"Good evening, Clarice."
An awesome movie, and the only horror film ever to win Best Picture. Besides being an amazing horror story, it is also a mystery, a detective story and a psychological thriller. It's based on the book by Thomas Harris, which is nail-biter and a total page-turner that hooks you from page one, and the movie is extraordinarily true to the book.The movie is directed by Jonathan Demme, though the four main actors, (two of which later became directors in their own right -Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins), Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling), Anthony Hopkins (Dr. Hannibal Lecter -best name for a movie villain ever), Scott Glenn (Jack Crawford) and Ted Levine (Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb), all had quite a bit of say in how their roles developed. All seemed to have been very passionate about the movie, and about properly capturing their characters, which paid off in pitch perfect performances.
The movie begins with Clarice Starling, a student at the FBI Academy, being called in from a run to meet with Agent Jack Crawford in the Behavioral Science Department. According to IMDB, "Originally, the film was to open with Clarice Starling and a male FBI agent in the middle of a drug bust. They were to burst into the room and make a number of arrests, and only then would the audience be let in on the fact that it was a training exercise. However Jodie Foster was able to convince director Jonathan Demme to change this scene, as she felt it had been done so many times before. It was Foster herself who came up with the idea of opening with Starling running through the assault course." Jodie Foster had originally wanted to make the movie herself, and when that wasn't possible, had worked very hard to get the part of Clarice, so she had strong opinions about how the movie should be made, and thankfully the director listened.
When Clarice arrives in Crawford's office, he quickly explains the special task he has in mind for her:
Crawford: It says, when you graduate, you wanna work for me in Behavioral Science.
Clarice: Yes, very much, sir. Very much.
Crawford: We're interviewing all serial killers now in custody for a psycho-behavioral profile. Could be a real help in unsolved cases. Most of them have been happy to talk to us. Do you spook easily, Starling?
Clarice: Not yet, sir.
Crawford: See, the one we want most refuses to cooperate. I want you to go after him again today in the asylum.
Clarice: Who's the subject?
Crawford: The psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter.
Clarice: Hannibal the Cannibal.
Crawford: I don't expect him to talk to you. But I have to be able to say we tried. So if he won't cooperate, I want just straight reporting. How does he look? How does his cell look? ls he sketching, drawing? If he is, what's he sketching? Here's a dossier on Lecter. A copy of our questionnaire and a special ID for you. Have your memo on my desk by Wednesday.
Clarice: OK. Excuse me, sir, but why the urgency? Lecter's been in prison for so many years. Is there some connection between him and Buffalo Bill maybe?
Crawford: I wish there were. Now, I want your full attention, Starling.
Clarice: Yes, sir.
Crawford: Be very careful with Hannibal Lecter. Dr. Chilton at the asylum will go over all the physical procedures used with him. Do not deviate from them for any reason whatsoever. And you're to tell him nothing personal. Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head.
This quickly sets the tone of the movie, and of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. We are made aware of the fact that the FBI is searching for a serial killer called Buffalo Bill. We also begin to fear the character of Dr. Lecter. This ominous first conversation establishes him as a dangerous and enigmatic killer. From the very beginning, Dr. Lecter is a frightening character.
Clarice arrives at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, a dark, bleak, and foreboding institution, where she meets the hospital's director, Dr. Frederick Chilton. Chilton, it becomes quickly apparent, is an egotistical, misogynistic man. He tells Clarice that Dr. Lecter views him as his "nemesis," and then, after Clarice rebuffs his attempts to flirt with her, says, "Crawford is very clever, isn't he, using you?...A pretty young woman to turn him on. I don't believe Lecter's even seen a woman in eight years. And oh, are you ever his taste. So to speak." He is instantly distasteful to Clarice, as well as to the audience.
As he walks Clarice further into the depths off the hospital, Chilton gives Clarice instructions on how to approach Dr. Lecter. In doing so, he amps up our fear of the man, so that Dr. Lecter has become a chilling character well before we ever see him: "Do not touch or approach the glass. You pass him nothing but soft paper. No pencils or pens. No staples or paperclips in his paper. Use the sliding food carrier. If he attempts to pass you anything, do not accept it...I am going to show you why we insist on such precautions. On the evening of July 8th, 1981, he complained of chest pains and was taken to the dispensary. His mouthpiece and restraints were removed for an EKG. When the nurse leaned over him, he did this to her. The doctors managed to reset her jaw more or less. Saved one of her eyes. His pulse never got above 85, even when he ate her tongue."
