Le silence des agneaux

Young FBI agent Clarice Starling is on the trail of a ruthless serial killer, enlisting the help of the notorious cannibal and master manipulator, Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

If suspense thrillers are your thing, this has to be counted among the greatest ever made. The film is genuinely unsettling throughout-you're never quite sure who is playing who.

There's an absence of blood and gore; it relies purely on story and acting. For my money, it's infinitely superior to the sequels. The psychological terror is what makes this film so enduring.

Jodie Foster is excellent as Clarice, but Anthony Hopkins... what can you say? Another performance that fully reminds you he's one of the very best. Outstanding.

The chemistry between Hopkins and Foster is off the scale: the tension, the unease, the uncomfortable yet compelling bond-it's riveting.

I think this is where my love of Chianti comes from.

10/10.

I just saw, for the second or third time, this cinematographic masterpiece, during an « UGC culte » evening, in Paris. The list of the Big Five Academy Award winners is short. There are currently three of them, in nine decades: New York - Miami (1934), Vol au-dessus d'un nid de coucou (1975) and ... Le silence des agneaux (1991). This is not really surprising, this film being excellent, endowed with a script skillfully elaborated by Thomas Harris, with an irreproachable casting including Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster and Scott Glenn. In addition, the director Jonathan Demme delivers a work obviously enjoying an admirable preparatory work.

Without unduly spoiling the script, if you have not seen it yet, by the greatest fluke: a psychopath known as the Buffalo Bill sows terror in the Middle West by kidnapping and murdering young pulpy women, after partially or completely skinning them. Clarice Starling, a young FBI agent, is in charge of interviewing Hannibal Lecter, a well-known former psychiatrist who has also the characteristic of a truly intelligent psychopath focused on cannibalism. Hannibal Lecter is able to provide Clarice Starling with providential information about Buffalo Bill . But he agrees to help her only in exchange for information about the young woman's private life. Between them is established a link of fascination and repulsion.

As a synthesis: a thrilling must see. 9/10 of 10

Admittedly, I am not the most well versed when it comes to cinema and more importantly well thought-out and thorough reviews of cinema however I wanted to attempt to talk about The Silence of the Lambs.

This is quite possibly one of my most revisited horror films, I find myself returning to it without boredom quite often. Re-watchablity is something I have noticed to be heavily lacking in the horror genre, something I personally equate to the overuse of the jumpscare, which isn't such a terrible thing but the intended effect wears thin by the third viewing.

Silence of the Lambs being a more psychological horror does an immensely interesting job in their depiction of "deranged" or mentally ill criminals. Obviously Hannibal himself can become quite alluring given his disturbed charisma alongside the dustings of his criminal, cannibal, activities. His interactions with Clarice are superb and I don't get tired of watching their bizarre chemistry. Plus Jodie Foster did an excellent job as an up and coming FBI student, evidently a small fish in a large, male dominated pond.

On that note I think the depictions of her relationships with men in the film are rather well executed. I would love to one day do a deeper more insightful reflection on this film and actually take into account story and cinematography, all factors really but I'll leave it here for now.

The Silence of the Lambs, having accomplished the rare feat of winning all five of the major Academy Award categories, is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking. Gruesome, pulpish material was transformed by dedicated participants on all levels of production, and a film that would have failed in the hands of many others wound up becoming a modern masterpiece. Taut direction and a superb screenplay might be the best arguments for the film's power, but the flashiest are certainly delivered in the bravura performances of Hopkins and Foster. Their interplay -- and remember, they only share a handful of scenes together -- is nothing short of riveting.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs and i still remember how two very old ladies were petrified n blabbering about the movie to my dad and one thing which stayed with me after that conversation was the praising of Hopkins acting by the two grumbling old geezers.

I revisited it in the early 2k on a dvd which I own and was in awe by Hopkins mesmerizing performance.

Revisited it the third time today but this time with my kids as they are 18 now but my wife is still not agreeable.

Everything has been said about this first class thriller n there seems to be nothing left but i jus wanna contribute a lil by praising the performance of Hopkins.

In the entire movie, it is Hopkins' screen presence n footage which keeps u glued.

His character is charismatic but very dangerous that u don't wanna be rude with him.

Some scenes are far fetched but like i said it is the mesmerizing performance by Anthony Hopkins which is the highlight.