In 1991 director Jonathan Demme raised the bar for serial slash thrillers with The Silence Of The Lambs, based on the novel by Thomas Harris. He along with stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins bagged Oscars for this "compelling" portrayal of the relationship between a rookie FBI agent and her cannibalistic consultant. As well as gongs and rave reviews, millions of moviegoers around the world simply ate it up - with some fava beans and a nice chianti, of course...

Silence Is Golden

As well as a digitally restored print of the film, this two-disc DVD comes packed with background information. Sadly there's no direct behind-the-scenes access, but Demme and his cast do give a full picture of the ideas and motivations that drive the movie. In the featurette In The Beginning, Demme admits that it was Foster who really opened up the possibilities in their first meeting, summing it up as, "One woman trying to save another woman."

In the two-part documentary Page To Screen, screenwriter Ted Tally reveals that Demme initially "threw the treatment against the wall in disgust" because he didn't want to do a "slasher movie". Gene Hackman, who was originally slated to direct, had the same reaction, but Foster was attracted to the strength and integrity of Clarice and saw the role as a way to put an end to "always playing the victim". For Tally, adopting Starling's point of view "to the exclusion of all others" was the key he needed to strip down Harris's book. Veteran screenwriter William Goldman also gets a nod in Breaking The Silence, where Demme credits him with a lynchpin moment in the third act. Elsewhere, a discussion of Howard Shore's brooding score echoes the intention to get inside Starling's head.

Despite pitching desperately for the role, Foster did have some reservations about working with Demme, which she reveals in a making of featurette. She was concerned he might lighten the tone too much and on viewing the finished film found some elements to be just plain "weird", eg close-ups looking directly to camera. A vintage making of featurette is also included, but it's a much more run-of-the-mill affair.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

Hour-long documentary Inside The Labyrinth digs deeper into matters like lighting and production design (the more gruesome images inspired by artist Francis Bacon) and Anthony Hopkins explains his attraction to Lecter: "I'm fascinated with the shadow side of our psyches," he says, "because it's usually also the more creative side of us." Beyond that, we get to see him being fitted for various muzzles and Foster talks about her training with the FBI.

Hopkins and Foster exchange more barbed banter in 20 minutes of deleted/alternative scenes along with extra police procedural stuff and Scott Glen gets a little more limelight as the gruff Agent Crawford. The footage is presented in its raw form and there is no commentary. More disappointing is the absence of a commentary for the main feature, but this is mitigated by a wealth of insight on disc two. To cap things off, Hopkins shows off his Rocky impression in a cheeky outtakes reel and records a creepy answering message in the style of Hannibal Lecter. That alone should get your mouth watering...

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