It's the perfect setup. As Clarice walks down the dimly lit hallway, passing cells full of deranged prisoners, you can see her sense of unease increasing, and the viewer's fear increases as well. I was both curious and reluctant to first see man she was going to meet.
I have to say, even though it is irrational, I feel I have to refer to the character as Dr. Lecter throughout this review, instead of just Lecter, out of respect. He's not real, but I still feel like I don't want to offend the man. That's a sign that a character has made an impact. It should be noted that Hannibal Lecter was voted the Greatest Film Villain of all time by the American Film Institute. No contest. Dr. Lecter is a complicated villain. He is a serial killer, cruel and vicious. He can be mocking, sarcastic, arrogant, temperamental, and extremely unpredictable -not to mention the whole cannibal thing. He likes to play games with people, and is clearly a sociopath. But he is also brilliant, talented, polite in his own way, and even charming at times. Sometimes he even seems almost likable. But he is evil, and is never to be trusted.
Clarice finds him in the last cell, standing and waiting for her behind a glass panel. At first, Dr. Lecter seems harmless enough, which actually makes him more frightening since we know his history, and what he is capable of:
Dr. Lecter: Good morning.
Clarice: Dr. Lecter, my name is Clarice Starling. May I speak with you?
Dr. Lecter: You're one of Jack Crawford's, aren't you?
Clarice: I am, yes.
Dr. Lecter: May I see your credentials?
Clarice: Certainly.
Dr. Lecter: Closer, please. Clo-ser...
The way he says closer, in a high, drawn out voice, drawing her nearer the glass, is extremely spooky. Dr. Lecter is clearly irked when he discovers that Clarice is a student. It is obvious he thinks himself above such treatment, but he uses the opportunity to try to learn more information about Crawford's current case, which he has been following: "Jack Crawford must be very busy indeed if he's recruiting help from the student body. Busy hunting that new one: Buffalo Bill. What a naughty boy he is."While not interested in helping fill out Clarice's questionnaires, he is curious to know more details about the case, and seems to enjoy toying with Clarice:
Dr. Lecter: Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? Enthrall me with your acumen.
Clarice: It excites him. Most serial killers keep some sort of trophies from their victims.
Dr. Lecter: I didn't.
Clarice: No. No, you ate yours.
He quickly tires of her, not interested in completing a questionnaire he deems below his notice, and insulted that Crawford has tried to entice information out of him using a female student. He attacks her in a mocking tone of voice, something Hopkins decided on spontaneously, as stated on IMDB: "Anthony Hopkins's mocking of her southern accent was not rehearsed...Hopkins improvised it on the spot. Foster's reaction of horror was totally genuine." In the face of his verbal assault, Clarice holds her own pretty well. Though shaken, she responds cleverly, only to be answered with one of the classic quotes from the film:
Dr. Lecter: You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desperately to shed: pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you. All those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars, while you could only dream of getting out, getting anywhere, getting all the way to the FBI.
Clarice: You see a lot, Doctor. But are you strong enough to point that high-powered perception at yourself? What about it? Why don't you look at yourself and write down what you see? Or maybe you're afraid to.
Dr. Lecter: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
He sends her on her way, saying "You fly back to school, now, little Starling. Fly, fly, fly..."This could have been the end of it, if Lecter's next door neighbor, Miggs, had not decided to fling semen (yuck yuck yuck) at Clarice as she was walking away.
Dr. Lecter is revolted by the rudeness of this act (though he apparently didn't deem his own insulting comments earlier rude):
Dr. Lecter: Agent Starling! Come back! Agent Starling! Agent Starling! I would not have had that happen to you. Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly.
Clarice: Then do this test.
Dr. Lecter: No, but I'll give you a chance for what you love most.
Clarice: And what is that?
Dr. Lecter: Advancement. Listen carefully. Look deep within yourself, Clarice Starling. Go seek out Miss Mofet, an old patient of mine. M-O-F-E-T. I don't think Miggs could manage again so soon, even though he is crazy. Go!
His clue leads her to a victim related to the Buffalo Bill case, revealing that Dr. Lecter likely knows the identity of Buffalo Bill. Crawford sends Clarice back to try to find out what Dr. Lecter knows, but he is not revealing anything further without an improvement in his living situation. Clarice does discover that he has punished Miggs for his behavior towards her by somehow coaxing him to kill himself.
