#Jonathan Demme

[d1rthaus]

This Must Be the Place - Stop Making Sense 1984

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A MOVIE A DAY KEEPS THE GHOULIES AWAY - DAY 5 ↪ And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme

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The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme

[cinematicmasterpiece]

stop making sense (1984)

[brokehorrorfan]

Mondo will release The Silence of the Lambs 24x36 screen prints by Nate Sweitzer tomorrow, January 18, at 1pm EST. Expected to ship in April, it's limited to 185 and costs $80.

[tiahnaparisart]

Stop Making Sense (1984)

I actually started this piece before the announcement, but since the cat’s well and truly out of the bag RE the upcoming A24 4K re-release of the film, there’s never been a better time to share. This drawing started out as a fun, pressure free side project, and eventually spawned an entire side foray you’ll see in the next posts!

I love the textures achieved here with the mixed medium- cardboard really lent itself to the otherworldly structure of the big suit, and the neon pencils provide great contrast to the industrial watercolour.

[amatesura]

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) | dir. Jonathan Demme

[d1rthaus]

Once in a Lifetime

Stop Making Sense 1984

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The Silence of the Lambs - Jonathan Demme - 1991 - USA

[sixtiesgogobootz]

swamp - talking heads

STOP MAKING SENSE (1984) dir. jonathan demme

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[makotoscoffee]

Behind the scenes of The Silence of the Lambs

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Stop Making Sense, German Lobby Card. 1984

[whoeveniswren]

my friend: hey, so how come Hannibal likes Clarice so much?

my other friend: i don't know probably because-

me:

*AHEM* You see, Hannibal respects Clarice because she is different from all of the money-hungry, insatiable male police officers who are after glory- Who get a rise out of saying they spoke to the great Hannibal Lecter while not being actually brave enough to converse with him authentically. They think of him as less than human, and only care about advancement. Because of this, Hannibal has come to know the FBI as a corrupt field full of corrupt officers, therefore he feels no need to give them any respect since they can't even look him in the eye. But then Clarice comes along. Instantly, she gives him respect, calling him "Doctor Lecter," being "courteous and receptive to courtesy". Hannibal is surprised she does not back down, especially since she is a woman in a very masculine career, something he already admires her for. He expects that, after he insults her, she will not come back, just like all the other cops. But she does come back, in the pouring rain, and suddenly his opinion of her soars. Nobody has ever exuded such passion for saving these victims like Clarice before. He offers her his towel, likely one of his only possessions, because he sees her goodness, her intelligence, her drive. He revels in her remarkable frankness and honesty, two things he values very highly. In the very last scene, in Memphis, is when he is truly moved by her person. In the Memphis scene, is when he truly becomes not only interested in her, but admires her deeply. Her emotional retelling of her childhood trauma about saving the lambs is what allows him to understand the goodness of her- She is truly a selfless, caring person in a world so cold and unforgiving. He changes him, and makes him believe in the goodness of humanity. THAT is what he respects about her the most, above her intelligence and respect: That she has a good heart. These lambs are the girls in a metaphorical sense, which is why he asks if saving Catherine will "make the lambs stop screaming." In the last scene, when he says goodbye to her, you can see tears welling up in his eyes. He cries because he sees her goodness, and knows therefore that she will never make it in the corrupt world of the FBI because of her refusal to stoop to unethical means in order to achieve power. This is proven true in the sequels, when Clarice’s career is tarnished because she rejects a sexual advancement made to her by her boss- Paul Krendler. Krendler makes sure after this she always gets the worst assignments and never advances because she refuses to sleep with him. He also believes Starling “robbed him” of the glory of catching Buffalo bill and is jealous that a woman, and a rookie at that, beat him to the punch. In that moment in Memphis, it’s as if Hannibal is able to see into the future, and predict her self-destruction at the hands of the FBI. He cries because he believes this is the last time he will ever see her again. He cries because he knows she is too good for the FBI, and for the patriarchal, corrupt system, yet he knows she will always blame herself for her imminent failure. (Clarice wanted to save Catherine Martin, but the FBI wanted to catch Buffalo Bill.) Her purity is a tragedy in a world so vile. For me, these two quotes from the screenwriter and director put all the underlying messages and dynamic rapport of TSOTL into an fascinating perspective:

“These are two extraordinarily gifted thinkers engaged in a tremendously important conversation. At last, a mind came into his field that was worthy of verbal and mental intercourse. I don’t know that sex has any place in any of this. I mean, yes he’s a man and yes she’s a woman; he’s very handsome and she’s very beautiful, but so what? These are minds at work here. There’s an eroticism in the thought process that transcends any kind of physical eroticism that might be between the two.” - Jonathan Demme (Director)

“The scenes between Lecter and Clarice are basically seduction scenes. They play, oddly enough, as if they were lovers. They only touch one time in the entire movie, in their last scene when he says goodbye to her- when as he hands her back her notes, he touches her finger. And it's almost a shock to the audience, when they touch. But these scenes, you would approach almost as if you were writing a sort of courtship between two lovers." - Ted Tally, Screenwriter.”