The Silence of the Lambs - Thriller Analysis

 

                                          (Wikipedia Contributors, 2019), (Ebert, 2001)

I watched and analysed the film The Silence of the Lambs, directed by Jonathan Demme.

 Narrative

The film is about an FBI trainee (Clarice) who gets sent to interview a serial killer (Hannibal Lecter) in a mental hospital in order to obtain any information about another active serial killer (Buffalo Bill), so that she can find him. 

I organised the narrative of The Silence of the Lambs into the Barthes and the Levi-Strauss binary opposites narrative theories. I did not used the Todorov theory because it cannot be used to analyse this very complicated narrative, due to the fact that it is very simple. 

    Barthes (Examples of each type of code):                          Levi-Strauss (Binary Opposites):

1. Hermeneutic/Enigma Code                                                                                    

The film starts off with a sequence                                                           Good vs Evil

of Clarice running in a forest, which                                

possibly evokes questions such as:                                                      Amateur vs Intelligent

Why is she running? Who or what is

she running from?                                                                                 Woman vs Man 

                               

2. Proairetic/Action Code                                                                  Cisgender vs Transgender                       

Hannibal hides pin behind his back - implies

that he will use it to harm a policeman                                              

3. Semantic Code 

Clarice has a flashback to her father's

funeral - suggests she is lonely which

emphasises her vulnerability

4. Symbolic Code 

There are multiple points in the film

where people are staring at Clarice - 

Clarice is constantly being objectified

as an attractive female trainee

 

5. Cultural Code 

The film does not explain what the

FBI is - expects audience to understand;     

one possible reason is to not waste time

in the film, cutting 'fat'; another possible

reason is to communicate that the

FBI is not a significant element

to the story

Unrestricted Narrative Range is once used in this film to build tension - When Clarice has flashbacks about her father's funeral, no one in the diegetic world realises that this may be a liability for her, except for the audience.
 
Restricted Narrative Range is once used in this film to create shock - Clarice finds a jar of a head in a car, and the audience follows her, so the audience finds out about the head at the same time as Clarice.

Objective Narrative Depth is once used in this film to build an ominous mood by presenting Hannibal as mysterious - When Hannibal talks to Clarice, he has a sinister-looking smirk on his face, and so the audience does not know why since he is simply talking to Clarice.

Subjective Narrative Depth is once used in this film to build tension by presenting Buffalo Bill as powerful - When there is a shot showing the night vision point of view of Buffalo Bill, it indicates to the audience that Buffalo Bill can see Clarice, but she cannot see him.

Genre

The Silence of the Lambs falls into many different genres, such as: Crime, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, and Horror.

Narrative - Someone trying to stop a serial killer on the loose.

Characters - Serial Killer, Prisoner, FBI officer, Hostage, Policemen, News Presenter

Iconography - Guns, Skin, Cannibal Restraint, Blood, Doomsday Moth/Death's-Head Hawkmoth

Themes - Transgender Identity Struggles, The Male Gaze, Murder, Ambition, Psychopathy, Transformation

The Male Gaze - A Main Theme

Transformation - A Main Theme

Transformation is evidently shown in the film through a species of moth, to reflect Buffalo Bill's issues with his sexual identity. The species of moth is named the 'Death's-Head Hawkmoth', also known as the 'Doomsday Moth' and is a crucial piece of iconography in the film. This moth specifically is born as an egg, then becomes a cocoon. Eventually, it comes out transformed, as a larva and soon into a moth. 

(Winter, 2014)

In the film, Buffalo Bill stuffs the cocoon of this particular moth species into his victims' throats to mock their screams. This specific moth species, once fully grown, has the ability to squeak. Because of this ability, to anyone who finds the body of a victim, it shall appear that the corpse of that victim is screaming in an unusual way. This will occur once the moth in the throat has emerged from its cocoon and has grown.

(floydian4u, 2012)

This transformation of this moth, from cocoon to an adult, reflects Buffalo Bill's plan to transform into a woman by wearing the skin of his female victims, due to the fact that he is transgender.

Settings - Dark Forest, Mental Hospital, Airplane, Basement

Recurring Film Techniques - Close Up shots, Lowkey lighting, Serial Killer's POV shots, Match-on-action cuts, Diegetic high tempo music 

Conversation Analysis - When Clarice meets Hannibal for the first time

Clarice Starling - Representation

Bibliography

• Wikipedia Contributors, 2019. The Silence of the Lambs (film). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(film)> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2021].
• Ebert, R., 2001. The Silence of the Lambs movie review (1991) | Roger Ebert. [online] www.rogerebert.com. Available at: <https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-silence-of-the-lambs-1991> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2021].
• Winter, S., 2014. Is this moth a sign of the END? Foreboding doomsday Death's Head Hawk Moth spotted in UK. [online] Express.co.uk. Available at: <https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/529497/Deaths-Head-Hawk-Moth-Silence-of-the-Lambs-Britain-Garden> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2021].
• floydian4u, 2012. Death's Head Hawk Moth pupa. [online] Flickr. Available at: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/9473108@N02/718445152/> [Accessed 7 Oct. 2021].