| The Silence of the Lambs | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jonathan Demme |
| Screenplay by | Ted Tally |
| Based on | The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Edited by | Craig McKay |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
Production company | Strong Heart Productions |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 118 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million[2] |
| Box office | $272.7 million[2] |
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel. It stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee who is hunting a serial killer named "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine), who skins his female victims. To catch him, she seeks the advice of the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. The film also features performances from Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, and Kasi Lemmons.[3]
The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed $272.7 million worldwide on a $19 million budget, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1991 worldwide. It premiered at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, while Demme received the Silver Bear for Best Director. It became the third and most recent film (the other two being 1934's It Happened One Night and 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) to win Academy Awards in all the major five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first (and to date only) horror film to win Best Picture.
The Silence of the Lambs is regularly cited by critics, film directors, and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films. In 2018, Empire ranked it 48th on their list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[4] The American Film Institute ranked it the sixty-fifth greatest film in American cinema, as well as the fifth-greatest and most influential thriller film, while Starling and Lecter were ranked among the greatest film heroines and villains. The film is considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2011.[5] A sequel, Hannibal, was released in 2001, followed by two prequel films, Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal Rising (2007).
- ^ "The Silence of the Lambs". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "The Silence of the Lambs (1991)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "The Silence of the Lambs". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time – #400–301". Empire Online. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
- ^ "Silence of the Lambs added to U.S. film archive". London: BBC News. December 28, 2011. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.