Director
Jonathan Demme
Leading Actors/Actresses
Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald
Genre
Psycho-drama; crime thriller; horror
Language
English
Awards
Five Academy Awards; Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
Date of Release
January 30, 1991
Producer
Kenneth Utt, Edward Saxon, Ron Bozman
Setting and Context
Ohio, Virginia and Illinois
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is that of Clarice Starling.
Tone and Mood
Chilling, threatening and terrifying.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Clarice Starling is the protagonist; Hannibal Lecter is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict between Chilton and Starling when Chilton reveals that she has offered Lecter a fake deal; he is deliberately sabotaging her deal with him so that he can make one of his own and be the "hero" who persuades Lecter to give him the identity of Buffalo Bill.
Climax
Clarice shoots Buffalo Bill dead after he turns off the lights in the basement and dons night vision goggles so that he can stalk and kill her.
Foreshadowing
Starling finds a sphinx moth in the home of Jack Gordon which foreshadows her discovery that this is the home of Buffalo Bill.
Understatement
N/A
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
At the time, there had been no filming at the real Quantico Academy; this was the first movie allowed to film there and real life students were used as extras in the Quantico scenes.
Allusions
The script alludes to real-life serial killers as the students in Starling's class at Quantico are studying cases as part of their program.
Paradox
Lecter knows the identity of Buffalo Bill but has to turn his information giving into a game rather than giving a name directly, which turns out to be just as effective.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Starling's intelligence and Lecter's; Lecter seems to respect her as an adversary rather than viewing her as a potential victim.
