Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #7 The Silence Of The Lambs
Box Office: $130.7 Million Dollars
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound
Oscar Wins: Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Adapted Screenplay
MovieRankings.Net: 95/100
Available To Stream: Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku Channel
The Silence of the Lambs is probably best known for Anthony Hopkins' amazing work as Hannibal Lecter. It's one of the greatest villains ever put on a screen. But, you can make a real case that Jodie Foster is even better as Clarice Starling.
The last movie to sweep the major category awards of the Oscars is such a bizarre Best Picture winner. It came out in February of 1991 and movies that come out that early almost never win (Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is the exception to that rule). It's also a horror/thriller which academy voters typically turn their noses up at.
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I love what director Jonathan Demme did with this so much. It's such a unique and clear vision. He was just coming off Something Wild and Married To The Mob. Both could be called dark comedies but each also had an underlying feeling of dread (especially any scene in Something Wild with Ray Liotta) You can see hints of Silence Of The Lambs in those movies.
Demme is so efficient. Take the early scene when Jodie Foster gets into an elevator with a bunch of male FBI agents. She's a short woman being towered over by these huge guys. We don't need a lecture about how it's hard to get by in a man's world. That shot says enough. He trusts that Jodie Foster can show that feeling and tries her best to fit in by putting on a tough exterior. When Clarice is explaining her childhood to Lecter, that exterior falls away. Because nothing beforehand was heavy handed, it's so much more effective.
Where do you rank Hannibal Lecter among great bad guys? Is he a better villain than Darth Vader? Hans Landa? The Joker? He's right there with those top tier guys. It's not just his brilliance that sets him apart but also Hopkins' charm. Now, Demme is wise enough to never have the audience want him to succeed over Jodie Foster. But we don't care about anyone else in the movie that Lecter is on screen with. We are all rooting for a mastermind serial killer to literally get away with murder. We're not rooting for Darth Vader. That has to be a point in Hannibal's favor.
There are so many brilliant scenes that have you holding your breath in terror. When Catherine gets kidnapped by Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine giving the most unnerving performance...ever?). The night vision scene when you have no idea what is around each corner in that basement from Hell. Hannibal Lecter attacking two guards and literally ripping the face off of one. But this is more than just horror. Imagine if Demme was an action director instead? The suspense he builds (and delivers on) when the FBI agents all go after the wrong house and we find Clarice all by herself.
It's interesting to look at the careers of the people involved with this. Jodie Foster never hit these heights again but was already an Oscar winner a few years earlier for The Accused (middling movie that she's fantastic in). She seemed the least likely to be typecast or have to "live up to" the success of Silence Of The Lambs. Almost any actor would have been typecast as Hannibal Lecter but of course, Hopkins is one of the greatest actors ever so he wound up getting nominated for an Oscar FIVE times after this and even won one.
Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally weren't as lucky. Demme followed Silence of the Lambs with Philadelphia, which had the feel of a made-for-tv movie with great performances. Other than Rachel Getting Married, nothing Demme did afterwards really moved the needle. His genius of the late 80's/early 90's was gone. As for Tally, his most notable work after this was probably the middling sequel Red Dragon. But this movie is so fantastic that it is legacy enough.
Many movies afterwards (including the two sequels) tried to capture what this movie does so well. They all failed on various levels. It's not just that the concept of a supervillain helping the police find a bad guy. It's that dread that Demme does so well. It's how much you believe in and want Clarice to succeed. It's the brilliance of Tally's script that never talks down to you and instead almost talks up to you. Silence of the Lambs doesn't need to overload you with exposition. It literally has everything else going for it.
7. The Silence Of The Lambs
8. Office Space
9. The Sixth Sense
10. Boogie Nights
11. Jurassic Park
12. Jackie Brown
13. A Few Good Men
14. The Fugitive
15. The Truman Show
16. Fargo
17. Swingers
18. Reservoir Dogs
19. There's Something About Mary
20. Sleepers
21. Schindler's List
22. Rushmore
23. Fight Club
24. Saving Private Ryan
25. True Romance
26. Dumb & Dumber
27. Kingpin
28. Donnie Brasco
29. Heat
30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
31. Rounders
32. Unforgiven
33. Trainspotting
34. The Game
35. Out Of Sight
36. Carlito's Way
37. Seven
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks