The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel. It stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee who is hunting a serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine), who skins his female victims. To catch him, she seeks the advice of the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial murderer. The film also features performances by Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, and Kasi Lemmons.
Released by Orion Pictures on February 14, 1991, the film grossed $272.7 million worldwide on a $19 million budget and became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year. It premiered at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, where Demme won the Silver Bear for Best Director. At the 64th Academy Awards, it became the third—and most recent—film to win the "Big Five" categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It remains the only horror film to have won Best Picture.
The Silence of the Lambs is regularly cited by critics, film directors, and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films. In 2017, Empire ranked it 48th on its list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. The American Film Institute ranked it the sixty-fifth greatest film in American cinema and the fifth-greatest thriller, while Starling and Lecter were included among the greatest film heroines and villains. The film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2011.
The film has drawn criticism for its portrayal of gender identity, particularly regarding the character of Buffalo Bill, which some critics argue perpetuates harmful stereotypes. Demme defended the film's intentions, arguing that it merely tells the personal story of "a tormented man".
The film was followed by the sequel Hannibal (2001), the prequels Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal Rising (2007), a play and two television series.
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.
Starling deciphers "Louis Friend" as an anagram for "iron sulfide" (fool's gold) and confronts Lecter in his temporary cell at a Memphis courthouse. Lecter demands deeper revelations and offers a cryptic clue—"we covet what we see every day"—before Starling recounts a traumatic childhood incident: after her father's death, she lived on a relative's Montana farm, where she failed to save spring lambs from slaughter. Lecter intuits that saving Catherine might silence this recurring trauma and, satisfied, returns the case files. That night, he uses a piece of Chilton's pen to unlock his restraints, murders two guards, and escapes in an ambulance disguised in a dead guard's uniform and skinned face.
Analyzing Lecter's annotations, Starling deduces that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim, Frederika Bimmel, a tailor from Ohio, and follows the lead. At Bimmel's home, she finds unfinished dresses and patterns matching patches of skin removed from the victims, realizing Bill seeks to construct a "suit" of human flesh and starves his captives to loosen their skin. Crawford cross-references Lecter's profile with names from Johns Hopkins and the Known Offenders database, identifying Jame Gumb as the prime suspect; the name is confirmed through LAX customs papers listing Gumb as the addressee of live death's-head moth caterpillars imported from Suriname. While Crawford's team raids Gumb's vacant Calumet City residence, Starling interviews Bimmel's acquaintances and arrives at a house where Gumb poses as "Jack Gordon". His façade crumbles when Starling spots a death's-head moth.
Pursuing Gumb into his basement, Starling discovers Catherine trapped in the well. Gumb stalks Starling in complete darkness using night-vision goggles, but betrays his position by cocking his revolver; Starling fires instinctively and kills him. Catherine is rescued.
Starling graduates from the FBI Academy. During the post-ceremony party, Lecter calls from an unnamed tropical location, asking whether "the lambs have stopped screaming." He assures her he has no intention of pursuing her and asks that she return the favor—a vow she declines. Lecter announces he is "having an old friend for dinner" before trailing Chilton into a crowd.
Cast
Production Development The movie is based on the 1988 novel by Thomas Harris. It was the second film to feature the character Hannibal Lecter; the first, Manhunter (1986), directed by Michael Mann, was based on the first novel in the Lecter series, Red Dragon (1981). Prior to the release of the Silence of the Lambs novel, Orion Pictures partnered with Gene Hackman to adapt it for film. With Hackman set to direct and star as either Jack Crawford or Hannibal Lecter, negotiations were made to split the $500,000 cost of rights between Hackman and the studio. The producers also had to acquire the rights to the Lecter character, which were owned by Manhunter producer Dino De Laurentiis. Owing to the financial failure of Manhunter, De Laurentiis lent the rights to Orion for free.
In November 1987, Ted Tally was brought on to write the adaptation; Tally had crossed paths with Harris many times, with his interest in adapting The Silence of the Lambs originating from receiving an advance copy of the book from Harris. When Tally was about halfway through with the first draft, Hackman withdrew from the project as his children wanted him to stop doing violent films, and financing fell through. However, Orion co-founder Mike Medavoy encouraged Tally to keep writing as the studio took care of financing, and searched for a replacement director. Amblin Entertainment passed on the project as they felt it was out of character for Steven Spielberg to direct. Orion sought Jonathan Demme to direct. With the screenplay not yet completed, Demme signed on after reading the novel. From there, the project developed quickly; Tally said: "[Demme] read my first draft not long after it was finished, and we met. Then I was just startled by the speed of things. We met in May 1989 and were shooting in November. I don't remember any big revisions."
Casting Jodie Foster was interested in playing FBI agent Clarice Starling immediately after reading the novel. However, even though she had just won an Academy Award for Best Actress at the 61st Academy Awards for her performance in The Accused (1988), Demme was not initially convinced that she was right for the role. Demme's first choice for the role of Starling was Michelle Pfeiffer, with whom he had just collaborated on Married to the Mob (1988). Pfeiffer turned it down, later saying, "It was a difficult decision, but I got nervous about the subject matter."The Barbara Walters Special, American Broadcasting Company, 1992 He then approached Meg Ryan, who also turned it down for its gruesome themes. The studio was skeptical about Laura Dern as a bankable choice, so Foster was ultimately awarded the role due to her passion for the character. Molly Ringwald auditioned but was deemed "too young".Molly Ringwald Felt Limited by 'Brat Pack' Label, But 'The Bear' and 'Feud' Roles Excite Her for What's Next
For the role of Lecter, Demme originally approached Sean Connery. After Connery turned it down, Anthony Hopkins was offered the role based on his performance in The Elephant Man (1980). When Hopkins's agent told him that a script was on his way titled The Silence of the Lambs, Hopkins responded, "Is it a children's story?" Hopkins called his agent back after reading the first 10 pages and said, "This is the best part I've ever read." He accepted the role after having dinner with Demme.
Other actors considered for the role included Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi and Daniel Day-Lewis. Forest Whitaker has stated that he also auditioned for the role. The mask Hopkins wore became an iconic symbol of the film. It was created by Ed Cubberly, of Frenchtown, New Jersey, who had made masks for NHL goalkeepers.
Hopkins developed his portrayal of Lecter by drawing inspiration from the HAL 9000 computer as voiced by Douglas Rain in 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as the vocal patterns of writer Truman Capote. In a 2001 interview with GQ, Hopkins clarified that he did not base Lecter's vocal cadence on Katharine Hepburn, as some people had thought. He also revealed that the decision to play Lecter as still and unblinking was not influenced by Charles Manson, as some had speculated. Hopkins admitted to being intimidated by Foster, who had just won an Academy Award, and initially felt scared to talk to her.
Scott Glenn was cast to play Jack Crawford, the Agent-in-Charge of the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI in Quantico, Virginia. In preparation for the role, Glenn met with John E. Douglas. Douglas gave Glenn a tour of the Quantico facility and also played for him an audio tape containing various recordings that serial killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris had made of themselves raping and torturing a 16-year-old girl. According to Douglas, Glenn wept as he listened to the recordings, and even changed his liberal stance on the death penalty.
Filming