The Silence of the Lambs
118 minutes
(based on 4 user reviews)
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Reviews/comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
To suggest that there are crude stereotypes going on in this film is to really fail to understand the context, grotesque as it is. The mad killer is one of the most believable characters of this kind in the history of film. For me, the allegories are subtle and effective, and the film is visually stunning. It's not a feel-good movie, but it's a very respectable and honest look at a part of our human nature. Also, it doesn't glorify all serial killers, just Hannibal Lectar, though he is an almost supernatural figure, so I cannot bring myself to take exception with it.
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A landmark film, superb in all respects, universally acclaimed and lauded. I'm afraid your critic must have some kind of personal chip on his shoulder against this picture, very odd indeed.
Rosenbaum says that "The film, like its flesh-eating psycho, is more bent on exploiting its insights than on teaching us anything." You see, our society is thoroughly inadequate with providing us with learning opportunities; do you realize our university resources, libraries, books, or magazines are insignificant? if not for the staid, dark movie theater to teach us, what chance do we have to gain the insights that Rosenboum displays here? In Hollywoo movies we have seen charactors, actually teachers in various disguises, come and show and tell us about life's truths, like my kindergarden teachers used to do. But, unfortunately in this movie, as Rosenbaum says "...that the psychotic serial killer is the essential religious figure of our time: saint, guru, seer, and soothsayer rolled into one." Wow, what a bitrayal.
Hopkins' Lecter IS a guru and a seer. That's the point of the whole film (and Starling's self-discovery). He's a human anomaly. He might serve your pureed organs over pasta but would never spit in your face. A killer who, if not incarcerated, would be consulted by police as to how to catch other killers. Crazy from his own genious and way smarter than his captors, not to mention most of the population.
Starling knows not to volunteer any personal info but Lecter's too slick for that, playing off her ambitions and eventually grows to admire and even love her.
As for violence, very little is actually shown. It requires an audience to fill in their own blanks which is much more terrifying and, in my opinion, less insulting.
And why are critics always talking about films glorifying violence? Did you feel particularly inspired to eat someone's flesh when you were done watching this? I'm guessing not. These films are fiction. That's their job - to entertain. If people don't like it, they're more than entitled to their opinion but please give the rest of us a little credit.
This movie hardly classifies as a "slasher film," considering its lack of slashing. While the film is, without a doubt, mind-bendingly horrifying and could easily be classified as a thriller, the gore is hardly evident in comparison to the culminating moments of suspense. In fact the movie instilled a fear in the viewers which would have otherwise eluded them had they watched the evening news. If anything, a movie like this should make the news more real –– The film was so believable that it could challenge naivety. Anthony Hopkins performance was a groundbreaking, historical triumph smartly glorified by Jonathan Demme.
I suppose there always has to be that one critic who feels the need to swim against the current and vote nay –– Unfortunately Mr. Rosenbaum was unable to present a reasonable argument.
I enjoyed reading Jonathan Rosenbaum's review of Silence of the Lambs because like him, I was one of the few who didn't care for the movie. Upon first viewing I was angry that the film made a hero out of a serial killer. Also, I'm willing to suspend disbelief on some things, but why would they send in a rookie to interview a criminal mastermind? Duh. Also, I have worked in a jail and rule #1 is you don't give out personal information. Of course, if the heroine doesn't violate this rule there goes the movie, but still. Both "Psycho" and "Silence" are in debt to Ed Gein, the Wisconsin murderer who made clothing out of female body parts. But unlike Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates is not an evil superhero mastermind, just a sad loser like Gein. We are fascinated by such deviance, but why turn it into hero worship?
