The Silence of the Lambs

I hadn’t seen this movie in probably 30 years. The wife had never seen it. Seemed like a good reason to rewatch it. I am surprised to find it hasn’t aged very well. Well, one aspect of it. So, everything that makes this movie a legend is still there. The acting is still superb. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins earned their Oscars, and I’d say Jodie’s contributions often get overlooked. Hannibal Lecter is more charismatic, which puts Jodie on the back foot, but she imbues Clarice Starling with so much depth; in one scene, she is flattered and almost disbelieving that she’s been chosen to assist in the investigation, and then in another she’s admonishing her boss for some chauvinistic behavior and he acknowledges it. It’s definitely an actor’s movie. The score is fantastic, the set design, the lighting, the scant use of gore (and many times, leaving things up to the imagination), the dialogue — especially in the Starling/Lecter scenes — is all wonderful. But the camera direction SUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKS. Jonathan Femme’s overuse of direct close-ups with the actor looking directly at the camera undercuts the atmosphere and tension every time it happens, and it JUST. KEEPS. HAPPENING. It feels like watching audition tapes, not a movie. A two-shot, or if it had to be a one-shot, put it on an angle, anything would’ve been preferable to putting the camera in between two actors. It forces the performances to be directed at the camera and the audience, not against one another. It creates the false impression the people are in two different locations, and we don’t get to see reactions in real time. I really cannot express how much it drags down the movie for me. And it shouldn’t, because everything else about the movie really works … but that one thing permeates every minute of the movie. It’s like going to the nicest restaurant, eating for free, the meal is fantastic, the service is excellent … but there’s a lingering odor of an open sewer. It may not bother you, reader, and if it doesn’t, I’m happy for you. But for me, this one aspect dropped my rating and ensured I won’t watch it again.