Silence of the Lambs Opening Sequence Analysis

Silence of the Lambs begins in the woods; the scene is set as a mysterious and foreboding forest, complete with dead trees, fallen leaves and a shadowy, steel-grey blanket of misty fog that almost completely obscures all vision past a few metres. We are shown Clarice running in the forest, and this instant brings up assumptions and connotations that she might be being chased; she appears breathless and sweaty, and the way that the camera often pans behind her implies that she is being followed by someone who we can't see. Side-on tracking shots from in the trees also help to accentuate this; it initially appears that Clarice is being watched – and as someone who hadn't seen the film previously, I was fully expecting a psychotic murder to jump out of the trees and maim her (and this was, of course, enhanced by the scene's spooky, ominous music).

However, this proves not to be case – although the scene as a whole does create a building sense of tension and worry; it's essentially a bait-and-switch designed to keep the audience on the edges of their seats, and generates an already thrilling atmosphere even at the very start of the film. This is, in effect, foreshadowing for the themes presented in the rest of the movie; the fact that that we are led to believe that Clarice is being pursued by a murderer when in actuality she's only doing a simple training exercise is a statement that what we expect from a situation isn't necessarily congruent with the reality of that situation. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lector is, for example, initially portrayed as a complete monster who made a name for himself by murdering and eating people, and as a result, we expect him to be an absolute vicious psycho – though in reality, he's actually quite a polite, calm and well-spoken person who helps Clarice solve a murder case.

This kind of character stereotyping could, of course, work the other way; talking to Lector, you wouldn't necessarily think that he's a murderer who'd like to eat your liver “with some farver beans and a nice cianti” - in fact, he comes over as quite nice. Silence of the Lambs' opening sequence, then, cleverly encapsulates the film's running theme that things aren't always what they initially seem – and it does so suitably thrillingly.


- Jack