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The Silence of the Lambs
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
1991 · Directed by Jonathan Demme · 119 min · Crime · Thriller · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 41 frames
Tagline
To enter the mind of a killer she must challenge the mind of a madman.
Plot
Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee at Quantico, is recruited by Behavioral Science Unit chief Jack Crawford to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant and cannibalistic psychiatrist imprisoned at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Officially conducting a psychological survey, Starling is actually meant to draw out insights that could help capture "Buffalo Bill", a serial killer who murders young women and removes their skin.
At the hospital, the manipulative director Dr. Frederick Chilton makes unwelcome advances toward Starling before escorting her to Lecter's cell. Initially courteous, Lecter grows dismissive upon deducing Crawford's ulterior motive. As Starling departs, inmate Miggs flings semen at her, provoking Lecter's disgust. He summons her back and offers an anagram as a clue that leads her to a storage unit containing a severed head in a jar—later revealed to belong to Benjamin Raspail, a former patient of Lecter whose killer is believed to be Buffalo Bill. Soon afterward, Miggs is found dead, having swallowed his own tongue—implicitly orchestrated by Lecter as retribution. Lecter agrees to assist in exchange for a transfer away from Chilton. Meanwhile, another victim is discovered with a death's-head moth lodged in her throat—the same species later found inside the severed head.
When Buffalo Bill abducts Catherine Martin, daughter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin, Crawford authorizes Starling to offer Lecter a fraudulent deal: a prison transfer in return for actionable intelligence. Lecter instead demands a quid pro quo, extracting personal details from Starling, who reveals that her father, a police officer, was murdered when she was ten, leaving her orphaned. In exchange, Lecter reveals that Buffalo Bill is not a genuine transsexual but mistakenly believes he is, having possibly been rejected from gender-reassignment clinics due to psychological instability. Chilton secretly records the conversation, exposes her deceit, and offers Lecter relocation to Tennessee in exchange for information. Lecter complies and is flown to Memphis, where he provides Senator Martin with accurate details about Buffalo Bill's appearance but falsely identifies him as "Louis Friend". Meanwhile, Buffalo Bill holds Catherine captive in a dry well in his basement, demanding she apply lotion to her skin; Catherine manages to seize his dog, Precious, as leverage.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Ted Tally
- Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
- Edited by: Craig McKay
- Music: Howard Shore
- Production design: Kristi Zea
- Produced by: Edward Saxon, Ron Bozman, Kenneth Utt
Cast
- Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling
- Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter
- Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford
- Ted Levine as Jame Gumb
- Anthony Heald as Dr. Frederick Chilton
- Brooke Smith as Catherine Martin
- Diane Baker as Senator Ruth Martin
- Kasi Lemmons as Ardelia Mapp
- Frankie Faison as Barney
- Tracey Walter as Lamar
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Orion Pictures, Strong Heart, A Luta Continua
- Budget: $19,000,000
- Box office: $272,742,922
- Themes: prison, based on novel or book, kidnapping, psychopath, fbi, scientific study, murder, serial killer, psychological thriller, brutality
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