The Silence of the Lambs – 30th Anniversary

By Reggie's Take on February 14, 2021

The Silence of the Lambs was released to theaters back in 1991 and celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year a movie based on a 1988 novel of the same name written by Thomas Harris.

Starring Jodie Foster as a young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, who is hunting a serial killer that skins his female victims and goes by “Buffalo Bill”. In order to catch Buffalo Bill, Starling seeks out the advice of imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins. Lecter is a brilliant psychiatrist who also happens to be a cannibalistic serial killer.

The Silence of the Lambs was released on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1991. The movie would go on to gross $272 million worldwide on just a $19 million budget and would finish the year as the fifth-highest grossing movie of 1991.

After reading the novel Jodie Foster was immediately interested in the role of Clarice Starling. Sean Connery was originally approached for the role of Lecter but would turn it down. Anthony Hopkins was offered the role based solely on his performance from his 1980 movie The Elephant Man. Initially Hopkins called Silence of the Lambs “a children’s story”, but after reading just the first ten pages of the script he called his agent, saying, “This is the best part I’ve ever read.”

At the 64^th Academy Awards, Silence of the Lambs won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald

The Silence of the Lambs official synopsis:

A psychopath known as “Buffalo Bill” (Ted Levine) is kidnapping and murdering young women across the Midwest. Believing it takes one to know one, the F.B.I. sends trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to interview a demented prisoner who may provide psychological insight and clues to the killer’s actions.