By Rod Lurie
Translator: Yi Ersan
Proofreader: Qin Tian
Source: Empire (June 1991)
Thirty years ago, Jonathan Demi's "The Silence of the Lambs" left an indelible mark on the big screen — and became one of the rare psychological horror films to win at the Oscars, while Judy Foster and Anthony Hopkins delivered one of the greatest performances in film history.
The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins freaked out 20 million American movie fans, who have contributed more than $100 million at the box office for Jonathan Demea's blockbuster film The Silence of the Lambs. The journal had the privilege of interviewing Hopkins, Demi, and Foster to find out what they thought of the film...
"I love the original, I think it can be adapted into a good movie," said the seemingly drunken 48-year-old director, whose previously best-known works have nothing to do with his new works: Marry the Gangster, Swim to the Khmer and Don't Be Serious. "It's been at the top of the box office for five weeks in a row, and I certainly hope it makes money back." But that's ridiculous."
"Marry the Gangster"
In 1988, Thomas Harris's novel The Silence of the Lambs was at the top of the New York Times U.S. bestseller list for almost a month. Its predecessor was the thriller-themed Red Dragon, which Michael Mann adapted into the impressive (though not explosive) hit cult film Night, and it was one of the truly blockbuster publishing titles of the late '80s.
Its sheer horror and complex psychological depictions sparked the imagination of American audiences, in which veteran actor Gene Hackman happened to be looking for a suitable project to realize the director's debut, so he went to great lengths to snap up the film remake rights to the novel.
Night of The Murderous
Hackman's apparent lack of quality control is also legendary, and the great actor has created inexplicable box office successes and huge disasters over the years with his name. However, even in such a lengthy, wobbly decision," there is certainly nothing comparable to his escape from the Silence of the Lambs project. Because, even though Gene Hackman owned the highly sought after copyright to this extraordinary novel, he later discovered that he didn't really want it.
The book focuses on a young FBI intern, Clarisse Starling, a keen student assigned by her superiors to form a relationship with the mentally disturbed "ogre" Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist imprisoned for committing a series of horrific murders in which Hannibal ate various parts of the victim's body.
The FBI team — by veteran Hannibal pursuers Jack Crawford — accurately deduced the link between Starling and the talented Lecter that would have allowed the mad doctor to help them hunt down another serial killer — who murdered 14 girls and skinned them, so he probably, as Lecter put it, "had a coat with nipples."
"This is one of the most cinematic books I've ever read," Hackman said as he bought the rights. "As I read it, the film adaptation seemed to flash through my mind."
"The Silence of the Lambs" was the first project the 61-year-old actor bought the rights to shoot, and he had planned to direct, produce and cast the film. Michelle Pfeiffer will play Starling, John Hurt will play Lector, and Hackman himself will play Jack Crawford. Big stars, hot stories. Must not miss.
Fast forward to The Night of the Oscars in March 1989. Gene Hackman sits in the front row of the Temple Theater in downtown Los Angeles. He received an Oscar nomination for his role as an FBI agent in Alan Parker's "Bloodstorm," though he eventually lost out to Dustin Hoffman, who played an autistic scholar in Rain man.
Storm of Blood also won several award nominations, yet Hackman and the rest of the audience saw one dark, gloomy, violent story after story about inhuman cruelty.
"Blood Storm"
Within days, Hackman had quit The Silence of the Lambs— a film he could see was destined to be even more bleak and violent than Bloodstorm — and his commercial influence was clearly going to cool. Soon after, Orion Pictures bought the rights and quickly handed over control to Jonathan Demi.
"I didn't think they'd let me do it," Demi laughs, acknowledging that his previous work wouldn't have been thought of — perhaps with the exception of 1974's Prison Storm — that he would come to make such a nihilistic thriller. But when he received the invitation, he immediately agreed.
"I like the idea that the protagonist is female," Demi said. "It's more interesting to have a woman in the lead role because she's at a disadvantage from the start."
When Demi signed the contract, everyone knew that he really wanted Pfeiffer to play Clarice, even though the 34-year-old actress was at least 10 years older than the role. However, Pfeiffer soon came to the same conclusion as Hackman and left the project, claiming that he "could not accept the overwhelming darkness in this work".
The role was ultimately given to Judy Foster, who was known for her involvement in varying degrees of darkness and received an Oscar nomination for her role as a 12-year-old prostitute in the 1976 film Taxi Driver.
Taxi Driver
"It's not that hard to deal with," Foster said of that particular role today. "My family won't hide anything from me. In a way, I grew up in a strict and very traditional environment. My mother wouldn't hide some of the truth about my life, and I knew exactly what that movie was about, not as shocked as many 12-year-olds were."
Since then, Foster seems to be specializing in this harrowing role. In New Hampshire Hotel, she is gang-raped and incested with Rob Law. In The Last Rose of Summer, she sleeps with a dead woman. In Five Corners, she becomes the object of John Terturro's violent obsession. Then there's "Raiding Pear Blossom".
"Raiding Pear Blossom"
"I don't mind acting in comedy, I just don't have a sense of accomplishment about it," she explains. "I prefer to be realistic. I love scenes that go through horror, humanity, survival. That's my job. I like to see things with eyes that most people can't see through."
At the time, almost involuntarily, Judy Foster was quick to lobby Jonathan Demi to cast her in the role of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, believing that Michelle Pfeiffer would never join such a project.
"I wanted to make this movie for a reason," she told Demi when they first met. "It's for very personal reasons, not just because it's a good character."
In order to fully understand these reasons, it is necessary to return to the evening of March 30, 1981.
