A bluffer's guide to famous films
Everyone's talking about The Silence of the Lambs now that it's being re-released. Don't know what it's about? Fear not, here's a bluffer's guide to five famous films
What's it about?: Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a fledgling FBI recruit on the hunt for a serial killer called Buffalo Bill. She's helped in her investigation by Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant former psychiatrist who also happens to be mass-murdering cannibal himself.
Why all the fuss?: Quite simply it’s one of the most darkest, most gripping thrillers ever made. Jodie Foster has never been better and Anthony Hopkins gives an electrifying performance as the world's most charismatic villain.
Do quote: At one point Lecter mentions that he’s ‘having an old friend for dinner’ which is just about the best pun about cannibalism you’re ever likely to come across.
Don't put your foot in it: Although Clarice does recall a traumatic childhood experience involving lambs, there aren’t actually any in the film, silent or otherwise.
Wow your friends with this fact: Because of the misleading title, Anthony Hopkins initially thought he’d been offered a role in a farmland romp for children. How wrong he was.