The 7: Jonathan Demme leaves a legacy of humor, horror and humanity

In recent months, I’ve re-watched both “Married to the Mob” and “Stop Making Sense,” so news of director Jonathan Demme’s death on Wednesday had a real immediacy.

So much talent, so many good films, such a loss. My high school and college years were bookended by the releases of “Stop Making Sense” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” and coincided with a particularly fertile time in Demme’s career. I loved those movies, used to recommend them freely to customers at the Eugene video store where I worked.

Here are my picks for the best 7 films of Jonathan Demme’s career.

1. “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) As one of only three films in the history of Hollywood to win the “big five” Academy Awards – actor, actress, director, screenplay and picture – “The Silence of the Lambs” is iconic on so many levels: Anthony Hopkins’ brilliant portrayal of Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster’s memorable turn as the steely Clarissa Starling chief among them. But there’s so much more. The cinematography, the pacing and the screenplay are right on. Have the lambs stopped screaming?

2. “Stop Making Sense” (1984) Sure, there have been plenty of great concert films in the history of rock ’n’ roll (“The Last Waltz,” “Woodstock,” “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”), but Demme and the Talking Heads did something remarkable in their sparse 88-minute film. They make you feel like you are there, even 30 years later. This film perfectly captures a band at its peak and a director on an upward trajectory. Many argue that this remains the greatest concert film ever made. Nothing I’ve seen before or since would cause me to disagree.

3. “Swimming to Cambodia” (1987) Spalding Gray was a writer, actor and performance artist. His genre: The monologue. This time, he’s talking about that time he went to Thailand for a small role in the Oscar-winning film “The Killing Fields.” As he did with “Stop Making Sense,” Demme lets us feel like we are there in the audience, hearing in first person as Gray, sitting at a desk, talks about the Khmer Rouge, Thai prostitutes, his fear of sharks and all manner of topics. I love this film. In her New York Times Review, Janet Maslin noted, “Mr. Demme once again positions himself on the cutting edge. He remains the American commercial cinema’s most reliable and direct link to the avant-garde.”

4. “Something Wild” (1986) This comedy drama stars Jeff Daniels as a straight arrow named Charles who gets wrapped up in the chaos of free spirit Audrey (Melanie Griffith). Their weekend of fun is horribly interrupted by Ray Liotta, Audrey’s ex, who takes things for a darker turn. The soundtrack, by the way, is to die for, beginning with the David Byrne/Celia Cruz collaboration “Loco de Mor (Crazy for Love)” and all the way through to Sister Carol’s reggae version of “Wild Thing.”

5. “Married to the Mob” (1988) Similar in tone to “Something Wild,” “Married to the Mob” stars Michelle Pfeiffer as the wife of mob lieutenant Alec Baldwin, who works for a crew headed by Dean Stockwell. When Baldwin is killed, Pfeiffer decides to leave mob life behind. When she meets undercover FBI agent played by Matthew Modine, sparks fly. Not only is this movie a lot of fun, the cast is terrific. Mercedes Ruehl very nearly steals the picture with her portrayal of the psychotically jealous mob wife. There are also fun supporting turns from Joan Cusack, Oliver Platt, Chris Isaak, Nancy Travis, Colin Quinn and a host of Demme regulars, including Tracy Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar and Charles Napier.

6. “Philadelphia” (1993) Driven by a brilliant, Oscar-winning performance by Tom Hanks, “Philadelphia” is famous for being one of the first major Hollywood movies to deal with the AIDS crisis. Hanks plays a lawyer fired by his firm after his AIDS diagnosis becomes known. Antonio Banderas plays Hanks’ partner. Denzel Washington is the lawyer who agrees to take Hanks’ case. While some criticized “Philadelphia” as apolitical and safe, that doesn’t diminish the emotional power it carries.

7. “Melvin and Howard” (1981) His fifth feature, this shaggy dog story centers on a loser named Melvin Dummar who meets a guy played by Jason Robards who claims to be Howard Hughes. Years later, Dummar (Paul LeMat) produces a will that names him heir to Hughes fortune. Or not. At the time of its release, Roger Ebert hailed “Melvin and Howard” as a wonderful film and gave it three and a half stars (of four).