SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains numerous spoilers about The Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter. It also references strong language featured in The Silence of the Lambs’ dialogue.
Episode 115 of The Movie Robcast conducts a full investigation into two classic movies, both of which celebrate anniversaries this year.
Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs hits the big 3-0, while Michael Mann’s Manhunter reaches 35. Which makes 75% of the contributors to this episode feel rather creaky in the bones…
Hungry to join the Robs in this discussion are splendid guests Ian Bird and Sarah Johnson. They dig deep into Demme’s multiple Oscar-winning shocker, recalling its impact at the time, the ways in which it broke the Hollywood mould, its progressive depiction of a female protagonist, and the accusations of transphobia and homophobia levelled against it.
Then onto Manhunter, the initially overlooked but now lauded chiller that gave Hannibal Lecter (or Lecktor as this film has it…) his first big screen outing. There is also plenty of chat about author Thomas Harris’ novels, the differences between Anthony Hopkins and Brian Cox’s Hannibal Lecters, and the sheer awesomeness of Jodie Foster’s performance as Clarice Starling and William Petersen’s as Will Graham.
Bon Appetit…
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The Silence of the Lambs’ depiction of transsexual themes is also discussed in the Netflix documentary Disclosure. Details here.
The “Why Are Dads” podcast also features an illuminating discussion on the film. Details here.
In other news, Rob W recently guested on the wonderful podcast “Tea-V-Time”, with Lucy Buglass. Together they unpack all things House. Listen to the ep here.
We also recommend you check out Ian Bird’s work at: https://mrcarapace.wordpress.com/
And heartily encourage you to follow Sarah Johnson at https://twitter.com/StrappingLass
To follow the podcast, head to: https://twitter.com/MovieRobcast
To read Rob D’s writing go to: https://www.electric-shadows.com/
