I recently watched Silence of the Lambs, an award-winning psychological thriller directed by Johnathan Demme. The film stars Jodie Foster who plays Clarice Starling, a new FBI in training, under the mentorship of Jack Crawford, who is ambitious and over-excels in what she does. She is assigned to a murder case and is out to catch “Buffalo Bill” a famous serial killer who skins the bodies of overweight women and then creates suits out of their flesh. She is introduced to Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) a psychiatrist and also a cannibalistic serial killer who helps the FBI find other serial killers, it comes across very ironic but is a brilliant idea for a character. The movie shows the progression of Clarice and Hannibal's relationship and how Clarisse is able to truly see into the mind of a killer, in order to catch one herself. 

What I loved most about the movie was the incredible acting. The acting between Hopkins and Foster is amazing to watch. Their characters are both so interesting and what is fascinating is that they are oddly similar at the same time. Both characters feel almost shunned by their environments and impotent. Lecter is a serial killer so clearly is in opposition to the human race, and Clarice who works with men, makes her feel inferior. They also have been affected by trauma as kids, Lecter was physically abused and Clarice lost both of her parents and was sent to live with relatives. These scary connections make their connection even more eye-opening. I loved the way the movie was filmed. The camera angles took up a plethora of different perspectives, creating an extremely suspenseful tone to the movie. The camera almost seems to be following Clarice throughout, as if it is meant to feel like she is being watched or stalked. For example, when she would enter a room, the camera would already be there, instead of walking in with her from a profile shot or from behind her, focusing on her silhouette. I loved how many close up shots the film was filled with. I also loved the way the scene felt so much different whenever Hannibal Lecter was in it. It felt as though the audience was just waiting for him to do or say something just as mad/brilliant as he had said before. The viewers are supposed to like Hannibal, and this is portrayed through not only his interactions with Clarice but because he is not your ordinary killer: despite the fact that he is inadequate in emotions, he is a logical genius who is a puzzle that is impossible to put back together. I was a huge fan of the soundtrack of this film. You can always suspect what kind of music would go behind a thriller movie, but the audio within this film was special and fit very appropriately. The use of signs to heavy breathing, to subtle cries and rumblings, is wonderful. We hear these sounds being used especially during the climax of the film when Clarice is in Buffalo Bill’s underground layer. We hear a mixture of sounds that piece together perfectly: the moans of the girl Bill has captive, the barking of the dog, and the breathing of Bill. What makes this scene even more terrifying is that now we are seeing through the eyes of Clarice through a pair of green night-vision goggles. This change in visuals, is unique and superb, making the audience feel like they are in the dark just like Clarice. This is quite possibly the smartest move you can make in cinematography. Blurring the line between what is our real life and what we are seeing on screen. I truly felt like I was in the dark basement, and knew that Bill could be anywhere around me, yet just invisible to my eyes.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who truly wants to be absorbed in a roller coaster filled with mystery, action, brilliant acting, and true terror. The acting is on a whole different level, and the concept is something I have never seen before. This movie was built around its symbolism. The title refers to an experience Clarice faced when she was youngster where she heard lambs dying and screaming at a slaughterhouse. She didn’t know how to stop them from being killed. She felt so hopeless at this moment and wanted them to stop screaming. Hannibal, after learning about this event that she experienced, helped her to lead the “lambs” free and silence what was once screaming.