Jonathan Demme's multi-Oscar winning serial killer opera is a grand
guignol joy grounded by outstanding performances from Foster and
Hopkins (who has a place in cinema history as the monster Hannibal
"the Cannibal" Lecter). Both Demme's direction and Howard
Shore's score go for high pathos, the camerawork making canny use of
different registers (people frequently look into camera when talking
to Foster) to mould the true horror of the piece - namely that man is the
most horrific of nature's beasts. Hopkins positively grandstands as
Lecter; at once chilling and wildly appealing, he holds the interest
like a fleshy vice.
