Wait! How Did I Miss This? The Silence of the Lambs: 30th Anniversary

     Hey everyone welcome back to Silver Screen Spectacle for my third article of the day. It’s been a busy day. After missing last week we’re back with another Wait! How Did I Miss This? In honor of the film’s 30th anniversary, I finally watched The Silence of the Lambs. I put this film off for years for the same reason I put off Seven until recently, while I have a strong stomach I got concerned these films would be really hard for me to watch. While certainly earning its R-Rating, this film is much tamer from an on-screen violence perspective than I expected. So let’s look into my thoughts on my first viewing of the best picture-winning classic.

    While not without some flaws, this is a fantastic film. This film made Jodie Foster a household name, and it’s easy to see why. Her performance is phenomenal, the way she sells the strength but also naivety of her character is incredible. Scott Glenn does great in his minor supporting role. Ted Levine doesn’t do much vocal acting through most of the film but he is a menacing physical presence and does fine when he does finally have to vocal act. Though I’m sure as many of you already know, the actual star of this film is Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. This is one of the best performances I have ever seen. He is absolutely terrifying despite how calm he acts. Any scene involving him is easily among the film’s best. 

    Jonathan Demme does a phenomenal job directing. He builds tension masterfully throughout the film. The script written by Thomas Harris and Ted Tally is overall great, though I found the first half of this movie more interesting than the second half. Also, there are some character decisions that feel too stupid for such smart characters. This is a beautifully shot and edited film. The film knows how to make you feel claustrophobic even in more open areas. At 119 minutes while I enjoyed the first half overall more, the film still flies by. Thankfully the film comes back to what I loved about the first half for its third act with an ending scene that I absolutely loved. 

    So with the anniversary of this film has sparked a conversation about it again in the film world and some controversy has begun that I would like to address quickly. So first is the way the world of this film reacts to a female FBI agent with almost every male character sexualizing her at some point. The film actually addresses this at one point when she confronts her boss about things he said to a police chief. Second is while it is not acceptable this movie is trying to portray the real world in 1990, at this time women in law enforcement still got not taken seriously. Now the other controversy that has come up is the discussion about the film’s possible depiction of Trans people. Obviously today the word transvestite is not socially acceptable, but it is accurate to the time. The second thing is, despite what some scenes show, the film explicitly says the Buffalo Bill is not transgender. Now could you argue about the way it’s written sure, but for the time this movie came out I don’t think there is anything controversial about it.

    So guys that’s it for this Wait! How Did I Miss This? As always, if you enjoyed it, give it a share. I’m glad I finally watched this brilliant film. That’s it for me today, and I’ll see you all tomorrow.