Lighting, Lambs, and Lecter
Below you can find a film analysis of the cinematic masterpiece Silence of the Lambs.
Check out this link for Roger Ebert's glowing review of the movie and also for his discussion of some hidden meanings.
“The Silence of the Lambs,” is widely regarded as one of the best films to ever be created, and, of course, is also a complex cinematic masterpiece. Through carefully chosen framing, director Jonathan Demme masterfully highlights the terror and mystery that surrounds Dr. Hannibal Lecter, as well as the constant strife and danger that follows Clarice Starling. Throughout the movie, Lecter is shown on screen with a close-up shot, where he takes up the majority of the screen. This shot is also zoomed in on “Hannibal the Cannibal’s” face to the extreme, showing his seemingly dead blue eyes and disturbing smile. This constant shot serves to illustrate the terror that Lecter instills in everyone around him and makes him the most important thing in the room at the time. The mystery and terror that is Hannibal Lecter is also portrayed expertly the second time that Clarice goes to visit him, as is shows him in the cell covered in darkness. The low-key lighting allows the viewer, and Clarice, to see only Dr. Lecter’s legs and hands, illustrating his mysterious and frightening nature, before the lights suddenly come on to reveal the rest of the calculating killer.
One of the more intriguing and creative shots in “Silence” is one where we see Clarice questioning Dr. Lecter in his Baltimore cell and it switches from a direct shot on Lecter to a view of Clarice from the point of view of Lecter inside the glass barrier. You can see Clarice as Lecter would, but you can also see his reflection in the glass directly next to her as he is speaking. It is an incredibly unique shot that allows the viewer to see what Lecter sees from inside of his cell. Another very important shot and use of distance with the camera can be found as Dr. Lecter delves in Clarice’s sensitive past with his very personal questions. As he asks her things about her very rocky childhood, including the death of her father and trouble as an orphan, the camera progressively gets closer and closer to Lecter’s face with each question. This is meant to symbolize how deeply he is digging into her life and the deeper he gets, the closer the camera gets.
Camera shots are used for much more than just emphasizing the terror that Hannibal Lecter instills in his subjects, however. It is also very important in showing views of Clarice Starling and how she is viewed by others in the film, particularly men. Throughout the movie, Clarice is constantly hit on by men and treated unequally because she is a woman in a predominantly male field. Almost all of the movie consists of shots that look directly at Clarice, mostly her face, which gives the perspective that the men who are flirting with her would see. In addition to this, the scene where she is waiting to observe the body of the girl that was pulled out of the river and the room is filled with male police officers, she appears to be dwarfed by their size. The small size of Clarice is easily detected whenever she is in the room with men, as they usually dwarf her, showing both the inequality in how they treat her and how powerless she can be. Almost the entire time the point of view shots create the effect that the movie is watching Clarice. Whenever she enters a dangerous situation, the camera is ahead of her and watches her walk forward. Such is the case as she walks down the jail corridor for the first time to visit Lecter, as well as when she slides into his storage room, where the camera is shooting from. These shots illustrate the danger that Clarice is in and indicate the fact that she is not in control of her surroundings, but that they are very threatening to her.
The use of camera angles and point of view are also important as the character Buffalo Bill is introduced and becomes more prevalent in the story. As we learn that Buffalo Bill keeps his victims to be in a deep dreary hole in his basement, both a low angle camera shot and a high angle camera shot are utilized. A low angle shot is used as the camera is placed in the hole where the victim would be, showing Buffalo Bill above her, illustrating the power that he has over her as he laughs and torments her. The reverse of this is illustrated as the camera is placed at the top of the hole, giving the view that Buffalo Bill possess when looking down on her. It illustrates how powerless she is to escape her tragic situation and makes her out to seem small. Another important shot that occurs can be found when Clarice finally confronts Buffalo Bill in his house. After she chases him into the basement, he turns off the lights and puts on night vision goggles in order to gain a distinct advantage to kill her. When this occurs the camera moves to shoot from Buffalo Bill’s point of view. We see the terror and clumsiness that Clarice possesses as she attempts to locate Buffalo Bill. We see that she cannot see, which is exactly what he sees as he attempts to grab for her and toys with her terror. The shot is both very interesting because it contains the green night vision element, and suspenseful because you are waiting for him to grab her with his many opportunities.
