Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy, is pulled from her routine to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist turned incarcerated cannibal. The FBI believes Lecter holds the key to catching "Buffalo Bill," a serial killer who skins his female victims. To save the latest abductee before time runs out, Clarice must engage in a deadly psychological game with Lecter, trading her own traumatic memories for clues to the killer's identity.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
February 14, 1991 |
Running time |
118 minutes |
Genre |
Crime Drama Thriller Horror |
Budget |
$19,000,000 |
Box Office |
$272,742,922 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Jonathan Demme |
Produced by |
Kenneth Utt Edward Saxon Ron Bozman |
Written by |
Ted Tally |
Music by |
Howard Shore |
Cinematography |
Tak Fujimoto |
Edited by |
Craig McKay |
Production Co. |
Orion Pictures |
Distributed by |
Orion Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #02 in The Hannibal Lecter Collection
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The Plot
Assignment at Quantico
Clarice Starling, a promising student at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is abruptly pulled from her training regimen by Jack Crawford, the head of the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. Crawford, recalling Starling's aptitude, presents her with a challenging errand: she is to present a VICAP questionnaire to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist turned incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer. Crawford hopes Lecter’s insights might prove vital in the pursuit of "Buffalo Bill," an active serial killer who skins his female victims. Before sending her off, Crawford issues a stern warning: Starling must observe Lecter strictly, but under no circumstances should she reveal any personal information, warning her that she does not want Hannibal Lecter inside her head.
The Baltimore State Hospital
Starling travels to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where she is greeted by the pompous and venomous Dr. Frederick Chilton. Chilton describes Lecter as a "monster" and a "pure psychopath," recounting a gruesome incident where Lecter attacked a nurse and consumed her tongue while his heart rate never exceeded 85 beats per minute. After making awkward advances toward Starling, Chilton escorts her to the high-security block. The orderly, Barney, directs her past the cells of disturbed inmates—including "Multiple Miggs," who hisses obscenities at her—to the final cell. Unlike the others, Hannibal Lecter stands calmly in a cell fronted by thick Perspex glass rather than bars. He is courteous, cultured, and sophisticated, greeting Starling with unnerving politeness.
The interview begins cordially, but Lecter quickly grows impatient with Starling's attempts to "dissect" him using the standard questionnaire. He turns the tables, performing a cold, humiliating psychological reading of Starling based on her footwear, bag, and accent. He dismissively recounts how a census taker once tried to test him, noting that he "ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." Just as Starling is rebuffed and turns to leave, the inmate Miggs flings fresh semen onto her face. The act offends Lecter's sensibilities; enraged by the rudeness, he calls Starling back. In an act of apology, he offers her a riddle: the name of a former patient, Miss Hester Moffat. He suggests she look into it, hinting that it will offer the breakthrough she seeks.
The Storage Unit and the Head
Lecter solves the problem of Miggs by whispering to him later that night, convincing the inmate to swallow his own tongue and die. Meanwhile, Starling deciphers Lecter's clue—"Miss Hester Moffat" is an anagram for "Miss The Rest of Me"—which leads her to a "Rent-A-Storage" lot. inside a dusty garage, she discovers a jar of formaldehyde containing the severed head of a man. She returns to the asylum to confront Lecter, who identifies the head as belonging to Benjamin Raspail, a former patient and musician. Although Lecter denies killing Raspail, he implies a connection to Buffalo Bill. He offers to provide a psychological profile of the killer, but only on the condition that he is transferred away from the torment of Dr. Chilton to a facility with a view of the sky.
The Abduction and the Moth
The stakes are raised drastically when Buffalo Bill abducts Catherine Martin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin. Bill lures Catherine by feigning injury with a fake arm cast and struggling to lift a sofa into his van; once she assists him, he knocks her unconscious and imprisons her in a dry well within his basement. As news of the abduction sweeps the country, another of Bill’s victims is discovered in a river in West Virginia. Starling joins Crawford at the scene to perform an autopsy. deeply disturbing details emerge as Starling extracts the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawkmoth from the victim's throat, a calling card identical to one found in Raspail's remains.
Quid Pro Quo
Desperate to save Catherine Martin, Crawford authorizes Starling to offer Lecter a fake deal: a prison transfer to a scenic facility in exchange for information that rescues the Senator's daughter. Lecter, however, initiates a psychological game of "quid pro quo." He agrees to offer comprehensive clues about Buffalo Bill only if Starling trades them for painful, true details from her own traumatic childhood. Against Crawford's orders, she complies.