"I've changed dramatically, at least that's what others have told me. I began to perceive death in the most mundane but painful events. Being filmed felt like being shot; it still is. I felt like the crowd was watching me; maybe they were. Every sick letter I receive, I must read it, smile it, and read it again. People are punishing me because I'm there. They send bullets, pull the trigger, and follow simple laws of cause and effect."
This is a passage that Judy Foster wrote in Esquire magazine in December 1982. Two years ago, the "innocent" John Hinckley fired two shots at the newly appointed President, Ronald Reagan, in an expression of eternal loyalty to his favorite actress. Hinkley said he was inspired by the movie Taxi Driver to make this historic move, and he specifically wanted to imitate Travis Bicker, played by Robert De Niro — an attempt he made in the film.
Foster said writing the article was a catharsis, a process of unleashing demons, and it was her final comment on Hinckley and another avid fan named Michael Richardson, as well as assassination attempts or anything related to the subject.
Despite this experience, it's no surprise that Judy Foster was very eager to work on The Silence of the Lambs — after all, a film focused on making compromises with killers who behave completely irrationally. However, there are some basic rules.
In 1988's "Marry a Gangster," director Demmy portrayed the FBI as useless as the underworld hooligans they were trying to imprison. And given that the FBI has earned Foster's eternal respect — guarding Richardson after she makes death threats, and even attending one of her plays at Yale — it's clear that the actress is almost impossible to participate in any film that portrays the FBI as a gorilla in a dark suit and sunglasses.
"I know I don't need to say this to you," Foster told Demi, but she said anyway, "and I have to mention that out of a sense of responsibility to female victims all over the world, you can't portray FBI people as stupid Republicans." If you want me to be your protagonist, you have to shape them in the right way."
One more thing. Violence must be kept at a low level – and for a film with such horrific footage, it is undoubtedly a daunting task. To its credit, however, The Silence of the Lambs may seem a lot scarier in people's minds (and in Harris's novels) than it would be in its final version on the big screen.
"Jonathan Demi deliberately deleted those particularly horrible scenes," said Anthony Hopkins, who had whiter hair and darker skin than Hannibal Lecter on screen. "He didn't focus on the scene where my character cuts off someone's face. He did show an autopsy scene in detail because that was an important reality. But for the most part, Jonathan just shows you fragments of violence. He prefers to deal with psychological fears. Now I think that's really scary."
"Violence is not a necessary element in this movie," Demi said as she leaned forward and drew her hands.
"Horror is expressed through personality traits. Let's take Hopkins as an example, he is a perfect example. For the character of Lecter, we know he committed a terrible crime. But Tony gave others sex and compassion. There is a scene in the movie where Clarice opens her heart to him and confesses a crisis in her past. Lecter cared about her. He really cared about her. This makes his personality very complex and somewhat elusive."
Foster also strongly refuted the claim that "The Silence of the Lambs" was nothing more than a cleverly adapted standard thriller.
"Don't think it's not a character- and story-oriented film," she cautions. "This is what sets it apart from ordinary horror films. One of the things I really like about Clarice Starling is that this is probably the first time I've seen a female hero instead of a female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. She was not a woman in her underwear who ran around with a machine gun. Clarice is very capable and very humane. She uses her emotions, intuition, vulnerability and sensitivity against the villain. I don't think there's ever been such a heroine."
In fact, there has never been a villain like Lecter.
"After I read the script," recalls Hopkins, who was often considered the natural successor to britain's great actors — burtons and Oliver, like them. "Boom! I intuitively knew how to play him. I know his look and voice. I heard two or three voices: I think he was a combination of Catherine Hepburn, Truman Capotti, and HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don't know why this voice appears in my head. Speaking of his appearance, his pale face was Jonathan's idea, and he persuaded me not to bask in the sun. And it was my idea to comb him a dark back hairstyle. I also wanted him to wear a very tight prison uniform. This means full control. After the first makeup, I walked up to the mirror and thought to myself"—he stretched his arms widely—"That's him."
"I love the relationship between Lecter and Clarice," Foster responded. "I think she respects him because she sees him as a person and she doesn't judge him. That doesn't mean she forgives his behavior or that she's not afraid of him. But she wanted to get to know him. The only thing she and Lecter have in common is dignity. Clarice is a person who gets rid of mediocrity. The only thing Clarice couldn't accept was mediocrity."
To improve his performance in the film, Foster threw himself into his daily training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, trying to keep up with the physical and mental blows that young newcomers take. She met John Douglas, head of the FBI's Investigative Support Service, a leading expert in the study of serial killers in the United States and Thomas Harris' chief aide in the creation of the serial killers that run through his book. (Foster didn't go to extremes like Scott Glenn, though.) Glenn locks himself in a room to play Jack Crawford and listens to recordings of two serial killers torturing and killing a victim. Glenn now admits that he may have gone a little too far this time. ）
Regarding the FBI, what did Foster's experience at Quantico keep in mind that she remembered?
"When it comes to investigating serial killers, you can't just rely on how they do it," she said. "Especially when you see irrational crimes, where people are taken from the street and killed in unfamiliar places, that's especially true. The killer will travel 3,000 miles to kill people and then 3,000 miles back. There are no clues. There's no reason for that."
"It's not just a thriller" is Demi's summary of his groundbreaking work. "The serial killer is there — the man who attacks and kills women, and the problem is barely solved. The focus now is on solving this problem."
On the fateful night when Judy Foster won an Oscar for "Raiding Pear Blossom" and Gene Hackman missed the Oscars, what Foster said was perhaps the best summary of this article.
"Cruelty can be very human, it can be very cultured," Foster said, slowly examining the faces of his companions. "But it's absolutely unacceptable..."