Silence of the lambs

Silence of the lambs film analysis

Within this post I shall explore the various elements of the silence of the lambs, this post is based on a set of question we were asked to consider whilst watching the film. The first area I shall explore is the films use of semiotics. Within the opening scene we can see use of semiotics straight away. At first the characters is seen jogging around a dimly lit, and some what creep forest. She looks tired and almost exhausted. The scene makes use of an eerie soundtrack to accompany the on screen visuals which suggest the character in question may be in danger. This is used to establish the feeling of the movie early on, however our assumptions are shattered when we see a an FBI agent, his hat spells "FBI" which is the signifier, this signifies safety and reassurance as he calls out to the character we suspected of being in danger. We feel this because of the association of law enforcement with safety and protection. 

Another example of semiotics within Silence of the lambs is the moth which is featured throughout the film. The one in which buffalo bill idolizes as to him it represents rebirth. However it has another meaning. The denotation is the moth a creature that hibernates in a cocoon , it's connotation is that it represents death as it has a skull shaped marking on it's body.

Another semiotic example within silence of the lambs is the scene where Clarice first approaches Hannibal, to get there she must walk past all of the other prisoners who are all in ordinary prison cells, Hannibal however is behind a large glass looking screen with small holes to breath from. I believe this is an example of index and Indexical. The index is the glass panel. It's indexical meaning is that the glass panel is actually there to stop Hannibal because he is in fact highly dangerous, it's likening him to an animal which has been captured. This is visually contrasted by his seemingly calm and collected first impression. The lacking of prison bars also creates this intimate connection between Hannibal and Clarice as there's no obvious physical object in the way. This allows Hannibal's sinister stare to not only be recognized as affecting Clarice but also effecting the viewers perception of Hannibal.

How was the genre communicated in the opening scene?

In the opening sequence within silence of the lambs we can establish that the movie is a horror quite clearly. We see Clarice the main character running through a dark forest, this scene is edited in such a way that suggested she is in fact being chased by somebody. The manner of her running and her apparent desperation accompanied by a dark eerie soundtrack completely suggests that this film is a horror. We soon discover that Clarice is in fact taking part in training when another FBI member calls out to Clarice. Nonetheless the thriller/horror genre is successfully communicated to the viewer much like it is in other films.

How is the main female character portrayed in this film? How does it relate to the feminist film theory?

Soon after the opening sequence you can see that Clarice is in a male orientated world as she is currently at an FBI Academy which is predominantly host to many men, although there is some women present the film seems to make the presence of men much more obvious for example here’s a still image from when Clarice enters the elevator.

 

Clarice’s character goes through many different stages throughout the entire film. At the start of the film we are stereotypically led to believe that Clarice is in fact going to be a victim of somebody who is chasing her. This view then changes when we realise she is in fact working for the FBI. The FBI is commonly held in high regard throughout the world. Despite knowing that Clarice is part of the FBI she is still seemingly viewed by others as a weak character. Take the image above for example here Clarice is in an elevator where every other individual is male, the two men at the front seem to be looking down at her in a stereotypical way which suggests she is inferior to them. Notice how she is also wearing different attire to them. All in all it seems as though she “doesn't belong”. I believe the sense of not belonging was a deliberately placed theme within this film. Not only with Clarice but also with buffalo bill who struggles to find his sexual identity. Clarice’s character is represented as being quite malleable, she slowly but surely strives to become the character she has always wanted to be despite what others expected from her. Your initial thoughts of Clarice are later destroyed by her ability to solve the case which no one else was capable of.

How is the queer theory related to some of the characters in this film?

Queer theory is strongly related ball Buffalo Bill the murderer within silence of the lambs, when we were first introduced to buffalo bill we are watching him pray on his next victim. He is hiding in a street using night vision goggles. We first only see his eyes, then we see the night vision goggles placed on top of them. Rather than allowing his character to develop, we as the viewer are simply thrown straight into his point of view. Just like with Clarice’s character we view Buffalo Bill in a stereotypical fashion. We immediately assume that having just seen him preying on women that he is some sort of sexual predator. There is no mention of what he actually does to the women other than taking parts of their skin and leaving his signature moth in their mouth.

We later realise the Buffalo Bill in fact has a sexual identity crisis, he takes skin from his victims to craft a skin suit which we see him trying on. There’s a scene where he’s wearing the scalp of another woman, in this same scene he tucks his genitals beneath his thighs to best represent the anatomy of a woman. All of which this is happening whilst he is recording himself on a video camera. Much like the skin suit that he's crafting, buffalo bills character is just a front that he puts on, he's actually seemingly gentle with regards to how he treats his pet dog.

 What was the most memorable scene for you and why?
for me the most memorable scene of the film is when Clarice is on her way to meet Hannibal for the first time, she's walking down corridors until she reaches a security gate. This security gate has a large red light on the side of the wall which hints at hell like imagery, not to mention she took a set of stairs downward which also represents hell as being beneath. After walking through the gate the entire prison cell room represents a hell like grungy, dark dungeon.