Is it a horror film? Is it a cop film? It is and it isn't. The Silence of the Lambs is one of those films that crosses several genres and creates its own all at the same time. The story involves FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is recruited to prod the famous psychiatrist/cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) into his take on a serial killer that has taken the nation by storm. He helps, but at a price: a look inside Clarice's psyche.What's amazing about Silence is that it isn't a straight linear film. There are forks in the road and even though it's still part of the same story, it's a different set of obstacles. This is Jonathan Demme's best work and represents a watershed in what the cop movie and what the horror movie could be. Foster is great as Clarice and the supporting players, mainly Ted Levine playing the crazy Buffalo Bill , present a first class film. But it's Anthony Hopkins that dominates this film. Never has a character ever had so little screen time yet dominate a film so fully. When you mention this movie he's the first thing you think of.
Silence of the Lambs took the thriller and brought it into a new era. Dare I say that all of the crime scene investigation shows out there are the children of this film? Possibly, but Silence is much more than that. It's higher than the typical cop thriller. If Alfred Hitchcock had been alive he would have directed this film, but I don't know if he could have made it any better than Jonathan Demme.
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