When I was taking Topical Literature classes back in my junior year of high school, we had this assignment where we had to watch a neo noir film and write down what we can find about the characters and the settings that give it that feeling. There was one movie I chose out of all of the. Mainly due to the fact that I have had a long history of enjoying this movie very much, for it’s dark setting, and it’s disturbingly creative villain… Not sure why I brought up my school assignments into this, but anyway, let’s talk about Silence of the Lambs… Oh, that’s why I talked about it. Because that movie is probably not something a high school student should be watching.
The movie follows young Clarice Starling, FBI-in-training, who is on an important case to find infamous serial killer, Buffalo Bill, a crazed serial killer who kidnaps women and murders them, taking their skin, and sewing them together to create a skinsuit for himself. However, since no one is able to catch him, Clarice is told to get information from a crazed cannibalistic psychiatrist by the name of Hannibal Lecter, whose insight will help them find Buffalo Bill, before he kills the daughter of a U.S. senator. The movie is just shrouded in all kinds of symbolism and deeper messages, even to the title, but more on that later. Right now, let’s talk about the best part of this movie. The greatest thing in this entire movie. And that is the antagonist of the film, Hannibal Lecter… Debatably, the MAIN antagonist is Buffalo Bill, but Lector is ONE of them, so screw it.
Hannibal has to be one of my favorite movie villains ever, if not my all time favorite. He’s cunning, creepy, and always knows how to screw with the mind of Clarice and others around him. Once a psychiatrist who was arrested for acts of murder and cannibalism, he is sent to a cell with a glass wall, where he is treated poorly by the guards there. However, he always manages to mess with them in anyway he sees fit. His first appearance in this movie is one of the most iconic in movie history. Him just standing there, waiting for Clarice to arrive, is just creepy. He always talks with Clarice in a very calm voice. So calm, it’s the most disturbing thing in this entire movie. He has lots of information on Buffalo Bill, even down to his name. However, instead of just handing them over, he wants her to share with her information on her past and how it haunts her if she wants to know more about him, as if he is trying to be like a psychiatrist, when we all know that he wants to do these things for himself, which I Think makes him creepy. There’s no doubt that Hannibal makes this movie.
Of course, another great thing about this movie is all of the characters. Buffalo Bill is a crazed killer who wants to be more like a woman, so he tries to create a suit made of females skin in hopes that he can become the woman he always wanted to be. Frederick Chilton, the person who is in charge of keeping an eye on Lector, treats him poorly and always goes back on his words, thinking of him as nothing more than an animal, and thinking of himself. Even Clarice shows a little bit of selfishness, even if she is the least prone to it, since she is only trying to save the senator’s daughter because of a traumatic child experience she had as a child. Oh boy, we’re going back to Silent Hill 2 character comparisons. If you remind me of Silent Hill 2, you’re instantly a good movie. The characters are all flawed, and creatively done in a way. I think flawed characters are one of my favorite things in horror movies, and the Silence of the Lambs movie knows how to do them perfectly.
Now let’s talk about that symbolism and themes that I was talking about. Throughout the movie, there are scenes with dead bodies, where they found these moths known as death head moths, found on corpses that are some how connected to the case at hand. These moths have a skull on them, which gives them their name. However, looking closely at the cover, which also has a death head moths, there is a set of women that are arranged to look like a skull, showing the sort of murder of women and sort of atmosphere you are to expect from this movie. The title alone has some symbolism in the movie. Silence of the Lambs. Clarice’s traumatic childhood experience where (Spoilers), she heard screaming lambs and saving the senator’s daughter would silence the lambs. This movies symbolism is impressive and I really do love what they did with it.