Starling reveals that she was orphaned at age 10 when her father, a town marshal, was murdered by robbers. In exchange, Lecter explains that Buffalo Bill is not a real transsexual but believes he is, likely having been rejected for gender reassignment surgery by major clinics. He explains that the killer seeks to transform himself. Unbeknownst to them, Dr. Chilton has been secretly recording the conversation. He intervenes, revealing the deal to be a sham and mocking Starling. Chilton then offers Lecter a real deal of his own making: a transfer to Tennessee in exchange for revealing the killer's identity directly to Senator Martin. Lecter accepts, but not before stealing Chilton's golden ballpoint pen.
The Memphis Transfer and the Lambs
Lecter is flown to Memphis, Tennessee, where he meets Senator Martin. He taunts her regarding Catherine's fate but eventually provides a name: "Louis Friend." Starling, believing the name is a false lead (an anagram for "Iron Sulfide" or fool's gold), visits Lecter one last time in his temporary makeshift cell in a courthouse. Lecter ignores her questions about the name and demands the conclusion of her childhood story. Starling tearfully recounts running away from a relative's ranch to save a screaming spring lamb from slaughter. She failed to save the lamb and was sent to an orphanage, but she is still haunted by the screaming. Satisfied with her truth, Lecter hands her the case files on Buffalo Bill just before Chilton and the police force her out.
The Escape
That evening, Lecter puts his escape plan into motion. While guards bring him an explicitly requested dinner of rare lamb chops, he picks the lock of his handcuffs using the metal clip from Chilton’s stolen pen. As the "Goldberg Variations" plays on a tape recorder, Lecter brutally attacks the guards; he beats one to death against the cell bars and bites the face of the other, Sergeant Pembry. To cover his tracks, he disembowels one guard and strings him up on the cell walls in a grotesque display.
When the police storm the floor, they find the carnage and one survivor—Pembry—barely alive with a mutilated face. Paramedics rush Pembry to an ambulance while a SWAT team hunts for Lecter, eventually finding a body in the elevator shaft wearing Lecter’s clothes. However, inside the speeding ambulance, "Pembry" suddenly sits up and peels off the prosthetic face of the dead guard he was wearing as a mask. It is Lecter. He kills the paramedics and vanishes.
The Suit of Skin
Starling, now working alone, pores over the case files Lecter returned to her. She realizes Lecter's annotations indicate that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim, Frederica Bimmel. Starling travels to Bimmel’s hometown in Ohio and discovers the victim was a skilled tailor. Examining the dresses left behind, she realizes they have templates identical to the patches of skin removed from the victims. The horrifying truth dawns on her: Buffalo Bill is a tailor fashioning a "woman suit" out of real human skin. She calls Crawford, who believes he has located the killer, Jame Gumb, in Illinois and is already leading a SWAT team there. He dismisses Starling's theory, instructing her to stay put.
Showdown in the Dark
Ignoring instructions, Starling follows her lead to the home of a "Jack Gordon" in Belvedere, Ohio. The man who answers the door is Jame Gumb. While questioning him, Starling spots a Death's-head moth flying in the house and realizes she is face-to-face with the killer. Gumb flees into the basement, and Starling pursues him, weapon drawn. She navigates the labyrinthine basement, finding a screaming Catherine Martin trapped in the dry well. Suddenly, the basement lights cut out, plunging Starling into total darkness.
Gumb stalks her wearing night-vision goggles, moving silently while Starling flails blindly in the dark. He steps directly behind her, raising his revolver to her head. As he cocks the hammer, the metallic click alerts Starling. reacting on instinct, she spins around and fires her revolver repeatedly into the darkness, killing Gumb instantly.
An Old Friend for Dinner
Days later, at the FBI Academy graduation party, Starling receives a telephone call from Bimini. It is Hannibal Lecter. He assures Starling that he has no intention of pursuing her, as the world is more interesting with her in it, and asks her to extend him the same courtesy. Before she can answer fully, Lecter excuses himself, remarking that he is "having an old friend for dinner." He hangs up and dissolves into the crowd, casually stalking Dr. Chilton, who has just arrived on the island, unaware of the predator behind him.
