Silence of the Lambs

Semiotics are often used in 'Silence of the lambs' to relate to the genre and narrative. One good use of semiotics is when agent starling goes to see Hannibal in the mental institute. In this scene I noticed that all the patients were behind metal bars whilst Hannibal was behind a glass screen. This is an index as it simply is a glass screen however it indicates that Hannibal is far more dangerous than the other patients. Another thing that indicates Hannibal is more dangerous than the other patients is that  he is at the end of the row. As agent Starling walks down the row of patients it looks as the further  she goes down the row of patients, the more dangerous they get and Hannibal is at the end  showing he is the most dangerous patient.

Another use of semiotics in 'Silence of the lambs' is at the start when the agent has the FBI logo stitched on to there clothing. This is an icon of the FBI and is iconic as people associate the FBI with  to protect and serve people. The third use of semiotics I found in the silence of the lambs is when Hannibal escapes and then positions one of the guards in the shape of a cross. The cross is a symbol of Christianity. Religion is very powerful so Hannibal may of done this to show how powerful he is.

The Genre was communicated in the opening of silence of the lambs when it shows the women running through the woods. It looks very dark and Eire to straight away show the film isn't going to be all really nice. There is music playing that sounds very mysterious to show there is going to be a big mystery in the film.

The main female character relates to the feminist film theory as she is shown in many places to be doing a mans job as she is an FBI agent. There are many shots that show her peers looking down at her as unequal to them. Throughout the film she is looked at as the male gaze by men. The male gaze is when women are presented as an image, whilst the man is the bearer of the look. We find later that both her parents died at a young age which shows us she is a very self motivated person.

Feminism can also be portrayed by Buffalo Bill. Although Buffalo Bill is a serial killer, he doesn't represent the generic villain shown in most films of this genre. Even though Bill shows a lot of masculine power he wishes to be a woman. His wanting to be feminine almost tells us that masculinity isn't always wanted.

The queer theory relates to the character 'Buffalo Bill'. Bill is shown to be a 'Drag Queen'. This is when someone dresses as a woman but is still a man. Buffalo Bill represents homosexuality in this film and shows that he is just a man who wants to be a women. We find out in the film that he is denied a sex change so he murders women to take there skin and make a suite for himself to wear. This film may be argued that it shows the idea of homosexuality and transvestites in a negative way however the film does state at one point that it is actually a very 'passive' culture.

I believe the most memorable scene from the film is when Hannibal escapes from his cell. I believe this part shows us how evil Hannibal really is. Before this scene Hannibal is shown to be very still throughout the film and although says about what he has done we don't see him really move. This is the first time we actually see him do something evil.