Here is why is The Silence of the Lambs is a great horror movie. In the end, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the directing techniques used in the film.
Now, this is a movie that reviewers and critics don’t seem to agree on its genre.
Is it a horror or thriller?
Actually, the two genres don’t differ that much in their genre ingredients. But the movie is scary and has a great villain.
So I’ll say it’s a horror film…
The Movie
The Silence of the Lambs is directed by Jonathan Demme, the screenplay by Ted Tally.
The movie is about Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee played by Jodie Foster, who is assigned a case where she has to interrogate a prisoner to help catch a serial killer.
This prisoner is Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins). He is a highly manipulative psychologist and a serial killer. He skins his female victims. And he is a cannibal.
Why is The Silence of the Lambs a great movie?
1. Won the Top 5
First of all, The Silence of the Lambs is the first and only horror movie to win 5 Oscars.
The movie won the best picture, best directing, best writing, best actress, and best actor!!!
2. No cheap horror
It is different from other horror films because it has an artistic value in addition to being very entertaining to watch.
In this movie, there is no “cheap horror”.
No graphic violence or cheap scares. The horror comes from the dialogue and the character of Hannibal Lecter.
3. Great performances
It is probably the best performance in Jodie Foster’s career.
Her acting was naturalistic. And in her scenes with Hopkins, you can feel the fear in her eyes without even moving or talking.
Anthony Hopkins masterfully played the character in a more elaborated way. He was not naturalistic like Foster.
But the character required a more pronounced performance.
He managed to capture the audience whenever he was on screen. And actually he was not on screen for a long time.
Hopkins appeared only for less than 16 minutes in the movie. Yet, he managed to win an Oscar for best acting.
4. Defied steriotypes
Clarice works in a man dominant workspace. Other men hit on her in many scenes of the movie. In the beginning, other male characters looked down at her and ridiculed her.
But this is a very small part of the movie and almost insignificant in the character’s arc.
Jodie Foster’s character is strong, smart, and independent. She is not the typical female of the horror genre.
The character was not sexualized. She is not seen as always scared and crying for help.
Directing Style
Director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto used a subjective camera to “show” the audience what the characters are feeling.
Subjective camera angles are used to enter the minds of the character.
For example, POV (point of view) shots show us what the character is seeing. But also intimate close up shots on the faces of the characters can be considered subjective.
Because these shots help us see what the character is thinking… of course, this happens with the help of great angles.
To better understand the style and camera language in the movie, let’s dissect this scene:
Dissecting a Scene: First Encounter
This is the first scene where Clarice meets Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
First, Clarice’s POV… We see the character only when she sees him. The director is trying here to put the audience in Clarice’s shoes. To identify with her.
Notice how Jodie Foster is looking at the person in front of her. While Anthony Hopkins is looking closer to the camera lens than her.
This is a small acting trick… It should go unnoticed for the untrained eye. But it is very effective. We feel as if Dr. Hannibal Lecter is talking to us, the viewers. And as if the camera is still the point of view of Clarice even though it is a close up.
After a sequence of over the shoulder shots, the directors moves to close ups. Here the characters start to connect.
But notice who is dominant in the scene: Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the one who motivated the close up.
He ordered Clarice to come closer. He then comes closer to the camera. As if the character demanded the close-up.
Then, an old and over-seen directing technique: Clarice sits down so that the camera is shooting her from a higher angle. This makes her weaker than Hannibal. Meanwhile, Hannibal is shot from a lower angle to give him more power.
Add to that, Hannibal’s face occupies the whole screen while Clarice is filmed with a medium shot to appear smaller.
Through these directing techniques the director told the viewers visually who is the protagonist (Clarice who we see the scene from her perspective), and who is the dominant character.
Even if you watched the scene on mute, you will understand the essence of the scene.
