Scary Movies and Power Outages – The Silence of The Lambs

So on Halloween night my wife and I watched “The Silence of the Lambs” in our basement, and not five minutes after it ends, the power goes out, leaving us in darkness. Now that is great timing, seeing as how the movie ended just after the scene of Clarice being thrown into darkness as Buffalo Bill uses night vision goggles to watch her stumble around in his basement.

Released in 1991 on February 14th, “The Silence of the Lambs” was not what you would expect for Valentine’s Day, but what a treat it was for movie lovers. It it wound up winning the big Oscars – Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and screenplay.

The version of the screenplay by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name, was a great read, but having watched the movie, it was easy to see where in the final version of the movie several scenes were trimmed and other scenes were completely dropped, and how most of those choices are easily defended. The details about Crawford’s comatose wife is a solid example of something that did not negatively impact the film by dropping it, or the scene with Crawford and Danielson arguing about the records from John Hopkins. In dropping those scenes, more time stayed with Clarice and her efforts to save Catherine.

Clarice, the FBI agent-in-training, is brought into Lecter’s world through Jack Crawford, the seasoned FBI veteran. And so begins two very different relationships for Clarice – the decent and good Crawford on the one hand, and the insane and malefic Lecter on the other hand. (Speaking of that, you’ll notice the very specific close-ups in two instances, when Lecter touches her hand, and when she offers her hand to shake with Crawford.) It is through her visit to Lecter that Clarice gives Crawford an in with Lecter; her vulnerability is counterbalanced by her determination and resourcefulness, and Lecter gives her the first clue to work on getting close to Buffalo Bill, which she was not even aware was the real goal of the arranged meeting.

The subsequent visit to the storage area was interesting on different levels. As she slides under the stuck door on her first investigation, she tears a painful bloody cut on the inside of her leg. Then she finds a stuffed owl, one of several bird references throughout the story, not the least is the little bird leaving its nest, and Lecter’s taunting “Fly back to school, little Starling.” And of course there is finding the head preserved in a large jar, very much like how Clarice preserves a coccoon she finds later in the story. And so the screenplay buries details like these that link up in various ways through out the story, for subplots, imagery and themes. Look for connections and you will find more, like Lecter’s mention of Belvedere in his first meeting with Clarence, which links up with the location that Clarice finally finds Buffalo Bill.

Metamorphosis was a huge theme in the movie, with the Death’s-head moth that shows up in the story, and the characters wanting to change their situations, from Buffalo Bill wanting to transform himself into a woman through his unique tailoring effort, to Clarice wanting to become an FBI agent, to Lecter wanting to free himself from the cage of prison. Even Chilton wants to make himself into something new, but as the story shows, it is not only intent but competency that drives the results for those who would transform themselves. By the end, Clarice and Lecter are bonded together by their successful transformations. Clarice has not only become an FBI agent, but she has also successfully saved the life of Catherine, and in her own way saved the innocent lamb from slaughter, putting that part of her past to rest. That is what gives the story its closure, and it allows for the free Lecter not to strain the ending of the movie. His final words about having an old friend for dinner lends promise to the vengeance he seeks against the pompous Chilton, and in keeping with much of the story, hints at the violence.

A solid story that was very well written and excellently captured on film, be sure to check this out, but be warned that it is not family-friendly fare nor for the squeamish.

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