This video essay comes from the ever-illuminating Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting.
Scenes with drama like this aren't unique to thrillers about green FBI agents and cannibal geniuses. Starling and Lecter size each other up, want something from the other, and do what they can to get it (both dramatically and cinematically) in the same way that
The interesting thing here is how masterfully this tension and struggle is represented using simple methods, like eyelines, framing, and point of view. One of the first things you learn in film school is that shooting a character from a low angle gives them power, while shooting one from a high angle takes it away. So, that's a pretty standard tactic that director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto employed. However, the use of eyeline and perspective is truly amazing, and here's why.