The Silence of the Lambs (1992)

The Silence of the Lambs is a film that I have only seen once before and to be honest I was slightly underwhelmed by it. I thought it was ok but was hoping to get a different reaction seeing it on the big screen after six hours in a cinema and it being half three in the morning, the film was struggling to improve. The set up of the film is that FBI Academy student Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is tasked with interviewing Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to try and get information regarding a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill.

The first encounter between Clarice and Lecter is really well done and comes surprisingly early in the film. I think if this were made today then they would have waited 40 minutes or so to build up the scene but by having it in the first few minutes means that we are thrown off guard with the encounter. I thought that Jodie Foster does a very good job of making Clarice confident yet slightly insecure given that she is thrown into this situation with no experience or warning. Anthony Hopkins gives one of his best performances in this film. There is something slightly unnerving about the fact that he never raises his voice. It’s not monotone but it never seems to go up in pitch. I would have liked more scenes with them together. Even at the end when they are talking on the phone they seem to have a great dynamic together and just made me wish we had gotten more from them.

Given that Lecter is synonymous with the movie, it is somewhat surprising that he basically disappears for the last third of the movie. This is perhaps a plot necessity so that they can tie up the important subplot of getting Buffalo Bill. The character of Buffalo Bill wasn't really given as much screen time as he perhaps should have been and I don't think that Ted Levine was the right choice for Gumb. He doesn't come across as psychotic enough and its hard to believe him to be this scary menace.

I still like The Silence of the Lambs but I don't love it. I think that it has some great central performances but I think the pacing is a little slow and I don't think you can blame the fact it was an early 90’s film. I think that at two hours the film slightly outstays its welcome and could probably have lost 15-20 minutes. I can see why people might rate it quite highly as a horror and there are good moments in it but it just didn't connect with me in the way that I thought it would and it didn't have anything to do with the fact it was quarter past five in the morning when it finished. This is the second time that I have seen this film and feel the same overall. Not sure if its one that I will be watching a third time but time will tell I suppose.