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Title: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jodie Foster | ... | Clarice Starling | |
 |
Lawrence A. Bonney | ... | FBI Instructor |
| Kasi Lemmons | ... | Ardelia Mapp | |
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Lawrence T. Wrentz | ... | Agent Burroughs |
| Scott Glenn | ... | Jack Crawford | |
| Anthony Heald | ... | Dr. Frederick Chilton | |
| Frankie Faison | ... | Barney | |
| Don Brockett | ... | Friendly Psychopath | |
|
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Frank Seals Jr. | ... | Brooding Psychopath |
| Stuart Rudin | ... | Miggs | |
| Anthony Hopkins | ... | Dr. Hannibal Lecter | |
|
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Maria Skorobogatov | ... | Young Clarice (as Masha Skorobogatov) |
|
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Jeffrie Lane | ... | Clarice's Father |
|
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Leib Lensky | ... | Mr. Lang |
|
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George 'Red' Schwartz | ... | Mr. Lang's Driver (as Red Schwartz) |
FBI trainee Clarice Starling works hard to advance her career, while trying to hide/put behind her West Virginia roots, of which if some knew, would automatically classify her as being backward or white trash. After graduation, she aspires to work in the agency's Behavioral Science Unit under the leadership of Jack Crawford. While she is still a trainee, Crawford asks her to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist imprisoned, thus far, for eight years in maximum security isolation for being a serial killer who cannibalized his victims. Clarice is able to figure out the assignment is to pick Lecter's brains to help them solve another serial murder case, that of someone coined by the media as Buffalo Bill, who has so far killed five victims, all located in the eastern US, all young women who are slightly overweight (especially around the hips), all who were drowned in natural bodies of water, and all who were stripped of large swaths of skin. She also figures that Crawford chose ... Written by Huggo
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Sweeping all five major Academy Awards ("Oscars" for Best Movie, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay) is quite an accomplishment. Doing it nearly a year after a film was released is a miracle considering the notoriously short attention span of Oscar voters. It is a powerful example of how great a movie can be when superb writers, directors, actors, and others work at the top of their craft.
`Silence of the Lambs' is the story of a young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is summoned to help find one serial killer called `Buffalo Bill.' by interviewing another. Foster's performance is absolutely brilliant. While Anthony Hopkins receives most of the (well-deserved) praise for his chilling portrayal of incarcerated serial killer `Hannibal the Cannibal' Lector', it is Foster's performance that holds the movie together. The fear she shows just behind her eyes makes Clarice's outward courage all the more interesting and vulnerable. This is the perfect way to play the part because it explains Lector's interest in Clarice. Her only bargaining chip in getting Lector's help is to let him `feed' on her innermost secrets and fears in exchange for his brilliant insights into the psychotic mind. The title of the movie comes from these exchanges and is very poignant.
Director Jonathan Demme is masterful. There is one scene late in the movie that I will not spoil. It is one of the most simply brilliant scenes ever staged in a movie. I don't know if all the credit goes to Demme or the writers, but there is a moment in the film where the suspense builds beautifully to a what seems to be a common movie scene. However, through skillful timing of the direction, the audiences assumptions are used against them and when the truth is revealed (hint: it involves a doorbell) it is shocking and induced a collective gasp from the audience I saw it with at the theatre. It set the stage for an edge-of-your seat climax.
Do not miss this movie.
The movie is incredibly suspenseful and an absolute must see.