The Criterion Collection’s treatment of Jonathan Demme’s chilling classic is also their first title manufactured under the guidelines of the THX laserdisc program.
The film is presented in its original theatrical widescreen format, with the matted image measuring in at roughly 1.85:1. Extraneous vertical information seen in the previous panned-and-scanned version from Orion Home Video has been properly matted out, with noticeably more picture restored to both sides of the frame. The tighter vertical cropping is essential during the interrogation scenes between Clarice and Dr. Lecter: Demme’s intense close-ups are now properly framed, heightening the eerie effect of their confrontations.
The film has been mastered onto three sides of two discs, thus the horrible disc break that marked the mid-point of the previous Orion edition is avoided altogether. Side 1 is in CAV format, sides 2 & 3 in CLV, with supplementaries beginning after the end of the movie on side 3 and then continuing in CAV on side 4.
The alternate audio commentary is a real accomplishment: Voyager managed to snag Demme, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, in addition to screenwriter Ted Tally and FBI consultant John Douglas. During the course of the audio essay, each contributes stories and opinions about the film, though much of what is said could very well have been recorded in 1991. The perspective of the commentary doesn’t seem to be from 1994. Only Hopkins enthusiastically acknowledges how the film has since affected his career while Demme and especially Foster offer mainly their original approaches to the material. It would have been equally interesting to hear more about how everyone viewed the universal success of the film and its place in American pop culture today.
The most fascinating element of the supplementary section is a segment devoted to FBI profiles of serial killers. It may seem pretty sadistic to page through actual FBI serial killer case studies, but in the context of the film it makes perfect sense. This complements FBI consultant John Douglas’ occasional comparisons of actual FBI cases with plot devices in the film. Also included are several never-before-seen scenes which were rightfully deleted before the film’s release, along with an introduction about where they would have appeared. These scenes were duplicated from the only source available—Jonathan Demme’s personal VHS copy of a work-in-progress print—and the image quality is understandably poor, rendering impossible anyone’s attempt to "re-edit" a longer version of the film with this footage.
The digital video transfer and the flawless THX surround sound are of the highest demonstration quality. This is the definitive home video treatment of 'Silence Of The Lambs'. One curious omission: the theatrical trailer, nearly always a staple of a Criterion Collection’s supplementary sections, is nowhere to be found, even though there was plenty of room at the end of side 1 to squeeze it in.
Vital statistics: The Criterion Collection, 4 sides, CAV/CLV, Matted widescreen (1.85:1), THX, Chapter stops, Dolby Stereo Surround, $99.95.
S. Damien Segal.
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