Soon after the hostile reception of the theatrical version of Trainspotting, another landmark 1990s movie, The Silence of the Lambs, attempts a similar manoeuvre. In this case, director Nikolai Foster is surely sensible not to turn this source material into a musical. And adapter Gina Gionfriddo is working not from Jonathan Demme’s film but Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel about the dangerous interrogation of psychotic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter by FBI rookie Clarice Starling for his insight into serial killer Buffalo Bill.
The biggest risk of theatricalised movies is that the acting becomes a form of karaoke. Mollie Gallagher, making a confident stage debut in effectively the lead role, echoes Jodie Foster’s Virginia accent and ramps up the pugnacious posture and walk. John Partridge’s Lecter, who is more sonically American than Hopkins’ variation on his Welsh register (the character is actually Lithuanian), avoids the hissy lip-sipping and also injects less charm and culture.
