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The Silence of the Lambs

Silence of the Lambs is a horror/thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. The film, which also stars Scott Glenn and Ted Levine, tells the story of an FBI trainee who enters a secure asylum and tries to probe the mind of Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a former psychiatrist turned cannibalistic serial killer.

Fresh out of the academy, FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) tries to save a woman from a killer who skins his victims. This psychopath, nicknamed Buffalo Bill, kills the women he kidnaps after holding them for 3 days and then skins certain parts of their bodies. After he's done, he dumps their bodies in rivers and the FBI is fully focused on finding him. To get to the killer, Clarice gets close to another psychopath, the famous doctor Hannibal Lecter. In order to get information from Lecter, she must first gain his trust. A masterpiece of psychological thriller that won Jodie Foster the best actress award and Anthony Hopkins the best actor award for his performance of only 16 minutes.

We learn that Thomas Harris was inspired to write the novel by a serial killer named Ed Gein. After his mother died of cancer, he brutally murdered people and made clothes out of their skins and props out of their body parts, which is the inspiration for both the novel and the movie. The fact that the basis is so brutal and based on reality makes the movie more effective and full of tension in our opinion.

Especially the soundtrack and the close-up of the face play a big role in the movie. Thus, the focus is more on the eyes of the characters and it is hard not to get nervous with Anthony Hopkins' gaze. The popularity of the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter led to the sequels Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal is Born (2007). We recommend you to watch these movies, especially Silence of the Lambs.

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