Crawford sends Clarice back with a fake offer of a transfer to a better prison on an island, but now Dr. Lecter is more interested in learning about Clarice:
Dr. Lecter: Terns? Mmh. If I help you, Clarice, it will be "turns" with us too. Quid pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no? Yes or no, Clarice? Poor little Catherine is waiting.
Clarice: Go, doctor.
This is exactly what Crawford had warned Clarice against. But Buffalo Bill has kidnapped another victim, Catherine Martin, the daughter of a Senator, and the clock is ticking for them to find her before she is killed, so Clarice agrees to play along. She tells him about the murder of her father, who was the Town Marshall, and her subsequent move to live with family at a ranch. In return, he gives her this information about the killer: "There are three major centers for transsexual surgery, Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota, and Columbus Medical Center. I wouldn't be surprised if Billy had applied for sex reassignment at one or all of these, and been rejected...Look for severe childhood disturbances associated with violence. Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse. Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a transsexual. But his pathology is a thousand times more savage and more terrifying."With this information, Clarice sets off to begin further research. Before she can speak to Dr. Lecter again, however, Dr. Chilton screws things up for her, telling Dr. Lecter about the ruse the FBI is playing on him about the prison transfer. Angry at the deception, and faced with a real offer from Senator Martin, he accepts a deal to be transferred to Memphis and a new and improved cell, before taunting Senator Martin and giving fake information once he has been moved.
Clarice arranges to meet with him one last time, believing that he was telling her the truth in their interviews:
Dr. Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?
Clarice: He kills women...
Dr. Lecter: No. That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does? What needs does he serve by killing?
Clarice: Anger, um, social acceptance, and, huh, sexual frustrations, sir...
Dr. Lecter: No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.
Clarice: No. We just...
Dr. Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don't your eyes seek out the things you want?
But he won't tell her anymore. He demands to hear more about her. She tells him that she ran away from the farm she was living on when she woke up to screaming and discovered that the lambs on the farm were being slaughtered. She tried to save one, but was caught and failed, and ultimately was sent to live in an orphanage:
Clarice: Yes.
Dr. Lecter: And you think if you save poor Catherine, you could make them stop, don't you? You think if Catherine lives, you won't wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs.Clarice: I don't know. I don't know.
Dr. Lecter: Thank you, Clarice. Thank you.
Clarice: Tell me his name, Doctor.
Dr. Lecter: Dr. Chilton, I presume. I think you know each other.
Chilton: Okay. Let's go.
Clarice: It's your turn, Doctor.
Chilton: Out!
Clarice: Tell me his name!
Boyle: I'm sorry, ma'am. We've got orders. We have to put you on a plane. Come on, now.
Dr. Lecter: Brave Clarice. You will let me know when those lambs stop screaming, won't you?
Clarice: Tell me his name, Doctor!
Dr. Lecter: Clarice, your case file. Goodbye, Clarice.
While this is happening, Jame Gumb, the man known by the FBI only as Buffalo Bill, is keeping and preparing his latest victim, Catherine Martin, in a pit in his house. He captures heavyset women and keeps them imprisoned until their skin loosens up, forcing them to apply lotion to themselves, until he is ready to kill them. He wants to transform himself into a woman, and is making a suit out of women's skin. We see him in his house, dressing up in women's clothes and dancing in front of a mirror (IMDB states that "Buffalo Bill's dance was not included in the original draft of the screenplay (although it appears in the novel). It was added at the insistence of Ted Levine, who thought the scene was essential in defining the character."), talking to his small dog, Precious, and periodically checking on Catherine, who he refers to as "it": "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. Yes, it will, Precious, won't it? It will get the hose!" He's a creepy, creepy dude to say the least. Completely deranged. IMDB describes Gumb as follows: "Buffalo Bill is the combination of three real life serial killers: Ed Gein, who skinned his victims; Ted Bundy, who used the cast on his hand as bait to make women get into his van; and Gary Heidnick, who kept women he kidnapped in a pit in his basement."Dr. Lecter, now removed from his secure cell where he was under the constant watchful eye of a worker named Barney (who was trained never to underestimate Dr. Lecter), quickly makes a genius, horrifyingly brutal, grutesque escape from prison.
When Clarice gets word, she is distressed, but not concerned for her own safety:
Clarice: He won't come after me.
Ardelia Mapp: Oh really?
Clarice: He won't. I can't explain it. He -he would consider that rude.
