Why is “The Silence of the Lambs” revered so heavily?
When I first experienced The Silence of the Lambs, I was absolutely enamored. Did I think it was the best horror movie I had ever seen? No, at the moment, that honor went to Get Out. Did it stop me from sleeping soundly at night? Quite the opposite, actually, as I ended up sleeping like a baby that night. However, without a doubt, there was something that Jonathan Demme’s classic did that no other horror movie ever did for me: stick in my mind.
It seems my opinions about the film were not rare. Twenty-five years later, it is still at or near the top of many “movie of the century” lists. However, that does not make sense for a movie. In a cinematic landscape that has extreme recency bias, and does not ever truly latch onto horror movies, how has Silence of The Lambs stood the test of time?
First, I figured I would look closer at the main protagonist of the movie. The character of Clarice Starling (portrayed by Jodie Foster), a self-described step up from ‘southern hicks’, is a wonderful foil for the man-eating (in the literal sense) Dr. Hannibal Lecter. When we first meet her in the movie, she is a meek novice FBI agent tasked with using Lecter’s help to catch Buffalo Bill, a rampaging serial killer. Throughout the movie, however, Starling’s character deviates from any preexisting stereotype. While one may expect a female lead in a horror movie to constantly shy back and constantly give control to others, Jodie Foster does not let Starling go down that same route. Throughout the movie, she is confident and is as powerful as anyone, regardless of gender, can be in her situation. In fact, as Culture’s Nicholas Barber puts it, the entire film is about how Clarice Starling is capable of handling herself under the “male gaze” (Why The Silence of the Lambs is a Feminist Fable). From her initial interactions with Lecter, where he insinuates her captain is sexually attracted to her, to the sheriff’s office, where she is surrounded by staring men (pictured below), Starling is constantly put in uncomfortable spots. She never falters, however, and became a feminist symbol as a strong protagonist in a horror movie, always maintaining her “charm of absolute honesty” (Canby, Review/Film).
However, while Clarice Starling was a very popular character in her own right, I personally do not think she is the reason that Silence of the Lambs was so successful. Strong female protagonists, as rare as they were in the late 80s and 90s, are still not very common today, signifying that Jodie Foster’s character did not start a revolution in the filmmaking industry. However, I think another character in the movie did more than just start a revolution: Hannibal Lecter.
Sir Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the terrifying cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter is considered by many to be possibly the creepiest movie villain of all time. In the eyes of Pulitzer-prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert, Lecter was the closest he had ever seen to a true manifestation of evil (The Silence of the Lambs, rogerebert.com). From the first moment of the movie, where Lecter picks apart our protagonist, to his escape from law enforcement (seen below), the cannibal enraptured the audience while chilling us to our core.
While the character was written beautifully, even the oscar-winning screenwriter of Slience of the Lambs admitted that Hopkins’ oscar-winning brilliance brought the character to life (Grow, Silence of the Lambs at 25). The complete control a man like Lecter can show in any given situation ( is escape being the best example) combined with a need to succumb to his animalistic cannibal tendencies creates an internal juxtaposition that keeps our eyes glued to the screen.
Of course, there are other factors that contributed to the movie’s success. The directing, lighting, and camera work was extraordinary and the movie was one of only three at the time to win 5 Oscars in a single year. The book the movie was based on, Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name, was amazing in its own right, winning many book awards and receiving praise from famous minds like Roald Dahl and David Foster Wallace. Looking back on the movie, there is so much to digest that one cannot simply catch it all in one sit-down. The casual transphobia and homophobia shown in Buffalo Bill’s character, the sexual predation in Lecter’s actions, and the trauma endured by Sterling as a child are topics that could demand a movie of their own. Altogether, the movie is a classic that sets a high bar for the horror movies of today.
However, in my opinion, Hannibal, or more specifically Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal, is the main reason people remember The Silence of the Lambs. Every actor who tries to fill his shoes is measured against one of the most bone-chilling performances of all time. Hannibal Lecter brought life to Jonathan Demme’s 1991 masterpiece and is a huge reason why it will be remembered for decades to come.
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