Jordan Smith

Muench

Cinema

29 April 2019

 

The Silence of the Lambs

 

      I watched The Silence of the Lambs. This movie is about an FBI field agent attempting to catch a killer nicknamed “Buffalo Bill”. However, in order to do it, she needs to call upon the homicidal and cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter for help in solving the case. The movie follows the agent through suspenseful and creepy realities of the case. The question waiting to be answered is if she can save Buffalo Bills next victim before its too late.

      This movie is a creepy classic and I noticed that lighting was a huge part of making or breaking the scenes. A lot of the scenes are in a prison or in “Buffalo Bill’s” basement so the lighting needs to be light enough where you obviously see the characters and the props and stuff but it needs to be dark enough where you get that creepy skin crawling feeling of being somewhere uncomfortable and cold. The lights in each shot also had to be sort of obnoxious like spotlights or very bright fluorescent lights. The lights made the film much more chilling and creepy and it wouldn’t have been the same if the lights weren’t done correctly.

      Another thing that I noticed heavily was the sound. When the FBI agent first goes into the prison to meet Hannibal Lecter the other inmates are yelling obscenities and banging on their prison bars, it gives a very good feel as to actually being in the prison. Even the scene when she goes in the elevator has appropriate sound because the elevator door shuts loud and dramatically to give you a jump as if you were really there with her. Another thing about the sound in not only this movie but in most horror films is the music. If you mute a horror movie and watch it without music it becomes a lot less suspenseful and the story doesn’t mean as much. The sound in this film was very present but at the same time, it wasn’t cliche. It was horror movie music but it wasn’t DUH DUH DUH kind of music.

      I would recommend this movie to people. I think that people should watch as many classic movies as possible in their lifetime. This movie is not for people who have trouble watching skin crawling creepy. This movie isn’t the jump scare movie that adrenaline junkies love its the more emotional and psychological scary that gets you thinking “People could actually do this”. The actors were phenomenal and there wasn’t one shot that looked out of place. This film is very good but it left me with this almost squeamish feeling because the storyline is so raw that it hits you personally regardless of who you are. Basically, if you aren’t a psychopath and you have any sort of compassion for human life, then you will feel like giving someone a hug after this movie. Movie opinions are all relative and because I am kind of a wimp with things like these, I have more of opinion regarding how you will feel after watching the movie, rather than how you feel while watching it.