87
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Meaning of the Silence of the Lambs poster
This award-winning poster art conveys many of the movie's themes and plot points:
Clarice's skin is pale (in stark contrast to the darkness surrounding her) and blue like a corpse while her blue eyes ...
- 100k
55
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Accepted
Why, even after his imprisonment, do people keep calling Hannibal Lecter "Doctor"?
It's a matter of respect
Even if his medical licence to practice has been revoked he is still a qualified doctor, having earned a medical degree, and so is entitled to be called "Doctor".
However, ...
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43
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Purpose of Hannibal's mask
Hannibal can and would use his mouth to hurt you if it suited him.
Hannibal, like most people, has the opportunity to use any part of his body to come into contact with another person (a victim).
...
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21
votes
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Is it realistic to build a well in the basement?
Realistic?
it's not unknown. It's not inconceivable that the builders decided to construct the house over an existing well for convenience.
It would be a weatherproof source of water and would obviate ...
- 141k
21
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Did Dr. Hannibal Lecter like Clarice or was he attracted to her?
Yes, Hannibal Lecter sees a lot of things in Clarice:
Someone who is smart, but not rude. (Rudeness is Hannibal's biggest pet peeve).
Someone who has suffered in a way that he has suffered (childhood ...
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16
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Why, even after his imprisonment, do people keep calling Hannibal Lecter "Doctor"?
Because at some point in his life, he got a Doctorate.
A Doctorate is a very high level of college degree.
There are doctorates in almost any collegiate subject. Physics, engineering, data ...
15
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Is it realistic to build a well in the basement?
Wells outside houses were usually public ones. If you build a house far away from anyone (let’s say in rural USA) you didn't need to share that well (and there was little chance your neighbours would ...
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15
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Purpose of Hannibal's mask
The mask is a way to stop Hannibal from biting other people. They tried a few masks to see which one stroke a more menacing look.
Other characters in other movies use similar masks for similar ...
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15
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How did Jame Gumb get to live in Mrs Lippman's House?
The script has additional information that Gumb took over the house when it was supposed that Ms Lippman moved to Florida and died there two years previously.
Clarice is talking to one of Fredrica ...
- 141k
13
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Why was Hannibal Lecter imprisoned in what appears to be a museum?
I didn't catch any explanation for choosing this rather unusual place.
The authorities decided any other place wasn't safe for Lecter!
Recall that the FBI was "relieved of resposibility" ...
- 141k
11
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How did Jame Gumb get to live in Mrs Lippman's House?
In the novel The Silence of the Lambs which the movie is based on, in Chapter 59, where the author presents some background information about Jame Gumb
Reporters pieced together his history, ...
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10
votes
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Why does Dr. Hannibal Lecter respect Clarice in "Silence of the Lambs"?
At first Lecter considers Clarice just another "rube" to be manipulated...
LECTER: You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well ...
- 141k
10
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Why does Dr. Lecter mention Dr. Chilton as Buffalo Bill?
In the following video, you have the scene you mention. Note what Lecter is doing: he pauses for a moment, closes his eyes to focus on another sense (smell) then catches the scent of a perfume. He ...
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Why, even after his imprisonment, do people keep calling Hannibal Lecter "Doctor"?
While I agree with other answers presented, I decided to turn my comment into an answer and go a little deeper into Thomas Harris' objectives on the FBI having incentive to treat Hannibal with respect,...
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8
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Why is there one broken note in the opening music of The Silence of the Lambs?
There's nothing 'missing' at all - the track does this several times; just your ear has got used to it by the 2nd or 3rd time. This one feels odd because it's the first one that really establishes the ...
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6
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Why didn't the FBI use a sketch artist to find Buffalo Bill?
Why didn't the FBI use a sketch artist to find Buffalo Bill?
The question assumes that the FBI have someone who is willing to describe Bill to a sketch artist... and they don't.
Yes, Hannibal knows ...
- 141k
6
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Why was a FBI Academy recruit sent to question Hannibal Lecter?
Why? Because Crawford was impressed with her and was giving her a chance to show that she had what it would take to work under him at the BSU
Crawford was giving her a chance to show her value to his ...
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5
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Why does cat point to the answer/safety/salvation in the Silence of the Lambs?
Buffalo Bill owns a dog, so the cat could be seen as the symbol of the victim. The dog as animal stands also for “man”, the cat for “woman”. The little white dog could refer to the transgender of ...
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5
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What did the census taker do to earn Hannibal Lecter's wrath?
Lecter mentions the census taker in Hannibal. He makes special note of the fact that the census taker arrived at a particularly ungodly hour.
Hannibal: Last time someone rang my doorbell this early, ...
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5
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Why did Hannibal hiss at Clarice during their first meeting?
He's testing her.
Clarice is a trainee sent to him as a part of evaluation. First he made sure she know that he knows that the initial chit-chat was to gain trust and ask him to fill out the form.
...
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4
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Buffalo Bill's history of abuse
Basically, nothing
Leaving aside that Lecter is a famous psychiatrist and would have had experience of such a common psychiatric disorder, the fact is that Lecter knows who Buffalo Bill is.
This is ...
- 141k
4
votes
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How does Clarice deduce that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim?
The key to understand it lies in what Hannibal tells her and what they're musing over in this scene:
What did Lecter say about the first principles?...What does this guy do? He covets. How do we ...
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4
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Why did Jodie Foster decide not to reprise the role of Clarice in Hannibal?
The official reason was, as you mentioned in your question, that she had scheduling conflicts, however Foster gave an unusually candid and unrepeated interview to W Magazine. In short, she didn't like ...
- 30.7k
4
votes
Purpose of Hannibal's mask
Clarisse was shown a surveillance video of Hannibal attacking a nurse using only his teeth. Jack Crawford (her boss) explains that after the attack, doctors were somewhat able to reset the woman's jaw,...
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3
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Did Hopkins and Demme purposefully include allusions to Mantegna's paintings of St. Sebastian in "Silence of the Lambs"?
I'm not sure what moments you are referencing in Silence of the Lambs, but in the book Red Dragon the victim who leads Will Graham to realize Hannibal is a murderer was found “laced to a pegboard ...
- 31
3
votes
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What happens to Dr. Chilton?
According to the novel, Hannibal (1999), Chilton disappeared while on vacation in Jamaica seven years earlier; it is strongly suggested that Lecter murdered him.
He exists in the TV show Hannibal (...
- 60.5k
2
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Why does Lecter help the Feds?
Lecter doesn't strike me as someone who'd help out of the goodness of his heart- what's in it for him
Amusement and the chance to escape
In Silence of the Lambs, Lector isn't really trying to help ...
- 141k
2
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Why does Hannibal Lecter look away when talking to Clarice about her father's death and her childhood but looks her in the eye otherwise?
In the movie ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, there are few scenes where Dr. Hannibal Lecter was asking Clarice about her past life.
In the first scene, Hannibal was looking away while asking Clarice about ...
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2
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Why was a FBI Academy recruit sent to question Hannibal Lecter?
In addition to the her qualifications, there are, possibly, other reasons. Remember, Lecter is a psychopath and a genius, and is an expert in psychology. Jack Crawford has done battle with him, and ...
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Would Dr Hannibal Lecter allow himself to be a consultant with Clarice if Miggs hadn't behaved improperly to her?
I agree that it is not clear, but Thomas Harris choice to write Hannibal (following novel) the way he does, and then Hannibal Rising does at least make us understand or better speculate a few things>
...
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