Current location - Education and Training Encyclopedia - Graduation thesis - Analysis of The Silence of the Lambs's Criminal Psychology
Analysis of The Silence of the Lambs's Criminal Psychology
The Silence of the Lambs is the kind of work that can't be put down at a glance. The film is full of doubts and suspense, which firmly holds the audience's nose and makes it necessary for people to watch it in one breath. At the same time, the film also made a useful exploration in the film language. I like the plot in the film best: starling (Jodie Foster), a female agent, discovers an important clue of the perverted killer "Buffalo Bill". When she reported to her boss, she was told that he knew the inside story and was leading her department to the scene to catch the real murderer. At this time, the film is interspersed with cross montages to explain the simultaneous events in three different spaces. On the one hand, starling and his colleagues continue to analyze the case and look for clues; On the other hand, Stalling's boss led the agents to gradually surround the destination; Meanwhile, Buffalo Bill is having a good time in his nest. Soon, this cross-narrative turned into a direct switch between indoor buffalo Bill and outdoor agents, pushing the classic "last second" mode of creating tension in Hollywood to the extreme. Bill, the indoor buffalo, was about to do evil to the hostages, and the agents approached the target step by step. In the eyes of the audience, a wonderful play of catching turtles in birds is about to be staged. Finally, the agent rang the doorbell. The bell is ringing loudly. The next scene is Buffalo Bill. He hears the bell, gets dressed quickly and walks to the door. When I opened the door, the person who appeared outside turned out to be myna!

When the camera changed again, the agents broke into the house. They broke into an empty house. The audience waiting to see the door closed and beat the dog was surprised. It turned out that, in fact, only Starling found Buffalo Bill's hiding place according to the clue. Before this, the lens interspersed in different spaces made the audience have the illusion that Buffalo Bill was trapped in the encirclement, thinking that he would rush in with armed agents as soon as he opened the door, so he was shocked by the sudden appearance of myna alone. This is that only film montage that can achieve artistic effect. Carefully arranged shots in different spaces gradually deceive the audience visually and psychologically, and let the audience fall into a misunderstanding. The result is naturally unexpected to the audience. There is also a plot like Dr. Hannibal breaking through the cage and getting rid of the close surveillance of the police.

In the process of watching, the audience often screams because of the unexpected ending. The sense of terror is not caused by bloody and violent scenes, but the audience is constantly aware of their misjudgment. The story is completely beyond imagination, and one crisis after another comes unexpectedly. For example, in the raid on Buffalo Bill's lair mentioned earlier, when the audience found that female agent starling was a person rather than an agent armed to the teeth, they immediately felt nervous about her personal safety-because Buffalo Bill was vicious.

The horror produced by movies should be an emotional and psychological horror. Terror can only be the highest state if it really shakes and affects the soul, and it can make the audience have "aesthetic pleasure".

The Silence of the Lambs's success lies in its strong film meaning. In addition, while maintaining the artistic concept of exploration and innovation, the characterization of the film is also quite successful. Dr. Hannibal was originally a psychiatrist. As an expert and scholar, he has profound knowledge and outstanding temperament. As a criminal with high IQ, the aggressiveness and danger shown in him is not only violent behavior, but his eyes that can see everything and his brain that stays calm forever! -Everything is under his control. As long as he seizes the opportunity, he can do whatever he wants! Because of this, this man received the "highest courtesy" in prison: his cage was installed with thick glass, which put an end to all the possibility of direct contact with the outside world; When he was transferred to a hospital, he had to wear a special iron mask, and the whole person was fixed on a special bedstead. All the above measures are based on the painful lessons of the supervisor. The main reason why Dr. Hannibal, who committed the most heinous crime, was not sentenced to death is that the crimes he committed are outrageous, and the relevant departments should conduct a detailed study on its anti-human side. (Is its cannibalism a "spiritual atavism"? However, no one has been able to enter the spiritual world of Dr. Hannibal. On the contrary, his spiritual magic influenced everything in the prison: he whispered to his cellmate Vance all afternoon, and Vance soon committed suicide. When Starling, a female agent who performed well in all subjects training, needed to find Dr. Hannibal because of the case, Dr. Hannibal saw through her life experience, personality and thoughts within a few minutes of meeting. In the next few contacts, Dr. Hannibal not only saw Starling's struggle under the pressure of work, but also clearly judged that she was often harassed by the eyes of the opposite sex in her daily life, and further speculated that the nightmare about lambs caused by an experience in her childhood had been bothering her.

