7 - "The Silence Of The Lambs" (1991)

 

     Best Adapted Screenplay - Ted Tally...Best Director - Johathan Demme...Best Actor - Anthony Hopkins...Best Actress - Jodie Foster...Best Picture........All well deserved.  The Silence of the Lambs is one of only three films to sweep all five major Oscar awards, the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I didn't know much about the movie when it came out. I was just starting to get to the point where I was going to the theater on a regular basis, about once a week. I knew the movie was based on a book by Thomas Harris, and was about a serial killer, but that's about the gist of what I knew going in. When I came out of the theater from seeing it, I knew I had witnessed something great and I wanted to see it again. So I did, that same day, I turned right back around and went and saw it again (I paid twice of course!!) and it was even better the second time. Knowing the story now, I could sit back and pay attention to the acting, and boy what acting it is. Jodie Foster is my favorite actress and this movie is the primary reason why. I love other films such as The Accused, Contact, Maverick, Panic Room, Taxi Driver, and many others, but her performance as Clarice Starling in Silence is the best performance I have ever seen from a female on the big screen. She is matched by Anthony Hopkins, who picked up a Best Actor award for his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, despite being on the screen for just over 16 minutes. It's the shortest time on screen for a Best Actor winner. 

       The story revolves around Clarice, a young FBI trainee, who is brought in to help with a serial murder case. The killer is a vicious murderer dubbed Buffalo Bill, who skins his victims after he kills them. FBI agent Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) believes that another serial killer can help them on this case. Clarice is sent to visit with Hannibal Lecter, because Crawford feels Clarice would appeal to Lecter. The meetings between Clarice and Lecter provide the center point for this film, and the dialogue is some of the best ever written. The two play a cat and mouse game with Lecter giving Clarice clues to the puzzle, even if she doesn't know it at first. Clarice is not patient because she knows Buffalo Bill has another victim, the young daughter of a senator. Can Clarice get inside the head of Lecter and put together the clues to how to find the young girl before she becomes the next victim of Buffalo Bill. The Silence of the Lambs is a mesmerizing film. It plays on our fears; heights, bugs, the dark, being alone. It sinks its teeth in and doesn't let go until the end. One of the best ever made.