- Film Review
- Reviewed By John Ferguson
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5 out of 5
This multi-Oscar-winning classic, adapted from Thomas Harris's bestseller, was responsible for giving cinematic serial killers a better image, thanks to Anthony Hopkins's enthralling portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. So what if Lecter was an incarcerated cannibal? It was unprecedented that an actor playing a crazed killer should mount the podium to collect an Oscar (the ceremony host that year, Billy Crystal, was wheeled on dressed as Lecter), while Hopkins's "Fava beans and a nice chianti" line became legendary. Jodie Foster also won an Oscar for her role as fledgeling FBI agent Clarice Starling, who is drawn into a disturbingly close relationship with Lecter as she hunts for serial killer "Buffalo Bill", and it's a testament to her abilities that she holds her own against her scene-stealing co-star. With a track record for directing quirky comedies (Something Wild, Married to the Mob), director Jonathan Demme made a seemingly effortless switch to terror, summoning up a magnificent air of gothic gloom. The hunt for the killer is genuinely suspenseful, but Demme generates the real chill with the probing mind games between his two marvellous leads. Spare a thought, too, for the talented supporting players: stoical Scott Glenn as Foster's boss, Ted Levine as the tormented killer and Anthony Heald as the ill-fated hospital head, the butt of the movie's flip end gag.
Plot Summary
Trainee FBI agent Clarice Starling is sent to interview an imprisoned psychopath with a taste for eating his victims. The inmate offers to help catch a serial killer who is holding a politician's daughter hostage - but to learn what he knows, Clarice has to engage in his dangerous mind games. Jonathan Demme's Oscar-winning thriller, based on Thomas Harris's novel, starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn and Ted Levine.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Clarice Starling
- Jodie Foster
- Dr Hannibal Lecter
- Anthony Hopkins
- Jack Crawford
- Scott Glenn
- Jame Gumb
- Ted Levine
- Dr Frederick Chilton
- Anthony Heald
- FBI Instructor
- Lawrence A Bonney
- Ardelia Mapp
- Kasi Lemmons
- Agent Burroughs
- Lawrence T Wrentz
- Barney
- Frankie Faison
- Friendly psychopath
- Don Brockett
- Brooding psychopath
- Frank Seals Jr
- Young Clarice
- Masha Skorobogatov
- Clarice's father
- Jeffrie Lane
- Swat commander
- Chris Isaak
- Senator Ruth Martin
- Diane Baker
- FBI Director Hayden Burke
- Roger Corman
- Lieutenant Boyle
- Charles Napier
- FBI Special Agent Paul Krendler
- Ron Vawter
Crew
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
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