tween the best selling book and the horrifying movie. Many aspects of the plot, the characterization, and the underlying tones of the story are exemplified in different ways in the two forms of this story.

In the majority of book turned movie projects,

en in depth backgrounds and psychological profiles, and their crimes are well documented. This takes much of their mystery away. This leaves Clarice as the only truly mysterious character in the story. Jodi Foster did an amazing job in portraying this delicate role without giving away any undue secrets of the plot. I feel that the screenplay form of this did take away from the character who seems to be more vulnerable to the male influences in the movie than the stronger more independent form of her that we learn about in the book. Even in the book I thought that the character would have been more complete if there had been a certain amount of self revelation tied into the ending. What did she learn? How did she change? Did the lambs ever stop screaming? Was there really the silencing of the lambs? I felt that even though she was successful in her mission, she achieved nothing from it. Lector's seeming pursuit to enlighten her was, in the end, to no avail. Perhaps the la!

and his satisfaction as her facial expressions reveal that he is 100% correct. In reading the story, I had all but forgot this line until seeing it reenacted by perhaps the most versatile actor of all time. The terror contained in this line was not released until seeing it preformed so flawlessly. Anthony Hopkins made the dulled down version of Lector, made specifically for the movie, as horrific or even more horrific than the much more elaborately described character in the book. Hopkins was, because of this, more than deserving of the best actor award he received for his role as Dr. Hannibal Lector in 1991.

insane criminals is dark, and their cells are given an almost ominous hint of danger in the way that the viewer cannot see the whole room. As she walks, some of the maniacs poke between the bars, snarling obscenities at her. Lector's cell, however, is different from theirs. His part of the corridor is brightly lit from his room; which is fully illuminated. The clarity in which we view him is a contrast to the other patients; they hide in the dark and growl at visitors to physically show their deranged minds, while Lector in a clear, light cell is well presented. The tones of dark seem in this way to portray the "evil" forces of the world while in essence, the light shows the "good" or intelligent side of Lector that will eventually help to apprehend Buffalo Bill. Therefore this use of light and dark imagery connote in an almost cliche way, good and evil. Such use can not be truly expressed in a book which must use more of a mental approach to tackle such a subject.

Not all characterization in the movie was done this well. Every single character other than Clarice or Lector was somewhat ignored in the movie. Even the main villain, Buffalo Bill, was portrayed as only an insane maniac in the movie as opposed to Harris's approach that Bill was an almost satirical exaggeration of a tragically failed search for identity at the cost of his victims. Bill wasn't really a transsexual, but he thought that he was simply for lack of something better. Bill incorporated personal change and growth with femininity and thus felt himself to be a transsexual. Because he had a criminal record for killing his grandparents at age 12, (A fact only described in the book) he was rejected at all the major centers for sex change surgery. Harris approached this as a tragedy used to exemplify an ordinary mind that is simply confused and desperate. The movie portrayed him as simply a violent and truly insane transsexual. This allowed the

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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)