[.ca] The Silence of the Lambs (Full Screen) (Version française)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. --Tom Keogh

Great Film:
This award-winning 1991 film was adapted by Ted Tally from the 1988 novel by Thomas Harris. The film is a faithful adaptation of the novel, except for some minor changes. Personally, I prefer the film because of its dramatic scenes as well the characters, especially the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter. I agree with the reviewers here. This film is one of the best thrillers of the 20th century.

Hannibal Lecter the best bad guy in a movie:
The first one of the trilogy of Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins at his very best. A fantastic movie, don't miss any of the three.

The very best:
Roger Ebert said, "I t has been a good long while since I have felt the presence of Evil so manifestly demonstrated as in the first appearance of Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs", and it is exactly that manifestation of evil caused The Silence of Lambs to leave such an indelible mark on moviegoers. Hopkins performance surely rates as one of the best performances, male or female, in Hollywood history. Credit also goes, in enormous quantities, to Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster. To Demme because he realized that the horror of this film was psychological, and to Foster because her perfectly played naiveté to Lecter's arrogant worldliness created the canvas on which the film resonates. Too many thrillers and wanna-be thrillers fall into the least common denominator - trite scare tactics. Here, there was nothing trite. The images were clear, original, and gripping. I've seen this film half a dozen times (there are very few films that I've watched more than twice), and every time my mind brings up the scene that Ebert is referring to - in Chilton's psychiatric ward - my mind's eye sees Lecter wearing orange. This is Demme's brilliance. He has done such a terrific job of creating Lecter as a devil, that when I think of him, I clothe him in colors of fire. In reality, he wears blue in that scene. In a later scene, the scene that names the book and film, Lecter is imprisoned in a tall cage in the center of a wide open room, and Foster sneaks in to visit him, hoping to garner more clues to the murder she's investigating (it's easy to forget while watching this film that there is something going on other than the relationship between Lecter and Starling, like the other serial murderer in the film, the one that is actively killing people). This is where Demme (and Hopkins and Foster, for that matter) shines. Lecter, seated, asks Starling, "What does he do, this man you seek?" Starling answers, "He kills women." "No, that is incidental," Lecter replies. When Lecter speaks - and his diction is flawless, perfect, and amazing, capturing his contemptful personality - the camera is completely focused on his face, and the lighting and shadows that Demme employs evokes images of every devil or demon our imagination, or literature, has ever conjured. This scene, and everything that follows (the second meal of raw meat, the killing of the guards), is a breathtaking piece of artistry. This is, quite simply, the very best thriller Hollywood has ever produced.

pretty decent ,but Red Dragon is superior (3.5/5):
i remember watching this movie a long time ago and not being all that impressed.but i watched it again last night,and i have a higher opinion of it now than i did before.it's a good film,there's no question.it's very moody and atmospheric,yet i still think Red Dragon is a superior film.however,did like a lot about "Silence...".i thought Scott Glenn was excellent as Jack Crawford,Starling's(Jodi Foster)superior.i am not a Jodi Foster fan at all,however,she did well in this movie.i still think, though,that Julianne Moore's portrayal of Clarice Starling in Hannibal is superior.Hopkins is brilliant of course as Hannibal Lector.but Ted Levine is equally brilliant in his portrayal of "Buffalo Bill". yes,"Silence..."is a very good movie,but what puzzle me is how people revere it as much as they do.it isn't that good.it will definitely give you chills and draw you in.the story is very compelling.having said all that,i give SOTL 3.5/5

Try making a sound ....The Lambs Can Never be Silenced.:
This is a great movie to watch in the dark. "The Silence of the Lambs." Jonathan Demme's tense thriller combines excellent actors and a wonderfully adapted screenplay to make, what seems to be one of the best, if not the best, thrillers of all time. This film has three accounts and everyone knows the story. FBI trainee Starling is assigned to glean information from incarcerated serial killer, Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) concerning the whereabouts of another serial killer on the loose, Buffalo Bill. A former patient of Lecters, he's killed and skinned several women. Starling and Lecter's interrogation sessions become a slowly spreading invasion within the background of Starling's emotionally fragile psyche. All the while Buffalo Bill has himself a new victim, and Lecter is already planning his escape. First I will praise the film's merits. Yes it does have excellent performances. The scenes between Starling and Lecter are electrifying. They're the high-point of the whole film. And Demme does superb things with his camera. I like the way he shoots many of Clarice's scenes from her POV, like when she descends several staircases and goes through several doors at the asylum until she finally meets Dr Lecter. This movie is like no other. It combines tenses scenes with a cast like no other. Anthony Hopkins was born to be Hannibal, and why Michelle Pfeiffer was originally suggested for the role of Clarice over Jodie Foster is bizarre, but because Jodie Foster got the role, it doesn't really matter. When it comes to violence this film is very intense. There are some graphically violent scenes; however the worst violence in the film is the mental violence. Hannibal's ability to destroy someone mentally is incredibly disturbing, and the films motives are pretty full on. However this contributes to the films overall feel of horror, which is why "The Silence of the Lambs" is one of the most mentally frightening films of all time.