The Silence of the Lambs

Based on Thomas Harris’ superb novel, The Silence of the Lambs follows FBI cadet Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she’s tasked with interviewing a notorious cannibal named Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) – with the narrative eventually detailing Starling’s efforts at tracking down a serial killer (Ted Levine’s Jame Gumb) before he murders his latest victim (Brooke Smith’s Catherine). It’s ultimately rather remarkable just how engrossing The Silence of the Lambs remains for the duration of its 118 minute running time, as filmmaker Jonathan Demme, working from Ted Tally’s screenplay, delivers a tense thriller that immediately grabs the viewer’s interest and attention – with the film’s opening stretch, which features Clarice’s enthralling first encounter with Hannibal, certainly setting the stage for a near flawless piece of work. Demme’s eye-catching directorial choices are heightened by a surfeit of exceedingly positive attributes, including, especially, the note-perfect work from Foster and Hopkins and an ongoing emphasis on impressively suspenseful sequences. (The entire third act, for example, is exceptionally spellbinding and captivating.) It’s ultimately no wonder that The Silence of the Lambs is considered one of the best thrillers ever made, as the picture is, in terms of its myriad of moving parts, firing on all cylinders from start to finish.

**** out of ****