Silence of the Lambs Pt 3: Quid Pro Quo
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 12:30PM 
image via FangoriaTeam Experience is revisiting 1991's Best Picture, Silence of the Lambs for its 25th anniversary.
In Pt 1 We met Clarice and Hannibal and heard about the horrifying Buffalo Bill case.
In Pt 2 The FBI's investigation picked up steam with the discovery of another victim and The Death's Head Moth. Finally, we met Buffalo Bill and his latest victim Catherine, now "the girl in the pit." When we left her she was a disembodied voice shouting for help. Why won't you answer me please?
Answers are coming but not without a price.
Pt 3 by Nathaniel R
00:49:50 A smartly judged sharp cut takes us from the dark abyss of Bill's pit to the brightly lit FBI training facility. It's like blinking from too much sun when you leave a movie theater in the middle of the day. Though Silence of the Lambs deals with gruesomely complex psychology its binaries of good and evil are the lifeline for mass appeal I think. (Craig McKay was nominated for Best Film Editing, losing to JFK's collage and barrage of characters and information)
The students. Demme never gets any credit for his multi-ethnic casting but he was doing it long before people were hating on Hollywood for *not* doing it.
00:51:34 A news broadcast about Buffalo Bill at the training center attracts a large group of students. Turns out the Girl in the Pit is actually a US Senator's daughter so there's yet more pressure to get this case solved. Ardelia whispers to Clarice that it's so smart what the Senator is doing, repeating Catherine's name so often; get her would be killer to see her as human and maybe he'll show mercy.
00:51:35 Another jarring cut and we're back at the asylum. Chilton has had it with Clarice's secrecy. Jodie Foster's performance is so sharp in this movie. You can see our heroine getting bolder and more confident each time she steps out; her body language is more confrontational, too. [More after the jump...]
This offer is non-negotiable and final. Catherine Martin dies. You get nothing."
00:52:33 She makes Lecter the Plum Island offer. A cel with a view and once a year, a trip to the beach. Under heavy surveillance of course.
00:54:05 The famous "Quid Pro Quo" sequence. Hannibal has his own offer. He wants inside Clarice's head. There's soooo much to unpack here. Too much, really. So can we take a brief pause and discuss the visual strategies? Though super tight closeups are increasingly the norm in cinema (even when they have no reason to exist emotionally in a given scene) back in 1991 I don't remember them being this common. There was something super confrontational about this choice by Demme and his cinematographer Tak Fukimoto. Again and again we're only looking at eyes, nose and mouth.
Take this shot of Clarice, like, many others in the movie as she listens to the news broadcast
And then this shot during Quid Pro Quo when Lecter listens to Clarice's worst memory.
You can't look away. That shot above also highlights a really fascinating acting choice, from Anthony Hopkins. This monster, who is usually staring unblinking at Clarice, actually turns away from her repeatedly during her most painful childhood memories. He's not avoiding her pain but savoring it, his eyes closing slowly, pleasurably, with each new frank disclosure. But why is he hiding this from her? Would it give her too much power?
Kieran and Angelica both expressed reservations about this performance. I know some find Hopkins hammy and, yes, he goes large. But it's exquisitely precise in its largeness if you will. At least this time. Hopkins is one of those actors who can't help himself and often, it goes the other way and doesn't turn out this well. Because his star turn has become so iconic in pop culture, it reads more cute familiar and hammy than it would otherwise. Trust that it was terrifying back in 1991! I avoided seeing the movie for a long time I was so scared of it until finally after the third nightmare I had about it, I gave in and saw it. And the nightmares promptly stopped. True Story.
Quid pro quo, Doctor!"
00:56:49 [Back to visual strategies] And then. BOOM. those two mesmerizing faces are combined, but a little roomier with the camera this time, for what is possibly the movie's signature image. How did Fujimoto miss an Oscar nomination?
