Similar Products - Analysis of Silence of the lambs.

The thriller catergory as a genre is difficult to define, however many films fall into this catergory such as Silence of the lambs. It has become something of a highly famous film in the genre. It fits into the catergory for many reasons.

The plot itself is a main contender, the main character (Clarice Starling) is a trainee FBI agent who is sent to talk to the naturious criminal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to find out if he has any information on the serial killer "Buffallo Bill". The plot is a thrilling and sinister crime investigation. Overall the plot is complex and continues to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the very end. This is common for a thriller plot as it needs to keep the audience guessing along side the main character and to keep them on the edge of their seats as the idea is to thrill.

The conventions that are used to a great effect in Silence of the lambs, these include the use of eerie and tense music to build the tension and suspense around the scene as it plays out. The use of the jail that Lecter is imprisoned in being confined and clusterphobic. The use of the many bars within the jail also adds the feeling of unease as the audience knows the characters are in a dark place. The complexity of the plot is another main convention to a thriller film. The overall darkness of the film also adds to the conventions of making this film fall into the thriller catergory. The plot also has an air of mystery surrounding it and this mystery is slowly unraveled throughout the film through the use of flashbacks and the main characters talking. The unknown also acompinies the mystery of the plot and therefore continues to thrill the audience. Also the scene in which Clarice has found Buffalo Bill and is chasing him around the hideout, we see him watching her through the night vision googles. This is used on the overall shot so the audience is looking alongside Buffalo Bill, this creates an air of mystery and thrill, there for lending th film directly to the catergory.

However, this film is not a complete thriller but classes as a crime thriller because of the overall plot of the film. It also breaks a main convention of the thriller category. A normal thriller film has it's plot based around a single character, this particular plot centers it's focus on two (as well as having a somewhat side plot of Buffalo Bill).

The two chracters however lend themselves very well to the conventions of the thrillers.
Clarice Starling is a strong and independant women who can stand on her own and face difficult situtations and people on her own. She is brave and enjoys doing her job. These are familiar personality traits that a thriller sees in the main "good guy". The normal good guy would also have a problem with their past that makes what they are trying to do difficult for them. This is true for Clarice's chracter as we find out that her father died when she was young, this is shown through Hannibal talking to her and through the use of flasbacks (another convention of a thriller).

Dr. Hannibal Lecter also falls into a conventional character. He is seen as the bad guy and the some what of a villan. The character is seen as a monster by the other chracters for what he has down the audience will agree with this as up to this point he has not been revealed, however when he is revealed (after seeing other criminals that have gone mad) he appears to be normal. There is nothing that you can see from his appearence that makes him look like a typical criminal. As soon as he starts talking you can tell that he is highly intelligant (another main convention of the 'bad guy' in a thriller), this is also shown through the paintings and drawings that he has done that litter his room. He is also in control of not only the situations he find himself in but also he controls Clarice. This is another way in which this film is a thriller.