Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs is a chilling combination of a mystery movie, a horror movie, an action movie, and a coming of age story. Multiple implicit meanings can describe the film. The film can implicitly imply that it is about young woman's character development from weak to strong. In the movie Agent Clarice Starling( Jodie Foster) must overcomes three obstacles, a psychotic cannibal, a haunting past, and sexism in the workplace in order to catch the serial killer. Silence of the Lambs even address the notion of sexism, and that, women are capable of a lot more then what they are expected. Throughout the movie agent Starling is repeatedly hit on by the men with whom she encounters; Dr. Chilton (Anthony Heald), the bug experts, even cadets jogging by turn their heads at her. Crawford (Scott Glenn) is condescending towards her; he leaves the room because he "doesn't want to discuss certain things in front of a woman." Even though the men in the movie do not take her seriously she manages to single handedly apprehend the killer. The film can also implicitly mean that "monsters" of society can live among normal people and go undetected, and that even a psychotic man can be cultured, brilliant, polite and even charming. With careful editing Demme captures the creepiness of both Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) and Hannibal (Anthony Hopkins.) .
Silence of the Lambs is created with the utilization of multiple point of view shots, especially from the heroin Clarice's point of view. When Agent Starling first arrives at Hannibal's asylum, she warily and tensely walks down the hall towards Hannibal's cell. The director and editor capture the creepy feeling the of the maximum security unit, in which Hector lives, by alternating shots of the other inmates from her point of view, and Clarice's face. When she looks into the cells the men yell obscenities at her, and one even throws his semen at her.
