bodies and other gory parts of the movie and done very well. There is enough to be persuaded realism but not to much as to make the audience say “o that’s got to be fake.” Carl does a great job of showing a balance.

There is a great deal of low-key lighting in the movie to show in my opinion the mysterious part of the movie and to also separate the good from the evil and sinister. When Clarice Starling is in the prison talking to Dr. Hannible Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) you can really tell who the good and evil are. Because you see Clarice starling in the light but you see Hannible lecter in the darkness shrouded in mystery. This is constantly shown in the movie. When Clarice Starling meets Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) for the first time you see him covered in shadow as much as Dr. Hannible Lecter is when Clarice talks to him. The lighting really does a great job of creating the mood and making the other characters seem mysterious and sinister.

The use of the camera to produce this film is amazing. A lot of techniques are used to give the movie the best effect you can give it. One of my favorites is the use of the Steadicam. When Clarice is being chased around by Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) you fallow Clarice as she goes through a heart pounding experience that could mean life or death. There is also the acting in this movie, which really puts the cherry on top and makes this movie really phenomenal. All of the actors and actress do a amazing job of drawing you into the movie. I didn’t even realize half of the cinematic aspects until I watched the movie again. Because the story and acting do such a great job of making the movie flow very nicely. The result of all of this is a heart pounding suspenseful movie that keeps you on your toes at all times guaranteed.