Dr. Hannibal's scalpel-like sharpness and unstoppable when dissecting other people's thoughts have greatly changed their status. Stalin became the object of Dr. Hannibal's psychoanalysis and gradually came under his control. The purpose of female agent starling's visit is to ask Dr. Hannibal to analyze Buffalo Bill's criminal psychology, so as to help the police find clues to solve the case as soon as possible. Encouraged by Dr. Hannibal, Bill Buffalo's case was gradually solved. In this process, Dr. Hannibal became starling's spiritual mentor, and starling and his colleagues became the chips for Dr. Hannibal to implement his escape plan ... Dr. Hannibal was terrible because he had a power to control others. When this power to control others belongs to professional doctors engaged in psychoanalysis, it should be said that it is beneficial and harmless. If this power to control others belongs to an anti-human bloodthirsty maniac, its harm is self-evident.

Dr. Hannibal was originally the research object of the relevant departments, but he used his professional expertise to study those who wanted to study himself. He does have a mysterious magic. The relevant departments are trying to use his unusual ability to help solve the case. The case of Buffalo Bill left the police at a loss. After showing the relevant information to Dr. Hannibal, female agent Stalin weighed the materials in her hand and said, the answer is already in it. The implication is that the confusing case has been clearly seen. Dr. Hannibal came to the conclusion through psychoanalysis: Bill, a male prisoner, kidnapped plump women out of transsexual psychology, skinned them and cut coats for himself. Through Hannibal's suggestion, the word tailor is rooted in the subconscious of female agent procrastination. She had an epiphany at the critical moment and seized the important link in solving the case. However, Stalin was not the final winner. At the celebration of successfully solving the case, Starling, who had just been commended, received a phone call from Dr. Hannibal. It turns out that Dr. Hannibal has already successfully escaped from prison by providing important clues to the police and being transferred from prison!

The real protagonist of The Silence of the Lambs is this high-intelligence criminal, Dr. Hannibal. The Silence of the Lambs has thus become a thought-provoking work. The attraction of this film lies in its insight into the protagonist's spiritual world and its conclusion. Subconscious and abnormal psychology determine people's behavior: female agent Stalin's strong professionalism stems from the internal drive of redemption consciousness caused by her failure to save the lamb to be slaughtered in her childhood; Buffalo Bill kills people to get skin, because putting on a woman's skin can bring him the pleasure of becoming a woman. Dr. Hannibal broke into the spiritual world of Starling and Buffalo Bill, and found his true self in their deep consciousness. However, it is an unsolved mystery how Dr. Hannibal's own spiritual world and deep consciousness are. Dr. Hannibal has always regarded himself as a wise man above all beings, experimenting with others. When Stalin asked him, "You are good at observing people, can you analyze yourself?" ? At that time, Dr. Hannibal was extremely angry and claimed: Someone tried to study me, and I ate his liver with wine and beans! No one can understand his spiritual world, and no one can understand why he is bloodthirsty and cannibal. This gives people an intractable psychological problem and a strong spiritual shock: what kind of person is Hannibal and why is he like this? This is the success of the film, and everyone needs to examine and think about the contradiction and unpredictability between themselves and others.

In a word, The Silence of the Lambs is such a mysterious and mysterious film, which highlights the psychological point of view, gives people a strong artistic shock and causes people to think deeply.