Starling and Lecter discuss Bill's "pathology" and the word is placed uncomfortably close to the word "transexual" in this context... Lecter adding "only a thousand times more savage" (But what's 1000 x 0. It's still 0, you transphobe monster!) Angelica hinted at this topic in her write up in chapter 2 but I think Silence of the Lambs relationship to its own queerness is one of the most fascinating fucked up things about it and one of the things that made it feel so singular. People protested it at the time for being anti-gay but it is possible (and not really difficult either) to read Clarice as queer which gives it another feeling altogether.
Check out that amazing composition... all that inky dark space when the frame is usually full
It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it's told.
00:57:51 Bill must've missed that new broadcast teaching him Catherine's name because he keeps calling her "it".
00:58:34 Brooke Smith is GREAT in this movie. I will accept no arguments to the contrary. People always cite Drew Barrymore's work in Scream as the best "frightened" performance in the movies but Smith is way up there. She sells this thankfully unimaginable nightmare so authentically.
[Pet Peeve] SAG wasn't giving out prizes back then but you should know that had they awarded this one the Ensemble prize she would not have been among the winners (due to their stupid rules) because she was a complete unknown. She shares her title card with Diane Baker and Kasi Lemmons which means Jodie is the only female in the Ensemble according to SAG.[/Peeve]
00:59:26 One of the most disturbing images -- i am not screencapping it! -- is when Bill proceeds to mock and imitate Catherine's screaming while pulling his shirt out the way little kids do when they're indicating 'boobies'.
Remember when Billy Crystal did this on Oscar night?
01:00:46 Dr Chilton throws a wrench in the FBI plans and tells Hannibal there's no deal. Anthony Heald is trying to outham Anthony Hopkins. Too much, man. Pull back! Pull back! and they're off to meet the Senator herself to work out a new deal.
01:04:06 Hannibal feigns politeness with the Senator and then sticks the knife in, figuratively, with a breastfeeding detour "Toughened your nipples didn't it?" Things sour from there and Lecter feeds everyone lies.
01:05:26 Starling bluffs her way in to the Courthouse where Hannibal is now being held.
01:06:04 Great mini moment with a cop in the elevator that a lesser film might have cut. The cop asks the young FBI agent if it's true, if Lecter is like 'a vampire or something?' Her response
They don't have a name for what he is."
Jodie's line reading is amazing. It's resigned and matter of fact but it has this duality to it. She's half there and half in the next scene, knowing she's about to see Lecter again. And this question... surely she's already tried to Name it too many times to herself.
01:07:15 Lecter again. He is sassy. He is pissed.
People will say we're in love."
He is quoting showtunes.
01:08:13 Clarice is pacing, and desperate. Time is running out for Catherine.
You were telling me the truth back in Baltimore, Doctor. Please continue!"
He will... but there's more Quid Pro Quo when we return
Nathaniel Rogers, the creator and owner of The Film Experience. He is the film columnist for Towleroad, an Oscar pundit, and his writing has appeared in both online publications (Vanity Fair, Slate, Tribeca Film) and print magazines (Esquire and Winq). Nathaniel has served on international festival juries and appeared as an on-air pundit for CNNi. [Follow Nathaniel on Twitter | Contact Nathaniel | All Nathaniel's articles]
Reader Comments (26)
My God I want to see it NOW.
So right about Hopkins even the poster terrified me,can we have a word on that poster Nat.
Yes to Brooke Smith her scream and terror when she sees THAT fingernail knowing someones been there b4 and never got out.
Great write up,I am now reassessing 91's Best Actress,I still choose Sarandon but maybe not after this fantastic series.
mark -- my preference was always Sarandon too but once she won I wasn't so sure... i think it may have been me really needing her to win the Oscar because I think she should have actually WON (and she wasn't even nominated) for Bull Durham (1988)... and that's saying a lot since 1988 is one of the great Actressing years.
