Best movies of the 90s [antikvár]

'4 . ' ^^ 20 CAMERA SHOTS FOR 8 SECONDS OF FILM Remarks on cinema of the 90s Movies ot the 90s contain imperceptible images. Siiots can be accelerated so ttiat tiiey iie beiow the perception threshold. An example of such acceleration occurs at the end of Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (1991, p. 48), in what is perhaps the shortest showdown in cinematic history. The exchange of fire between the FBI agent Clarice Starling and the mass-murderer Buffalo Bill takes no more than six seconds, even though it comprises twenty camera shots. It seems odd to devote only six seconds to the most exciting part of a two-hour film, but Demme allows the climax to implode in the true sense of the word and uses extremely pov«erful visual images. The director skilfully and expertly creates the build-up to the showdown: after a tense parallel montage, at the end of which we expect the mur- derer to be caught, It is not the FBI task force that is standing at his door but Clarice on her own. She doesn't know it, but she has found Buffalo Bill. Before she realises who it is standing in front of her, he is able to take refuge In his cellar, where he is holding his latest victim captive. The murderer switches off the light when the FBI agent follows him into the cellar While her adversary watches, Clarice gropes uncertainly in the dark. Throughout this scene, the audience sees through Buffalo Bill's eyes, his night-vision device turning everything a ghostly green. During the chase, Clarice's irregular, panic-stricken breathing is all that can be heard. Only when the young agent hears the pistol being cocked behind her is she able to guess the murderer's position. At the speed of light, she spins round and the gunfight begins. In the silence, the cocking of the gun sounds like a thunderclap, as