She continues, though officially off the case, to go over what Dr. Lecter had told her, knowing that the answer must be there. She remembers what he said about first coveting what we see, and realizes that Buffalo Bill must have known his first victim. She heads to the first victim's hometown to investigate on her own.
Catherine's time is up. Gumb is ready to kill her, and goes down to the basement, only to find that she has cleverly managed to lure his dog into the pit, and is holding her hostage, threatening to kill her.
That's when Gumb hears somebody at the door upstairs. He opens it to Clarice Starling, who was hoping to find the first victim's employer, who used to live at this house. Gumb offers to try to find some contact information for her, but just then Clarice spots a moth -the same as the rare moths that have been found stuffed into the mouths of the victims -and she realizes that she is looking at Buffalo Bill. He sees the recognition in her face, and she pulls her gun, but he manages to slip away into another room of the house.
What follows is an intense chase scene through the house in the dark, as Gumb (possessing night vision goggles) manages to cut the lights. It follows the book to a tee, though in the book we get to hear Clarice's thoughts as she struggles to use her FBI training to find Gumb while protecting Catherine, which is interesting. It is suspenseful, and my heart pounded reading this part of the book and watching this part of the movie.
The finale of the movie was even better than the book. At a celebration over the successful end to the manhunt for Buffalo Bill, and rescue of Catherine Martin, Clarice receives a haunting phone call:
Dr. Lecter: Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?
Clarice: Dr. Lecter?
Dr. Lecter: Don't bother with a trace, I won't be on long enough.
Clarice: Where are you?
Dr. Lecter: I have no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world's more interesting with you in it. So you take care now to extend me the same courtesy.
Clarice: You know I can't make that promise.
Dr. Lecter: I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye.
Clarice: Dr. Lecter? Dr. Lecter? Dr. Lecter? Dr. Lecter?
The last thing we see is Dr. Lecter casually trailing Dr. Chilton in a tropical location.
Flawless.
IMDB (Sorry, lots of making-of citations from IMDB this time, but I find the amount of work the actors put into researching their roles so important to the success of this movie), describes the effort the four main actors put into preparing for the movie:
"Scott Glenn's character of Jack Crawford was based on real-life FBI Special Agent John E. Douglas, an early member of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit, who coached Glenn on his portrayal of a member of the BSU. Douglas, still an active FBI Special Agent during production, was in the midst of tracking Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, who was convicted of killing seventy-one women and believed to have killed more than ninety between 1982 and 1998 in Washington state...After working with John Douglas for some time Scott Glenn thanked him and said how fascinating it was to have been allowed into his world. Douglas laughed at this comment and told Glenn that if he really wanted to get into his world, he should listen to an audio tape of serial killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris torturing, raping and murdering two teenage girls. Glenn listened to less than one minute of the tape, and has since said that he feels he lost a sense of innocence in doing so and that he has never been able to forget what he heard.
In preparation for his role, Anthony Hopkins studied files of serial killers. Also, he visited prisons and studied convicted murderers and was present during some court hearings concerning serial killings.
Jodie Foster spent a great deal of time with FBI agent Mary Ann Krause prior to filming and it was Krause who gave Foster the idea of Starling standing by her car crying. Krause told Foster that at times, the work just became so overbearing that this was a good way to get an emotional release.
After being cast as Buffalo Bill, Ted Levine had done a lot of research into developing his character by reading profiles of serial killers. Levine later said that he found the material very disturbing. He also went out and attended a few transvestite bars, where he began interviewing patrons, as Bill was also a cross-dresser."
This is real devotion, and it certainly paid off. The amount of passion put into this movie is apparent in the outcome.
I have not seen Hannibal, and never plan to (nor do I plan to read the book, though I do know what happens). It sounds terrible, and completely unfaithful to the characters. Harris was clearly out of ideas and wanted to make more money, so he decided to just shock and disgust his audience rather than coming up with anything creative or innovative. Red Dragon, the book before Silence of the Lambs, and the movie version made with Edward Norton starring as Will Graham, the man that captured Dr. Lecter, is worth checking out for sure:
Will Graham: I thought you might enjoy the challenge. Find out if you're smarter than the person I'm looking for.
Dr. Lecter: Then, by implication, you think you're smarter than I am, since it was you who caught me.
Will Graham: No, I know I'm not smarter than you.
Dr. Lecter: Then how did you catch me?
Will Graham: You had... disadvantages.
Dr. Lecter: What disadvantages?
Will Graham: You're insane.
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