Goldfarb Production
Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs is about a woman named Clarice Starling, a training FBI agent. She is given the case of capturing serial killer Buffalo Bill. To be successful in such a case, she must use the information of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a jailed psychopath cannibal arrested for eating his patients. Hannibal is not your ordinary psychopath, he uses his expertise from his practice to get into the minds of the people who confront him. Hannibal is a key asset to the case because him and Buffalo bill share sort of the same hobby, killing people for their flesh. Buffalo Bill’s tendencies for the remains of the bodies is what is needed for Clarice and Hannibal to figure out where Buffalo Bill is located. Hannibal Lecter’s behavior toward Clarice is strange; he does not talk to anyone but her, and when he does talk to her, he fills his words with mystery and multi meaning tangents. Although he helps Clarice, he also gets something out of it for himself, a plan we get to gruesomely experience later in the movie.
After watching the film and doing further research, I learned that both Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter are based off of people that did similar things in real life. Hannibal Lecter was inspired by a doctor named Alfredo Ballí Treviño, a doctor arrested for Murdering then chopping up his gay lover. Buffalo Bill was inspired by a man named Ed Gein, a man who would kill woman in order to make a suit made entirely out of skin. After reading this, it makes the movie even more thrilling than the already horrifying film is.
What I liked about the film was the use of full frame headshots of the characters in the movie. Director Jonathan Demme did shots where the character would take up the whole frame with his or her face, looking directly into the camera. This was especially effective when Hannibal Lecter would speak. Looking into his eyes was scary in itself besides the fact he was a cannibalistic serial killer. The director also used continuous shots to create more suspense, which was extremely effective when Clarice was lost in the dark looking for Buffalo Bill. In the Dark room, we see Clarice struggle to find her way through the room, in hopes of finding Buffalo Bill. This scene was filmed to look through night vision goggles; this gives the scene a more intense feeling as we watch Clarice struggle through Buffalo Bill’s eyes.
The level of production for this film was fantastic, every shot felt different from the last, and the decision for lighting in parts of the film added so much thrill and suspense to an already scary scene. The directors choice to bring in the tiniest of details made the film so much more enjoyable to watch. Some things in the film such as the moths and butterflies and what their significance was always left me wondering what do they stand for and why are they so significant that the director used them.
I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed thrillers, mysteries, and overall movie lovers. The distinct shots and cinematic decisions made are like none other, giving a fresh perspective of movies currently being produced. The choices made by the director to make the movie, leaves everyone wanting to know what will happen next, leaving us on a cliff hanger wondering what will happen to Clarice or the next victim.
A Few Good Men
After talking to Muenchicho the other day in class, he recommended I watch the movie “A Few Good Men” from the list of Top 100 movies. Rob Reiner's film, A Few Good Men, is a drama filled old-fashion mystery, legal thriller. U.S. Marines Lance Corporal, Harold Dawson, and Private First Class Louden Downey are facing a general court-martial accused of murdering fellow Marine Private First Class William Santiago at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Santiago had poor relations with his fellow Marines, compared unfavorably to them, and broke the Marine code of conduct in an attempt to get transferred out of Guantanamo. The film follows defense lawyers Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore) as they work to find the truth and make a case for the young marines on trial. These two big-time actors are joined by Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, and Kiefer Sutherland to create a loaded cast. Although the storyline is amazing and very intriguing, I believe the cast was very helpful in the success of this movie.
One thing that stood out to me was the last scene in the film. Jack Nicholson does a fantastic job and makes the ending the most exciting part of the movie. Because there had to be a build up to the actual court scenes, the beginning plot could be perceived as too slowly paced at the beginning. However, once the plot started to progress, it got very entertaining. Throughout the movie, there were a lot of different filming techniques being used. One example is the three different ways they filmed when two people were having a conversation: showing both people talking, having the camera over the shoulder of the actor being spoken to (framing the shot), or having a shot of just the actor speaking as if you are the one in the conversation. Another example is at the beginning of the film, the marines are shown training in line with guns. This scene is filmed from many different angles to capture the fact that each movement is done in perfect unison. The various change in shots made the film so much more interesting and allowed more movement to keep the audience engaged.
This is my second time taking Cinema. I have learned so much and can now point specific angles out/realize things that I would not have before this class. I have noticed that I view films different now that I am watching with a critical eye and searching for things I have been working on in class. Without taking cinema, I would not have noticed how the courtroom is lit, how the camera films Jack Nicholson from an angle below his face in order to create an intimidating effect, and how the music was chosen for a specific scene. I try to take what I have just learned in class and look for it in films I watch. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves mysterious, dramatic, thrilling movies.