The Silence of the Lambs has so many perfect parts. The performances, plot twists, hard-hitting dialogue, shocking violence, feminist themes — and those wildly inventive camera angles. Sure, subjective POV cinematography was done long before Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, but his clever use of the visual device would go on to inspire other filmmakers for decades. That includes Sam Yates, director of the new neo-noir film Magpie, now playing in select theaters.
It stars Daisy Ridley as Anette, a mom of two whose marriage is falling apart after her shady husband Ben (Shazad Latif) begins to fall for famous actress Alicia (Matilda Lutz). Ben’s adulterous temptations kick into high gear once he commences a daring text-message conversation with Alicia — and, as MovieWeb recently learned from our conversation with Yates, that’s where Demme’s landmark film comes into the conversation. “I really wanted a way to bring text messages to life so that, you know, you weren’t just doing loads of shots of phones,” said Yates, adding:
“And then I started to look, and this is where
The Silence of the Lambs
was really, really, wonderfully inspiring, because you actually chart how he uses it. Firstly, how he introduces it to an audience… then it’s very tight, so the eyeline gets tighter. And Jodie Foster’s character is kind of often not looking down the barrel. So she’s often kind of the subject of the shot. And then you see when he changes that with Hannibal, and by the end, she’s kind of owning it. And that was a great thing, because it shows a sort of character coming through power, if you saw it in that way, and becoming the master of the shot.”
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Yates also spoke about why he admires the noir genre in general and another key inspiration behind the creative process of Magpie. “What I love, I suppose, about neo-noirs or noirs is that you’ve got people behaving in morally very questionable ways, and also taking a normal person and pushing them to an extreme, seeing what they do. So I really like that. There’s a lot of movies that do that… We were watching stuff like… Gone Girl, those kind of thrillers where you’re never really sure what’s happening but something is cooking underneath… thrillers that are actor-driven.”
Related: Magpie Review: Daisy Ridley’s Seductive Neo-Noir Slow-Burn
From Daisy Ridley to Anjelica Huston
Looking ahead, Yates is also in the director’s chair for the upcoming limited series Towards Zero for BBC and Britbox, based on Agatha Christie’s work. The project features a top-tier cast that includes the timeless Anjelica Huston. “It was daunting, but she is totally, totally delightful and a wonderful, wonderful actress, and she was just completely on point,” Yates told us. “She’s got a great character called Lady Tressilian, who’s this kind of quite fierce matriarch. But, of course, she brings this amazing dignity and subtlety to it. She’s just so powerful.” He continued:
“But obviously, you know, it’s very surreal. You’re kind of stood there, and you’re like, ‘That’s Anjelica Houston stepping out of the car, and she’s coming on set, and she’s gonna sit in this bed and play this role!’ So, yeah, I mean, to be honest, I feel like that with any actor, but obviously, if they’re a Hollywood icon and you’ve watched their movies all your life, this is an added element. But I just love actors, so I’m always kind of excited.”
In the meantime, from Shout! Studios, Magpie is now playing in select theaters.
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