The Silence of the Lambs (1991) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Jonathan Demme

Starring:  Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Kasi Lemmons, Anthony Heald

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is mannered, cultured, appreciative of fine foods and wines, and a psychopathic cannibal.     He spends his days in an ultra-secure prison cell behind a thick pane of glass.     We do not see his crimes, we only hear about them and they paint a grisly picture.    The Silence of the Lambs bases its eerie atmosphere more on implications and inferences of evil than actual visualizations, which makes it all the more terrifying.    

The Silence of the Lambs also won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hopkins), and Best Actress (Foster).   I don't feel it is a better movie than JFK, which is one of the films it beat out for the award, but it remains a haunting film.    It begins as a crime procedural that descends into murky depths with the arrival of Lecter.    As the film opens, the FBI is on the trail of a particularly twisted serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill" because he skins his female victims.    Desperate for any sort of a lead, FBI director Jack Crawford (Glenn) sends his top trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) to interrogate Lecter in hopes of gaining clues or insight into the elusive Buffalo Bill.   Why is Clarice fed to the wolves?  Maybe because all of the other agents left their meetings with Lecter in much worse mental shape than when they started.  

Clarice is hungry, game, and intelligent, but can she successfully dealing with Lecter, whose mind games have rendered others helpless?   She finds Lecter indeed does assist her, while scheming to gain perks and some semblance of civilization long denied him.   Why does Lecter aid Clarice?  Does he have sympathy for her as a female trainee trying to break into the man's world of the FBI?  Does he sense her loneliness and isolation caused by her childhood?   It is very likely.   Yes, Lecter is a cannibal and a murderer, but he also is a master psychologist.   I'm reminded of a scene in The Boys From Brazil (1978), in which Dr. Mengele beats up a man at a party and another guest yells for a doctor.     Dr. Mengele responds indignantly, "I AM a doctor."     How easy it is to forget that such men were once trained and licensed to help ease the suffering of others.

Demme employs a good number of effective tools to further the fear and suspense.     The search for Buffalo Bill intensifies when he kidnaps a senator's daughter and holds her prisoner at the bottom of a deep pit.     We meet Buffalo Bill (Levine), a pre-op transsexual who yearns to be a woman and uses the female skin to produce clothing.      He is not seen one-dimensionally.     He is a killer, to be sure, but he has a soft spot for his dog and is able to eke out some semblance of quiet normalcy on the surface.      The lair Buffalo Bill inhabits is messy and creepy.    He cultivates rare moths which he places in the throats of his victims.   Maybe this is the transgendered person people think of when they rail against North Carolina's new laws.   Bill's issues are not because he is transgendered, but because he is a psychopathic killer.

Clarice is up against not only Buffalo Bill and Lecter, but the ogling of her male co-workers who do not respect her.    We feel her fear in taking charge of a room of men with more experience who don't take her seriously.   Yet, she soldiers on, determined to bring down her quarry.   The clues subtly come together while Lecter maneuvers his way to escape.   Foster is in nearly every scene and we admire her skill and determination.  Foster ably handles this and her character's baggage in what is among her best performances.     

What we don't realize while watching The Silence of the Lambs is how Hopkins is absent for long stretches, yet he stays with us.    He has less screen time than most traditional Best Actor Oscar winning performances, but he is memorable.     Hopkins went on to play Lecter in two more films which set him up as an antihero people actually kind of liked.   Why is this?  Maybe because Lecter does seem to play by his own set of principles and there is a line even he won't cross.   He does not chase Clarice or endanger her.   He does not attempt to hurt her.   He apologizes for the treatment she receives on her first visit by other prisoners.   He maintains a sense of civility and dignity, so we follow him with fascination.  Where did such an intellectual go horribly wrong?  It is a testament to Hopkins' ability to fully flesh out Lecter in relatively little screen time.

The follow-ups to Lambs included Hannibal (2001), which was more content to be a depressing gore fest and the prequel Red Dragon (2002), which established the Lecter character and shows how he actually wound up behind the glass.     The Silence of the Lambs was released in February 1991, yet won its Oscars over one year later in March 1992.     The Academy has been accused of having short memories, only remembering films released in the latter months of the year, while forgetting about quality films released earlier.       Something about The Silence of the Lambs stuck with moviegoers and Academy voters.      It is made with care and precision, elevating itself to be more than a bargain basement thriller.