Adapted from the novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview a notorious cannibalistic former psychiatrist named Hannibal Lecter, who, it transpires, possesses vital information regarding an active investigation into a serial killer nicknamed Buffalo Bill. Lecter offers to help Starling in exchange for information about her personal background. Meanwhile, catching Buffalo Bill becomes an even higher priority when he kidnaps the daughter of a senator.
Some books are better suited to film adaptations than others, and this is one that was crying out to be made into a movie. The novel almost reads like a film; a good portion of the narration is basically stage directions. The story is extremely suspenseful and dramatic, and the suspense and drama unfolds much more effectively on screen than on the page. I don't mean to imply that the book doesn't work; it does, but I think the movie works much better. For example (spoiler alert), one the most well-done scenes in the film is when the FBI thinks they've found Buffalo Bill, but Clarice is too far away to join them, so she continues her investigation where she is, and unwittingly stumbles upon Buffalo Bill alone. I love the way they show the FBI guy ringing the doorbell, then the killer reacting to the doorbell, back and forth several times until he opens the door. The first time I watched this movie, I think my heart actually stopped when Clarice was standing there. The book kind of does the same thing - one chapter ends with the FBI at the door, then the next chapter is from the killer's perspective and has him hear the doorbell - but it's not nearly as intense, so the adaptation of that scene was a vast improvement.
As always, there were a few things cut from the book that I would have liked to see. Clarice's roommate, Ardelia, is more important in the book, and her frequent sassy remarks provide welcome comedic relief to break the tension, so I missed her in the movie. She's still there, but barely. Jack Crawford, the agent in charge of the Buffalo Bill investigation, has a wife dying of cancer who isn't mentioned in the film. I can see why the filmmakers would find this unnecessary, but I like the way it adds to his stress level and raises the stakes for him. Similarly, toward the end book Clarice is repeatedly told that she'll almost certainly be kicked out of school if she doesn't direct her focus away from the investigation and back to her studies, so her choices make it very clear that this case is more important to her than her own future. This is only vaguely hinted at in the movie, and I think it could have been a little more effective if it was emphasized more. But overall, I think the few other changes that were made actually improved the story, and consequently this is one of the best adaptations to win this award. It's consistent with the book, but not confined by it, and the story unfolds much more smoothly onscreen. Though I'm getting a little tired of having to watch this movie over and over again for these Oscar projects, at least I can say that all of its awards were very well-deserved.
As I mentioned in my last post, this is currently the most recent winner of Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. However, many of the Adapted Screenplay winners since Silence of the Lambs have also won one or the other of the categories I previously blogged about, just not both. Case in point: the next winner is Howards End, which did not win Best Picture, but Emma Thompson won Best Actress for her performance in it. It was also the second time Ruth Prawer Jhabvala won this award for adapting a novel of E. M. Forster's (the first being 1986's A Room with a View). So stay tuned for that.
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