Jonathan Demme directed this genre-bending thriller in which Jodie Foster portrays Clarice Starling, an ambitious FBI student who is on the verge of graduation when her superior enlists her help to track down a serial killer. When a senator's daughter turns up missing, the feds determine the most likely suspect is Buffalo Bill, who is murdering women and doing something terrible with their skin. But to find him, Starling is forced to enlist the aid of another notorious serial killer--the terminally incarcerated ex-psychiatrist known as Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Hannibal is the only one who truly understands the killer's mind and motive. He agrees to help Clarice, but in exchange, she has to tell him her deepest secrets. Slowly she wins Hannibal over as he discovers that unlike most heroes, she is more moved by vulnerability than she is attracted to power. Clarice's relentless search for the killer and Hannibal's unorthodox analysis are chilling. The screenplay is based on the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris.

Mar 2007

Director Jonathan Demme really hit the jackpot with this impressive adaptation of Thomas Harris's best-seller, along with perfect casting he brings a very straightforward style of direction to the film that only serves to heighten the tension. Jodi Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI agent in training who is chosen to talk to notorious cannibal killer Dr Lecter. Her aim is to see if he has any insight into a current killer, Buffalo Bill, who is abducting girls then skinning them and dumping their bodies. A psychopath known only as Buffalo Bill is kidnapping young women across the Mid-West. Believing it takes one to know one, the FBI sends in Agent Clarice Starling to interview an insane prisoner who may provide psychological insights and clues to the killer s actions. The prisoner is psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant yet psychotic, with a taste for cannibalism, Lecter will only help Starling in exchange for details and secrets about her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to face her inner demons, but leads her face to face with a demented killer, an incarnation of evil so overwhelming, she may not have the courage or strength to stop him. Horrific, disturbing, spellbinding. This thriller set the standard by which all others are measured. A strange bond develops between killer and cop as Lecter exchanges information about the killer for an insight into Starlings private life.

Upon its release in the early 90s "Silence" revitalised a tired genre of tedious serial killer films while also helping to create a genuine anti-hero in the form of the truly evil Hannibal Lecter. Classical actor Anthony Hopkins is truly chilling in the role of the imprisoned cannibal, most of his performance is from a position where he is imprisoned in some way and he manages to create such an evil persona that you feel he d explode out of his cell like a coiled animal if he could. His performance is truly remarkable and you hang on his every word. Foster is perfectly cast opposite Lecter as the rookie FBI agent, her portrayal of the tough and decent agent plays perfectly against the chilling world of killers she enters.

One person that is constantly over looked in this film is Ted Levine who played the killer Buffalo Bill, his performance is truly strange and twisted as he seems completely detached from the people and the world around him, he constantly refers to his latest victim, tapped in the cellar as "it".

This is a truly original chiller that works on many levels, both as a straightforward thriller and as a very clever a subtle psychological look into the minds of killers and the people that try to stop them. One other highlight of this film is that it stands up to many repeated viewings even after all the surprises and twists are known, and any film that features Chris Issak has to be a classic.

• "...Scary." -- Rating: B - Entertainment Weekly - p.71
• "...Superbly crafted....THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS slams you like a sudden blast of bone-chilling, pulse-pounding terror..." - Rolling Stone - p.87-8
• "...A sombre masterpiece....The film creates a world drained of light, counterpointed by a sinister and unsettling score..." - Sight and Sound - p.62-3
• "...^A] superbly crafted, unsettling movie....Demme pumps up the tension to a deafening din..." -- 4 out of 4 stars - USA Today - p.1D