During Friday's lesson of Media studies, we watched the movie 'Silence Of The Lambs', an example of a very well executed psychological thriller.
The Narrative follows the FBI Trainee Clarice Starling befriending the psychologist and mass murderer 'Hannibal the Cannibal' in order to gain information that may help Clarice and her colleagues to find the at large 'Buffalo Bill'. This is a man who, during the time of the movie and as it progresses, captures women and keeps them alive for around three weeks before shooting them, skinning them and then dumping their bodies.
As the movie progresses, there is a clear significance of the transvestite people, one of the many targets of Hannibal and 'Buffalo Bill'. This is then made clear as Bill is a transvestite himself, and is skinning these vistims in order to make himself a suit out of his victim's skin to give himself the appearance of a woman. This can be quite shocking to the audience, andproved to be so when the group watched it.
The way in which Clarice Starling is portrayed within the movie is very good as she is a good example of a strong looking woman who still carries the appearance of one attractive to some. This is first apparent when she is seen walking through the cell block in which Hannibal is stationed.
Hannibal, on the other hand, has the appearance of a calm older man who does suit the part of a psychologist. It is unclear at the start that he is capable of being a serial killer, but soon, after seing many of the facial expressions he gives, we can almost see the malice within him. Also, the way he talks is a give-away of his murderous past and intentions. He is throughout the film, depicted as a sneaky, cunning and very well thought out killer, who is bent on revenge and his hunger for human flesh. He is not, however someone who kills anyone he sees, he seems to be someone who he believes to have reason to die. It is very clear, also throughout the film, that he is very much capable of getting inside peoples' minds and is very much able to guess peoples past and their future intentions with his very successful past in psychology.
It is from these aspects that the movie succeeds in being a very well thought-out psychological thriller. A reason for this may be the flexibility of the narrative, as it had come from a novel, the directoe and the producer are able to give their imaginitive guidance to the narrative and have no trouble in knowing where the plot is going. The main plot is out of their control as they will have little pressure upon themselves to create a well thought-out narrative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQKs169SL0I
