Flight of the Starlings

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."
The Silence of the Lambs

The movie Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorites, so I was thrilled to be watching this again as a legitimate homework assignment. I love everything from beginning to end with this film. The dark music in the beginning, the introduction to Clarice as she's running through the training course, how quickly she gets pulled into the assignment, how she meets Hannibal for the first time while he awaits standing in his cell...all of it is captured in a wonderful, eerie way that creates memorable cinematic moments, but it's also good storytelling.

Anthony Hopkins plays the role of Hannibal brilliantly. Though physically Hannibal is described as small and lithe with maroon eyes and dark, slicked back hair, Hopkins brings the character to life in his
own way. Hannibal reads people much the way Sherlock Holmes does, but with a darker agenda, which has always fascinated me. Holmes can be arrogant and manipulative, but it was never to the sociopathic extent Hannibal would drive people toward.

The relationship between Hannibal and Clarice is very interesting. Though I have yet to read Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, I cheated with Wikipedia awhile ago to see what happens to the characters in each of those books and wow does that relationship get even stranger. I won't reveal any spoilers here, but I definitely need to read both books to better understand the direction the characters go in. In the movie, Clarice is clever, brave, and ultimately kicks ass. She has to deal misogyny in the FBI academy and from strangers, but she proves herself capable (and even more capable than the agents when they go to the wrong house) over and over. Hannibal treats her differently though. He may be creepy, but he respects her and I think that's

another reason why she is drawn to him. He recognizes her intelligence.

"I think it would be quite something to know you in private life."
-Dr. Lecter to Agent Starling, The Silence of the Lambs

She does what she needs to and takes down Buffalo Bill, but her interactions with Hannibal leave us so intrigued. The pull between her and Hannibal is strong and we as audience members can feel her curiosity tugging at the darkness...it reminded me a lot of the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal on the NBC show Hannibal where Will flirts with the darkness inside himself because of Hannibal and well, it ends pretty interestingly for him as well.

Buffalo Bill is a great psycho though too. He goes the Ted Bundy route and pretends to be injured and in need of help which proves effective in luring victims. Both this movie and Bundy's history have

made me cynical enough to never help someone who appears to be struggling if I am alone (terrible person alert), but it really is creepy. Bill's violence and the idea of making a woman-suit are definitely good psycho traits that make the movie interesting, but I do wish we had more history on Bill's past and just some more character development. Perhaps there is more in the book? I'll have to find out.