Needed something darker after last weekโs sugarfest that was BARBIE. Thankfully, this Oscar winning classic does the trick majestically.
Plot in a nutshell: F.B.I. cadet Clarice Starling must gain the help of legendary cannibal killer Hannibal Lecter in order to catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims. And the clock is tickingโฆ
I watched this film for the first time in absolute terror, as a date movie, at the age of 15. Wow. Seared into my brain is an understatement. So adult me was brain abuzz with excitement when I cracked it open.
This script has that special feel to it that the perfectly written crime procedural script offers up to every reader. I had the same glorious experience with SEVEN. You are just along for the ride and the script carries you, whilst climbing inside your brain and nestling quite happily amongst your imaginative fibres. Read enough of these scripts and I suspect patterns will definitely begin to form as to how to write something close to a very good procedural, without actually having any prior knowledge of said crime orientated world.
The pace of this script is a wonder. It ramps as it reads, all the pieces falling into place. Every event leads to a clue that may or may not help. But the pace never relents. Obstacles. Travel. Locations. Interviews. Arguments. Every aspect takes turns in the limelight, all ably guiding you to a meltdown of a finale. The last half of the script is just script reading cocaine; completely impossible to put down. Iโm literally ignoring my family and my teaโs going cold as I write this.
The best scripted elements here are at their most powerful in how the world revolves around Clarice Starling (up there with Ellen Ripley as one of the strongest and most complex female film roles in history). Every character is treated as approaching her with an agenda. Only her roommate seems to just want to have Clariceโs company. But everyone else (virtually an entirely male cast around her) seems only to be interested in either her mind or whatโs in her skirt (eventually that being the only interest). So we feel every ounce of disgust, wariness or even respect that Clarice feels. This is so intuitive of putting the reader in her shoes, that it is a psychologically masterful take on how to write a lead character. To actually feel like you are the lead. Thatโs writing that is. Right there.
The action directions here are a masterpiece too. Lush visuals, given just enough description to be both eloquent and detailed, yet brisk enough to be lean. Just like a perfectly carved piece of marble, not one single rough edge resides anywhere. You can see every action flowing through your mind. This is the school of more-is-more, rather than less is more. If you like your action directions plentiful, that is.
The processes are fascinating to behold. Research and practice. Evolution of thought and applied detection to evaluating. Throw in some outside-of-the-box thinking and this isnโt just something the writer tapped out on a Saturday morning over coffee. You can feel the endless hours of going through FBI teaching manuals and case read throughs on every page. How the chain of hierarchy runs in the FBI. The ever present reminder to Clarice of her temporary status, even though she is treating her job with complete professionalism. The constant threat of her being replaced, fired or worst of all, not taken seriously, is inescapable.
This script sits happily next to SEVEN and both are definite companion pieces. Read together and then upgrade your home security systems!
But Iโm going on. Letโs get to the meat!
So, what did I learn from THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS?
1. Locations here are worked with a certain form of witchcraft. An office can become an arena for dick swinging, power hungry battles where lives hang in the balance. An old two up-two down town house can become a marines training nightmare. A funeral home into a cadaverous autopsy horror show. Even the asylum where Lecter resides has its own individual, immaculately portrayed ecosystem, with descending floors as the levels of Danteโs inferno, ever descending, ever worsening. All are deftly created little worlds with their own feel, sounds and taste. This adds such a confidence to every scene that characters interact within. Such focus. You donโt lose time thinking โnot sure about thatโ or โI would have written it betterโ. (Because I couldnโt. I openly and proudly admit that.) Youโre too busy reading. Too busy being hooked.
2. Sound. This script values sound like a drowning person values air. Every little scrape or siren is given its moment in the sun. Essential and crafted to an art.
3. For a crucial read, take a look at the scene that runs from p59 to p61; Hannibal Lecters psychological evaluation of Bills potential personality markers, in voiceover, as we travel through the hideaway of Wild Bill. Just an utterly chilling scene. It is such a tight couple of pages to read, that I highly recommended it, even if you donโt read anything else in this script. Flawless.
4. The montage of action descriptions as Hannibal frees himself from his bonds in the courthouse makeshift jail, then attacks the two guards, Pembury and Boyle, is a flurry of violently choreographed images and terrifying purpose. To read Hannibal loosed is a horror and yet so satisfying. When you finally get to unleash your monster, this is a grand example of revelry and how to โenjoyโ it.
I firmly believe this script is what an award winning script should look like. Every character exists in the real world. No fakery. No mock-ups or guessing. These people feel โrealโ. And at the heart of it is a very real and powerful lead character; haunted, brave, angry, tested and at times calmly defiant in the face of ever mounting obstacles. Thatโs how you write that type of character. Thatโs how.
Link to the script;
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