What can I say about this movie that I haven’t said before. It’s just good. It’s a great movie. It’s well crafted, has amazing characters, a dark story, and a very suspenseful ending that makes you so shocked, but at the same time, you are amazed that it was able to do such a thing. This movie is just so good. It managed to live on and become a successful franchise, getting a few more movies with Lecter in it, and having a rather popular TV series called Hannibal to be released. I recommend this movie if you haven’t watched it.. But seriously, schools, don’t let minors see it. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: A horror movie by Michael Bay, oh boy
The movie follows young Clarice Starling, FBI-in-training, who is on an important case to find infamous serial killer, Buffalo Bill, a crazed serial killer who kidnaps women and murders them, taking their skin, and sewing them together to create a skinsuit for himself. However, since no one is able to catch him, Clarice is told to get information from a crazed cannibalistic psychiatrist by the name of Hannibal Lecter, whose insight will help them find Buffalo Bill, before he kills the daughter of a U.S. senator. The movie is just shrouded in all kinds of symbolism and deeper messages, even to the title, but more on that later. Right now, let’s talk about the best part of this movie. The greatest thing in this entire movie. And that is the antagonist of the film, Hannibal Lecter… Debatably, the MAIN antagonist is Buffalo Bill, but Lector is ONE of them, so screw it.
Hannibal has to be one of my favorite movie villains ever, if not my all time favorite. He’s cunning, creepy, and always knows how to screw with the mind of Clarice and others around him. Once a psychiatrist who was arrested for acts of murder and cannibalism, he is sent to a cell with a glass wall, where he is treated poorly by the guards there. However, he always manages to mess with them in anyway he sees fit. His first appearance in this movie is one of the most iconic in movie history. Him just standing there, waiting for Clarice to arrive, is just creepy. He always talks with Clarice in a very calm voice. So calm, it’s the most disturbing thing in this entire movie. He has lots of information on Buffalo Bill, even down to his name. However, instead of just handing them over, he wants her to share with her information on her past and how it haunts her if she wants to know more about him, as if he is trying to be like a psychiatrist, when we all know that he wants to do these things for himself, which I Think makes him creepy. There’s no doubt that Hannibal makes this movie.
Of course, another great thing about this movie is all of the characters. Buffalo Bill is a crazed killer who wants to be more like a woman, so he tries to create a suit made of females skin in hopes that he can become the woman he always wanted to be. Frederick Chilton, the person who is in charge of keeping an eye on Lector, treats him poorly and always goes back on his words, thinking of him as nothing more than an animal, and thinking of himself. Even Clarice shows a little bit of selfishness, even if she is the least prone to it, since she is only trying to save the senator’s daughter because of a traumatic child experience she had as a child. Oh boy, we’re going back to Silent Hill 2 character comparisons. If you remind me of Silent Hill 2, you’re instantly a good movie. The characters are all flawed, and creatively done in a way. I think flawed characters are one of my favorite things in horror movies, and the Silence of the Lambs movie knows how to do them perfectly.
Now let’s talk about that symbolism and themes that I was talking about. Throughout the movie, there are scenes with dead bodies, where they found these moths known as death head moths, found on corpses that are some how connected to the case at hand. These moths have a skull on them, which gives them their name. However, looking closely at the cover, which also has a death head moths, there is a set of women that are arranged to look like a skull, showing the sort of murder of women and sort of atmosphere you are to expect from this movie. The title alone has some symbolism in the movie. Silence of the Lambs. Clarice’s traumatic childhood experience where (Spoilers), she heard screaming lambs and saving the senator’s daughter would silence the lambs. This movies symbolism is impressive and I really do love what they did with it.
What can I say about this movie that I haven’t said before. It’s just good. It’s a great movie. It’s well crafted, has amazing characters, a dark story, and a very suspenseful ending that makes you so shocked, but at the same time, you are amazed that it was able to do such a thing. This movie is just so good. It managed to live on and become a successful franchise, getting a few more movies with Lecter in it, and having a rather popular TV series called Hannibal to be released. I recommend this movie if you haven’t watched it.. But seriously, schools, don’t let minors see it. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: A horror movie by Michael Bay, oh boy