In turn,Lecter gives her the clue that enables her to succeed where hersuperiors have failed-in puzzling out Buffalo Bill's identity-even ashe frees himself, cunningly picking the lock on his own handcuffs andthen, in the most viscerally powerful scene in the film, literallydevouring the face of a prison guard. Starling gives the demon the respect he believes is his due. More than one generation from poor white trash"). Swallow his own tongue, initially toys with Starling's mind ("you're not Lecter, who is demonstrably capable of driving a fellow prisoner to
Known as Hannibal the Cannibal into helping the FBI track down anotherĬarnivorous killer known, because he skins his victims, as Buffalo Bill. Starling has been sent by her superiors to seduce the man The pivotal cat-and-mouse game in Silence of the Lambs isīetween Lecter and Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), an FBI rookie whoĬombines a passion for justice and Girl Scout idealism with ragingĪmbition. Would-be adversaries-propels a Gothic masterpiece. Over-the-top, almost foppish creature who delights in tormenting his Twist the heart of things the beast with a seemingly insatiable desireįor human flesh (ideally accompanied by a fine Chianti) the This astonishingĬharacter-the brilliant and arrogant psychiatrist with a mind that can Scent of perfume), he's a predator momentarily at rest. Out prey and his nostrils twitching at the hint of danger (or the faint His arms at his side and his legs slightly spread, his eyes searching Separated by a wall of glass from his justifiably fearful captors. He's standing in his sealed prison cell, motionless, He doesn't have to do anything-his appearance Just asĪmbitiously, Hannibal endows it with a perversely calibratedįrom the first moment he appears on the screen in Silence of theLambs, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) commands attention as the Introduces its audience to a face of evil previously unimagined. Such lofty references could be pure pretense, ofcourse, but the conceit actually works. It's not toolit-crit to point out that "Hannibal" calls to mind the brutallytriumphal ruler and "Lecter" (lecturer) the pontifical voice, while"Clarice" is a reworking of Clarissa, the morally unsullied heroine inSamuel Richardson's eponymous eighteenth-century novel-a characterfatefully entangled with a man at once her protector and the cause ofher destruction. That these stories are meant to be more than horror-cum-detectivetales is evident from the names of the protagonists. Moviemakers would dare to carry on the story of Hannibal Lecter andĬlarice Starling, told with such stunning effect 10 years ago in
The avalanche of publicity for Hannibal has made it the most
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