In 1991, director Jonathan Demme served jaded audiences an enthralling antidote to the 80s penchant for blood-soaked horror, by adding a more intellectual flavour... with a side order of fava beans, washed down with a nice Chianti.
Thomas Harris' best-selling book, The Silence Of The Lambs (1988), was the second of the author's books to be adapted for the cinema, following Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986), an adaptation of his 1981 novel Red Dragon.
Manhunter had featured British actor Brian Cox, in a small role as an imprisoned killer called Dr Hannibal Lecktor. It was this character Harris chose to expand on for Silence, with Hannibal Lecter (note the new spelling) featuring in the plot to a much greater degree, and given a background in cannibalism.
However, the lead character in the film/book was a rookie FBI Agent called Clarice Starling (played in the film by Jodie Foster), who is trying to stop serial-killer called "Buffalo Bill", who has been abducting women and skinning them to create a clothing for himself. Harris based Bill (real name Jame Gumb) on several real-life killers: cannibal Ed Gein, serial-killer Ted Bundy (whose methods of luring women is the same), and Gary M. Heidnik (who similarly kept kidnapped women down a hole in his basement.)
For Demme's movie, he cast British actor Anthony Hopkins as Dr Lecter. The Welsh thespian gave a far grander performance than Cox had in Manhunter, literally chewing the scenes at times, but always with a hypnotic, unsettling gravitas. The character of Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter became a horror icon overnight and won Hopkins an Academy Award for Best Actor, despite only having 16-minutes of screentime!
The Silence Of The Lambs was made for $19 million, released on Valentine's Day 1991, and went on to make $130 million in the US and $272 million worldwide. It won 5 Academy Awards in 1992 for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).
These days it's considered a trailblazer for "thinking man's horror", perhaps leading directly to 1995's Se7en from David Fincher. The FBI component was also a heavy influence on the creation of The X-Files and Millennium, by Chris Carter.
Thomas Harris was skeptical of the movie while it was in production, even declining to take an active role in its development, but after seeing the finished product, he sent cases of wine to the cast and crew to congratulate them.For seven years, author Thomas Harris fought off writing a sequel to Silence, but eventually succumbed to pressure and wrote Hannibal in 1999. The novel didn't fit entirely with the 1991 film, but was adapted and released as a film by Ridley Scott in 2001.
Both the book and adaptation received mixed reviews from critics, with many people detesting the novel's gory temperament and controversial ending. Scott's film changed the ending to something more palatable for fans of Silence, but was still judged a disappointment when compared to Silence Of The Lambs. It also didn't help that Jodie Foster declined to return and was replaced by Julianne Moore; a fine actress, but no Clarice Starling.
Worse was to come. Hannibal proved to be a catalyst for Hannibal Lecter to become another "horror icon" to sit alongside Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees. In 2002, Bret Ratner (Rush Hour) was hired to adapt Thomas Harris' original novel Red Dragon -- essentially remaking 1986's Manhunter, but with Anthony Hopkins replacing Brian Cox and given more screen time. The film attracted decent actors, including Ralph Fiennes and Edward Norton, but wasn't a big hit.
Anthony Hopkins decided to stop playing Dr Lecter in any more films, so to get around the problem, the studio began plotting a prequel movie with a young Hannibal. Thomas Harris wasn't happy with the idea, but when he learned the movie would be made with or without his cooperation, he decided to try and write a worthwhile novel and screenplay himself...
The result was Hannibal Rising, with French actor Gaspard Ulliel playing a youthful Hannibal living in the 1940s. The film was a box office disaster and killed the misguided attempt to turn Silence Of The Lambs into a franchise.
Trivia
1. On the Silence Of The Lambs poster, the Death's-head Hawkmoth does not have its natural pattern, but is instead a skull image from a Salvador Dali painting In Voluptas Mors.
2. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, making it the second most decorated horror film (tying with 1964's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte). The Exorcist is at number 1, with 10 nominations.
3. Michelle Pfeiffer was close to starring as Clarice Starling, but dropped out because she was nervous about the subject matter. Kim Basinger, Meg Ryan and Emma Thompson were also considered, before the role went to Jodie Foster.
4. Christopher Lloyd, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, Louis Gossett Jr, Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro were all considered for the role of Hannibal Lecter. Jeremy Irons got closest, but turned an offer down.
5. The quoted line "Hello, Clarice" is never said in the film. Hannibal instead greets her with "Good evening, Clarice."
6. A "Bon Appetit" magazine can be seen in Lecter's cell.
7. After studying real-life serial-killer Charles Manson, Anthony Hopkins noticed he rarely blinked, so carried that over in Lecter's performance.
Links
The Hannibal Lecter Studio
Thomas Harris - Official Site
Criterion Collection Essay
