A different take

I sympathise with Julianne Moore. It would be impossible to fill Jodie Foster's shoes as Clarice Starling but she did a credible job for any viewer that had either never seen Silence else could reset their view of who Clarice Starling originally was. It takes some effort and the ability to separate these as different works with different actresses. Jodie brought a lot of vulnerable determination to the role and Julianne subsequently delivered a lot of determined vulnerability. We remember most what we see first and of course Jodie will always be the definitive Starling. That means that Moore showed considerable courage because she redefined Starling and to purists that is sheer heresy. Yet these "transgressions" take place all the time as Hollywood proves again and again - through tired remakes - that its creativity is constrained by the backers who have only one aim; to make more money. Therefore a director who can push through something innovative and disguise it as a sure bet to the gnomes with the cash is a very rare animal indeed.

Yet to judge either work in terms of the other is, I believe, to miss the point. Moore was between a rock and a hard place but somehow she found a way through. Viewers who can abandon the disappointment that Jodie turned down the second role and simply reset and re-evaluate the character can enjoy this film.

Gary Oldman was incredible, not least for the six hours he had to spend in makeup for each shoot. It's true that Moore's Starling is vastly different from Foster's but if you can look beyond the differences between the two players you might be surprised.

The suspense element was, as always, beautifully poisonous, delivered in that gentle sinister way that Hopkins has made his own:

"... yes, thrown naked, with a noose around his neck, from a window. Writhing and kicking alongside the Archbishop, against the cold stone wall."

Delicious use of language.

In the context of so much beauty (the Opera) it textured well with the old conceptions of psychopathy (however misguided) that beauty and horror sit alongside one another.

At the very least, there are scenes in this film that cut to the root of horror; the dissolution of who we are, by scalpel, within reach of garlic and a crepe pan. Few could deny that will make the skin crawl.

6/10