The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 film about a young FBI trainee who is hunting a serial killer who skins and butchers his victims. To better understand the motives of the killer, she attempts to get inside his mind with the help of an imprisoned psychopath, with whom she plays a deadly psychological game of cat-and-mouse.

Year:
1991
4,977 Views
To enter the mind of a killer, she must challenge the mind of a madman.
Prepare yourself for the most exciting, mesmerising and terrifying two hours of your life!
When the Fox hears the Rabbit scream he comes a-runnin', but not to help.
May The Silence Be Broken!!
Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant. Cunning. Psychotic. In his mind lies the clue to a ruthless killer. – Clarice Starling, FBI. Brilliant. Vulnerable. Alone. She must trust him to stop the killer.

Senator Martin:
Dr. Lecter. I brought an affidavit guaranteeing your new rights. You want to read it before I sign.

Hannibal Lecter:
I won't waste your time or Catherine's time bargaining for petty privileges. Clarice Starling and that awful Jack Crawford have wasted far too much time already. I only pray they haven't doomed the poor girl. Let me help you now and I will trust you when it's all over.

Senator Martin:
You have my word... [An aide is poised to take notes]

Hannibal Lecter:
Buffalo Bill's real name is Louis Friend. I met him just once. He was referred to me in April or May 1980 by my patient Benjamin Raspail. They were lovers, you see. But Raspail had become very frightened. Apparently, Louis had murdered a transient and done things with her skin.

Senator aide:
We need his address and a physical description.

Hannibal Lecter:
Tell me, Senator, did you nurse Catherine yourself?

Senator Martin:
What?

Hannibal Lecter:
Did you breast-feed her?

Krendler:
Now, wait a minute …

Senator Martin:
Yes, I did.

Hannibal Lecter:
Toughened your nipples, didn't it?

Krendler:
You son of a b*tch!

Hannibal Lecter:
Amputate a man's leg, and he can still feel it tickling. Tell me, mum, when your little girl is on the slab, where will it tickle you?

Senator Martin:
Take this thing back to Baltimore!

Hannibal Lecter:
Five foot ten, strongly built, about 180 pounds; hair blonde, eyes pale blue. He'd be about 35 now. He said he lived in Philadelphia, but may have lied. That's all I can remember, mum, but if I think of any more, I will let you know. Oh, and Senator, just one more thing: love your suit.

Hannibal Lecter:
People will say we're in love. [He clucks at her with his tongue] Anthrax Island. That was an especially nice touch, Clarice. Yours?

Clarice Starling:
Yes.

Hannibal Lecter:
Yeah. That was good. Pity about poor Catherine, though. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

Clarice Starling:
Your anagrams are showing, doctor. 'Louis Friend?' Iron Sulfide. also known as fool's gold.

Hannibal Lecter:
Oh Clarice, your problem is, you need to get more fun out of life.

Clarice Starling:
You were telling me the truth back in Baltimore, sir. Please continue now.

Hannibal Lecter:
I've read the case files. Have you? Everything you need to find him is right there in those pages.

Clarice Starling:
Then tell me how.

Hannibal 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 Starling:
He kills women.

Hannibal Lecter:
No, that is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does, what needs does he serve by killing?

Clarice Starling:
Anger, social acceptance, and, uh, sexual frustration …

Hannibal Lecter:
No, he covets. That's his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer, now.

Clarice Starling:
No. We just …

Hannibal 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?

Hannibal Lecter:
No! I will listen now. After your father's murder, you were orphaned. You were ten years old. You went to live with cousins on a sheep and horse ranch in Montana. And …?

Clarice Starling:
[tears begin forming in her eyes] And one morning, I just ran away.

Hannibal Lecter:
Not "just", Clarice. What set you off? You started at what time?

Clarice Starling:
Early, still dark.

Hannibal Lecter:
Then something woke you, didn't it? Was it a dream? What was it?

Clarice Starling:
I heard a strange noise.

Hannibal Lecter:
What was it?

Clarice Starling:
It was … screaming. Some kind of screaming, like a child's voice.

Hannibal Lecter:
What did you do?

Clarice Starling:
I went downstairs, outside. I crept up into the barn. I was so scared to look inside, but I had to.

Hannibal Lecter:
And what did you see, Clarice? What did you see?

Clarice Starling:
Lambs. And they were screaming.

Hannibal Lecter:
They were slaughtering the spring lambs?

Clarice Starling:
And they were screaming.

Hannibal Lecter:
And you ran away?

Clarice Starling:
No. First I tried to free them. I … I opened the gate to their pen, but they wouldn't run. They just stood there, confused. They wouldn't run.

Hannibal Lecter:
But you could and you did, didn't you?

Clarice Starling:
Yes. I took one lamb, and I ran away as fast as I could.

Hannibal Lecter:
Where were you going, Clarice?

Clarice:
I don't know. I didn't have any food, any water, and it was very cold, very cold. I thought, I thought if I could save just one, but … he was so heavy. So heavy. I didn't get more than a few miles when the sheriff's car picked me up. The rancher was so angry he sent me to live at the Lutheran orphanage in Bozeman. I never saw the ranch again.

Hannibal Lecter:
What became of your lamb, Clarice?

Clarice Starling:
They killed him.

Hannibal Lecter:
You still wake up sometimes, don't you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the lambs.

Clarice Starling:
Yes.

Hannibal 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 Starling:
[choking up] I don't know. I don't know.

Hannibal Lecter:
Thank you, Clarice. Thank you.

Clarice Starling:
Tell me his name, Doctor.

Hannibal Lecter:
… Dr. Chilton, I presume. I think you know each other.

Dr. Chilton:
Okay. Let's go.

Clarice Starling:
It's your turn, Doctor.

Dr. Chilton:
Out!

Clarice Starling:
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.

[Chilton and the guards start leading Clarice out]

Hannibal Lecter:
Brave Clarice. You will let me know when those lambs stop screaming, won't you?

Clarice Starling:
Tell me his name, Doctor!

Hannibal Lecter:
Clarice, your case file. [their hands touch briefly] Goodbye, Clarice.

Hannibal Lecter:
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 Starling:
Go, Doctor.

Hannibal Lecter:
What is your worst memory of childhood?

Clarice Starling:
The death of my father.

Hannibal Lecter:
Tell me about it and don't lie, or I'll know.

Clarice Starling:
He was a town marshal, and... one night, he surprised two burglars coming out the back of a drugstore. They shot him.

Hannibal Lecter:
Was he killed outright?

Clarice Starling:
No, he was very strong, he lasted more than a month. My mother died when I was very young, so... my father had become the whole world to me, and, when he left me, I had nothing. I was ten years old.

Hannibal Lector:
You're very frank, Clarice. I think it would be quite something to know you in private life.

Clarice Starling:
Quid pro quo, Doctor.

Hannibal Lector:
So tell me about Miss West Virginia. Was she a large girl?

Clarice Starling:
Yes.

Hannibal Lector:
Big through the hips? Roomy?

Clarice Starling:
They all were.

Hannibal Lector:
What else?

Clarice Starling:
She had an object deliberately inserted into her throat. Now, that hasn't been made public yet. We don't know what it means.

Hannibal Lector:
Was it a butterfly?

Clarice Starling:
Yes. A moth. Just like the one we found in Benjamin Raspail's head an hour ago. Why does he place them there, Doctor?

Hannibal Lecter:
The significance of the moth is change. Caterpillar into chrysalis, or pupa, and from thence into beauty. Our Billy wants to change, too.


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