I'm glad you made that point about Jonathan Demme's diverse casting. Rachel Getting Married (and other films) wouldn't be such rich visual and experiential tapestries if he didn't approach casting with such an open mind. And a light touch!
I just saw Silence of the Lambs for the first time recently, and I found the whole thing with Buffalo Bill's "pathology" very queasy-making for a lot of different reasons. It's not JUST that it is so far from trans issues as we know/speak about them now, it's that Ted Levine's performance can so easily be read as BOTH generally, genuinely insane AND homo/transphobic... so much so that it very nearly puts that whole thing into a chicken/egg situation: Did this man's craziness come from his being trans, or did his being trans come from his craziness? Dr. Lecter could be lying, or he could be talking about this "pathology" in the best clinical knowledge he knew at the time. It's fascinating and really uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. Say what you will about Hopkins's performance (I think it's great), but Buffalo Bill shouldn't be overlooked in the scary-as-shit villain sweepstakes.
I think Jodie Foster's performance is one of the best ever. But I will never watch this movie again, because I like sleep. I guess I am the opposite of Nathaniel in that way.
@denny - You make some great points about the Buffalo Bill character. I always wonder why Ted Levine seems to go unnoticed when talking about the great acting in this movie. His character is one of the many touchy subjects about The Silence of the Lambs, which makes it one of the most fascinating films to discuss. I'm loving this series so far!
Nathaniel, you mentioned that Tak Fujimoto was basically robbed of a Cinematography nomination and I wholeheartedly agree. He may even be my winner that year. Fujimoto never did get an Oscar nomination, even after work in such high profile 1990s movies as Philadelphia, Devil in a Blue Dress and The Sixth Sense.
We don't question that Clarice has a bond with Hannibal, and that is because of the performances. Look how honest Clarice is about her childhood, a childhood that she does not talk about with anyone else. I always hold my breath as she talks about the lambs.
It is this honesty about her fears that Hannibal acknowledges and feeds on, like a gourmet meal. And because of this honesty Hannibal even forgives her for lying about having the Senator's support for her offer. He rightly understands that wasn't her decision, and hands over another important clue.
Jodie Foster made Clarice so memorable and understandable. No one could have done it better. I would argue the same for Anthony Hopkins.
I love Sarandon, I love Sarandon in Thelma & Louise, but Foster is just beyond any comparision in this movie.
It's like a Hunter/Bassett situation.
And I love Hopkins, too. Sonetimes big is necessary, and hell yeah, he is so precise.
Love these write-ups.
I think Hopkins' performance especially works because Demme pits his largeness against Foster's subtle realism. Plus, Hopkins isn't necessarily going for an authentic interpretation of a psychopath. Instead, he's giving what the movie needs: a terrifying, untrustworthy monster. I think both leads are terrific, as is the supporting cast.
I'd like to see Brooke Smith in more stuff. Vanya on 42nd Street, Melinda and Melinda, and this - that's pretty much all I've seen of hers. (I've unfortunately never watched Grey's Anatomy.) I think she's really good.
Nathaniel: You're right - close-ups were not usually this close up in 1991. Oddly, it's an aspect of Demme's direction/Fujimoto's cinematography that doesn't quite sing for me. Perhaps there's something a bit mannered about it - something slightly at odds with the kinesis of Clarice and Lecter's actual chemistry.
A great observation on your part, by the way, regarding Foster's line reading in the elevator. There are so many fabulous moments in her performance, and they're so easy to miss (perhaps because we take them for granted - she's that good) that it's really invigorating to be reminded of one. Thanks!
I do think that Fujimoto was unlucky not to get nominated. But Cinematography that year was very rich - Bugsy, The Prince of Tides, Thelma & Louise, Terminator 2, and JFK. I guess I'd have swabbed out Bugsy or The Prince of Tides and put this in instead.
Back to the film itself: we're now getting to the part of the story where I begin to get very scared - not because of what Lecter's about to do but because the closer Clarice gets to having a plausible set of clues about Buffalo Bill, the closer she gets to having the means (and therefore the need) to find him and confront him.
