Very often, it is the actors who make the successful film. The “silence of the lambs” is vivid proof of this. Only here, viewers are not always able to imagine what the cast has to face during the filming process in order to create a true cinema masterpiece.
Briefly about the plot and genre affiliation
When an avid movie fan is asked to name some of the best psychological thrillers, he will probably mention “Silence of the Lambs” in the top three. Actors and roles, they thoroughly brought to life, have become the hallmark of this film.
The storyline of the film is permeated with deep psychologism. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant surgeon and psychiatrist, is serving a sentence for his murders and subsequent acts of cannibalism. A young woman, an FBI agent, Clarissa Starling, meets with him in prison in order to understand the hidden motives of another criminal maniac. There is a psychological connection between the prisoner and the girl. Lecter begins to play rather strange games with her, asks her to tell the most secret difficult moments of her life. Clarissa recalls a lot, and among other things, how she tried to save a lamb from slaughter as a girl. Lecter gets acquainted with the Buffalo Bill case, which Starling is working on, and points out to her some points that the girl should pay attention to ...
Actors of the film “Silence of the Lambs”
The main character of the film, Clarissa Starling, was brought to life by the incomparable Jodie Foster. By the way, for her role in this film she was awarded the Oscar. And the actress herself believes that she really succeeded in transforming into Clarissa Starling.
An interesting fact is that initially this role was written specifically for Jodie Foster. However, just before the shootings, the director of the film changed, and Clarissa was supposed to play Michelle Pfeiffer. But nevertheless, the latter refused to participate in this project, considering it too cruel and bloody. So for the role of Clarissa was still approved by Jodie Foster.
Jack Crawford, mentor to young agent Starling, was played by Glenn Scott. According to the plot of the film, it was this man who suggested the girl to take up the Buffalo Bill case, he introduced her to Lecter. Jack is tormented by guilt for all crimes committed and imperfect by a maniac, and this adds psychology to the film. Interestingly, after filming, Glenn Scott suffered from nightmares for a long time.
Other characters of the film, as well as the actors who played them, are no less interesting. Silence of the Lambs is a film about lost souls. Probably the most lost of them is buffalo bill maniac.
He just wanted to be reborn ...
This man loved butterflies. And he was supposed to be born a woman. But this did not happen, and he did not find another way out, how to start hunting chubby girls and starve them. And after the death of his victims, he sewed overalls from their saggy skin. He really believed that it would help him to be reborn and become a woman.
The image of Buffalo Bill is collective. His prototypes in real life were Gary Heidnik, a maniac who starved his victims, Ted Bundy, a handsome guy who lured women with a plaster cast on his arm, and Ed Gein, who peeled off the girls' skin. These images were used in other films, they were skillfully embodied by different actors. “Silence of the lambs” at the same time remains the only tape where all these maniacs appeared before the viewer in one shell. Buffalo Bill was played by Ted Levine, an actor who can be seen in the X-Files series and the films The Fast and the Furious, The Hills Have Eyes, Crush, and Island of the Damned.
And yet, outright brutality personified not only this maniac. There was another character in the film, which can rightly be called the main one. Probably, he is also the main actor in this film story.
The Silence of the Lambs: An Image of Hannibal Lecter
No more than twenty minutes are devoted to him in the film. And at the same time, he was able to convey all the horror hiding in the depths of madness in such a short time. His gaze says a lot - piercing, heavy, as if reflecting universal knowledge.
Yes, this is Hannibal Lecter. In Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins expertly embodied his image. For this role, he also received an Oscar. But he completely disappeared in the work on this project. Anthony Hopkins visited prisons and talked with prisoners. He watched the real maniacs in custody. It was from them that he learned this look - unblinking, terrible.
The wealth of the film is its actors. “Silence of the Lambs” is the tape over which the best have worked. Therefore, the result was impressive.