There is a consistent motif of red, white, and blue found throughout the film as well. It is very distinct in highlighting the American characteristic of Jame Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill. The fact that his criminal name is Buffalo Bill highlights his American qualities, and the colors red, white and blue are found all over his crimes in form of the American flag. When Clarice first finds the decapitated head of Benjamin Raspael, a victim of Buffalo Bill’s, in the storage shed, it is covered in an American flag. After Buffalo Bill is killed, we see a shot of a combat helmet and crossed American flags, also hinting at his lineage, and perhaps even a cause of the serial killer’s psychosis. Perhaps Buffalo Bill was traumatized in part by an event caused by war, although we never know what truly caused his mental illness. The same colors are prevalent when Dr. Lecter breaks out of his cell and creates his “monument” containing the police officer he just murdered above the ground, hanging from red, white, and blue banners, almost creating the image of an eagle. Maybe Lecter creates this as a sort of homage to Buffalo Bill’s work, as he utilizes the patriotic colors and hangs his victim in the form that resembles an eagle. In addition, the bright lights present behind the victim seek to highlight that he is the center of the room and that his placement there, resembling the great American bird, is important.
One of the non-visual techniques utilized by director Jonathan Demme to create his masterpiece that is “The Silence of the Lambs,” is the constant use of an eerie musical theme. Throughout the movie, the same dark, eerie musical motif is evident, especially when Clarice finds her way into dark situations surrounding Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill. The terrifying music is very important because it illustrates the terror that Clarice feels and the uncertainty that surrounds her situations. The music is also mixed expertly with realistic sounds that lend themselves to the meaning of the scenes. Such is the case when Dr. Frederick Chilton is telling Clarice how Lecter killed one of his victims and says that, “His pulse never got above 85, even when he ate her tongue.” When this occurs, you can subtly hear the noise of a heartbeat in the background, creating an eerie effect and emphasizing the evil in that statement. The use of diegetic sounds also becomes very prevalent when Clarice is inside Buffalo Bill’s house. At first, you can hear the dog’s barking from the hole where he is keeping the young girl, helping Clarice to locate her and comfort her. As she is downstairs and becomes terrified when the lights go out, you can hear her nervous, heavy breathing despite the fact that she truly has not exerted herself too much. This helps show the terror that Clarice has, without the need for the eerie musical theme. The diegetic sounds are truthfully just as important as the musical theme is when it comes to illustrating the terror and disturbing elements of the film.
Above you can see some more famous shots from the cinematic treat that is “The Silence of the Lambs.” Overall the film is an expertly done work that is not only full of cinematic techniques, but is also very enjoyable to watch. There are several twists that I never expected when watching it that made me always anticipate the next ending and hold my attention tightly to the screen. There is good reason that it is highly touted in the cinematic world because it has become one of my personal favorite movies. The character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter may very well be my favorite character of cinema of all time, as his complexity is intriguing. On top of that, he is clearly the smartest individual in the film, whose cold, calculating persona is terrifying yet intriguing. I desperately wanted to see what would become of Dr. Chilton as Lecter followed him down the road at the end of the film, preying on him and clearly waiting to “have an old friend for dinner,” as he chilling says his last words to Clarice before hanging up the phone. Undoubtedly those disturbing famous words that Lecter says to Clarice during their first meeting will stick with me for a very long time: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” Overall, the film is unlike any other that I have ever seen, and Dr. Lecter is unlike any other character I have ever seen. The title of the film does not become clear until Clarice's last talk with Lecter when he asks her, "Well Clarice- have the lambs stopped screaming?" While Clarice may have her own answer to that question, I think it is also one that is left for the viewer to decide. Have your lambs stopped screaming?