1991 - The Silence of the Lambs

I seem to be on a roll with the big-screen viewings of the nominees in this current year of review. First, it was Bugsy at the Los Feliz 3 in Los Angeles, and now, I've just taken in the eventual victor at the Randwick Ritz here in Sydney. I won't hold my breath waiting for the other three nominees to pop up on any local cinema's schedule, so this streak will likely end at two, but it was fun while it lasted.

Continuing our look at the Best Picture nominees of 1991, here are my thoughts on...

The Silence of the Lambs
Director:
Jonathan Demme
Screenplay:
Ted Tally

(based on the novel by Thomas Harris)
Starring:
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith
Academy Awards:
7 nominations
5 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hopkins) and Best Actress (Foster)

FBI agent in training Clarice Starling (Foster) is entrusted with an interview of notorious psychiatrist turned serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) with the hopes that he can aid in the investigation of another fearsome murderer, known as Buffalo Bill (Levine). Lecter is reticent, placing conditions on his cooperation, but when Buffalo Bill kidnaps a senator's daughter next, the FBI ramps up its efforts to acquire Lecter's insight, raising the risk of his escape.

With pulsating tension and some of the greatest misdirects ever committed to celluloid, it's easy to understand how The Silence of the Lambs became a paragon of the thriller genre ... or horror genre, for those of you who prefer to categorise it that way, which is admittedly understandable, considering the gruesome and frightening elements. However you classify it, though, it has rightfully earned its place in film lore. That elevated status is at least in part thanks to Howard Shore's sublime score, which perfectly complements the foreboding action. The main theme, for example, is pure tension.

Jodie Foster delivers a powerhouse portrayal as a woman proving herself in a man's world - aided by the script's cleverly subtle feminist overtones - displaying both Clarice's ambition and her inexperience with equal parts strength and vulnerability. In arguably his most well-known role, Anthony Hopkins offers the ultimate masterclass in how to portray that steely-eyed unsettling evil that has become so cliched nowadays. But his performance contains oodles of nuance, eschewing the monotone vocal delivery of so many other actors' villainous performances that followed. Ted Levine also impresses with a creepy-as-hell turn as the deranged and demented Buffalo Bill. Anthony Heald (pictured) also stands out, nailing the slimy, in-it-for-himself asshole. Both Foster and Hopkins won Oscars, contributing to the film's Big Five haul. For the uninitiated, that means it won Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and the Screenplay category it was eligible for, in this case Adapted Screenplay. All in all, a rather impressive feat, especially considering it was only the third (and, to date, the last) film to do so.