It is impossible to set aside one’s own appetite for liver and Fava beans without remembering the good Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and his affinity for whatever else might be on the menu. Jonathan Demme’s sadistic The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – itself, a loosely structured sequel to Michael Mann’s Man Hunter (1986, based on the novel by Thomas Harris) about the cannibal psychiatrist who aids fledgling FBI agent, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) in her pursuit of copycat killer James 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb (Ted Levine), is at once upsetting, yet strangely compelling; like a car crash one is privy to but not a part of.
The story is seen almost entirely from Clarice’s point of view; her unrelenting drive to become a criminologist in the FBI’s patriarchal infrastructure; her fearless yet angst ridden desire to be rid of childhood trauma; and her hopelessly flawed relationship with the two men in her life; Hannibal Lecter – who is grotesquely fascinated with his young charge, and Clarice’s boss, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) who harbours a suggestively suppressed sexual fascination.
The tale begins with Crawford sending Clarice – still an FBI trainee - to the maximum security asylum to interview Hannibal. Crawford needs insight into the mind of another serial killer whose recent string of copycat murders has resulted in the disappearance of a Senator’s daughter, Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith).
The asylum supervisor, Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald) is himself a sadist who delights in the sublime torture of his motley freak show. He flirts with Clarice before allowing her into the bowels of the institution where she does indeed come face to face with evil personified.
However, Hannibal is not about to publicly share his secrets – that is, not without a little glimpse into Clarice’s own psyche. Instructed by Crawford not to partake in any of Hannibal’s head games, Clarice instead decides to gamble her own past in order to preserve Catherine’s future. Eventually, the FBI learns enough to make an arrest – only they’ve miscalculated the clues and shown up at the wrong house. Hannibal leverages his ‘intelligence’ and is granted a provisional move to a lower security venue where he inevitably escapes.
For the next two hours, we are riveted to our seats, our eyes forced wide open on the twisted machinations of two sadistic brutes that oddly enough, we come to like. In the end, goodness prevails – at least on the surface. But it is the film’s haunting resonance after exiting the theatre that lingers. Most of us were undoubtedly looking over our shoulders as we made our way to the parking lot after that first viewing. Afterward, fava beans and Chianti just never seemed to go together.
Evidently Academy voters disagreed. Silence of the Lambs went on to win Oscars in all of the major categories including Best Actor (Hopkins), Actress (Foster), Director (Demme) and Best Picture - a coup not seen in Hollywood since Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934).
The Silence of the Lambs on Blu-ray is a revelation. The various DVD incarnations all suffered from less than stellar transfers marred by excessive grain and middling colour fidelity. These oversights have been corrected on the Blu-ray, as have issues of edge enhancement and pixelization for an image that is smooth, yet robust in revealing all its fine details.
The audio is a 5.1 DTS re-mastering effort that is practically identical to the DVD release. Extras are all imported from MGM's Collector's series DVD and include a documentary, several featurettes, stills - plus an extensive array of immersive featurettes that delve more completely into the film’s cast, crew, editing style and the psychology of a serial killer. In a genuinely morbid twist – you also get 5 cooking recipes that Hannibal would definitely approve of – this reviewer shudders to think of the protein content.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
4
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