But before that - time for the handcuffs!
Edward -- thank you. I feel like i could've written 1000 words on just Jodie Foster's line readings through the whole movie :)
Bugsy is GORGEOUS in the craft departments ot so i would definitely dump Prince of Tides or JFK f for Silence of the Lambs when it comes to cinematography
BVR -- you're so right. it's this oil and water mix in a way though they're both really precise about what they're doing.
Nathaniel - I would read those 1,000 words!
And I wonder what happened to Bugsy cinematographer Allen Daviau? One of Spielberg's MVPs in the 1980s, five Oscar nominations, two ASC awards (Empire of the Sun and Bugsy), and then, with one or two exceptions, he seemed to move away from movies thereafter. A pity - I think his work is really good: such a nice texture to his lighting and developing of stock - something akin to Deakins in his electric use of shadow.
Jodie Foster indeed turns one of the best performances ever in this movie.
She should've won JUST for this movie though. Glenn deserves it so much on 1988.
Weird thing about me is that I get scared only when watching this type of scary movies, but they never spill to my sleep or life in any other way.
No love for Melanie Griffith's versatile performance in 1988's Working Girl? She'd have my vote.
BVR - took the words right out of my mouth! The relationship isn't as complex if they're both understated or broad simultaneously. Lecter being so verbally dexterous makes Clarice's plainness more pronounced, his assertion of dominance makes her defiance more bold, etc.
Edward - Brooke Smith is a lot of fun in SERIES 7 if you haven't seen it!!
The queer politics of this movie never get less fascinating to debate. I had one viewing where I actually got pissed about gay representation in Lecter, who I think is also a debatable queer character.
Chris -- i remember years and years ago i saw some academic essay about all three principles being queer characters... it's interestting (though gross given what's going on onscreen) that people can project so many things on to this movie
BVR - second Brooke in Series 7. Dynamite in that.
Anthony holds up. Jodie is a good but not great actress.
Can we have a retro 91 Actress discussion,so many riches.
This is fantastic reading. Thank you so much for revisiting this masterpiece, one of the best Best Picture ever!
Can't wait for you all to review other films like that :)
Charlie -- well we can't do it all the time. It needs to be movies people will actually come back for 5 days in a row and those are limited :)
I think you undersetimate the loyalty of your readers Nat.
Nathaniel -- yes, I understand. I'm gonna enjoy this series all the more :)
Hopkins' performance can seem hammy in retrospect because of what he went on to do in Hannibal and other films, and because the character has become part of pop culture but at the time, going in cold, it wasn't like that at all. Lecter was scary and mesmerising, but also fresh. (I was a teenager, I knew Foster but I had no idea who he was!).
With regards to the depiction of Buffalo Bill, screenwriter Ted Tally said later that he wished the character had been fleshed out more, and that they'd made it clearer that while Bill considers himself to be transsexual, he isn't.
It's here that those earlier flashbacks to young Clarice really pay off. We've already seen that sad, innocent girl, so just like Lecter we can visualize her perfectly when we hear the story. It internalizes the imagery for us, making it more real and heartbreaking.
I've read somewhere that the original script had a flashback depicting this scene (maybe even filmed?), but I'm so glad that they took it out. It's perfectly haunting and moving this way, and gives insights to both teller and listener.
Great write up, and so agree, Brooke Smith is fantastic as Buffalo Bill's captive. She's believably terrified in that Veronica-Cartwright-in-Alien way. You just really feel for her and her plight.
I remember seeing this film right after it opened; the buzz was such that you had to rush to the theater. It was horribly terrifying, a complete two-hour immersion into a wide-awake nightmare. The battle between Clarice and Lechter drew you into the narrative with such blunt trauma that there was a physical effect on your bodily state. There has been debate if this is a horror film. The answer is obvious.