This is one of the first scripts I ever read and I still think it’s one of the best, I’ve tried to steal liberally from it :-) For anyone who is interested, the commentary and extras on the dvd are really great and instructive. There are different ways to interpret the movie, it’s so tightly organized that it seems many characters/plot points serve more than one purpose, but here’s one take on the hero’s journey in SOTL: 1. Ordinary World- FBI Academy 2. Call to Adventure – Crawford asks her to visit Hannibal (she doesn’t refuse this call) 3. Meeting the Mentor—Crawford is the first mentor, later Hannibal 4. Crossing the Threshold – her descent into hell/the prison, Dr. Chilton is the threshold guardian, prison a hellish special world 5. Tests/Allies/Enemies—she encounters disturbing characters in hell/prison, and gets a test (Miss Mofet) from Hannibal, which she passes (You could also view this as another call to adventure) 6. Crossing the Threshold (again) – In the special world she wants to be in-- being a working FBI agent – she finds the head and gets to see the autopsy of it 7. Tests/Allies/Enemies (again) – she’s tested with her inner problem, memories of her father’s death, and meets allies in the two examiners who help identify the moth she finds, helping her with her outer problem—proving she’s a great agent (you could alternatively view them as oracles) 8. Approaching the Innermost Cave – the search for Catherine Martin heats up, Clarice enters the prison again and shares some of her past (inner problem) with Hannibal, something Crawford warned her would be dangerous to do 9. Ordeal -- Chilton (now an enemy) screws things up with Hannibal, Clarice must tell Hannibal about the silence of the lambs (inner problem) to rebuild trust 10. Reward / Elixir – she gets Hannibal’s info on Buffalo Bill 11. Road Back – returns to FBI with info, works on putting clues together 12. Death/Resurrection – she and Crawford are taken off the case (death); but she persists, showing her determination and investigative chops (resurrection), and ends up in a final ordeal at Gumb’s house, killing him 13. Return with Elixir – Clarice graduates, mastering the FBI special world, and honoring her father’s memory, gets kudos from both mentors, Crawford (your father sees you) and the elixir of life from Hannibal (I have no plans to call on you) PLUS best last line ever – I’m having an old friend for dinner.

(Sorry for the formatting-- thought it would come out as a list)

Nice analysis! I'm a Writer's Journey guy myself, and I always learn something new when that paradigm is applied. And your list turned up a doozy - you didn't include Lecter's actual escape, which clued me in to something... In a way, Lecter escaping and killing the police officers doesn't advance the primary plot at all. In terms of rescuing Catherine, it makes no difference whether Lecter is in captivity or not. There is the added threat that Lecter could show up at Gumb's pad too, but other than that the whole sequence could have been taken out - so why does it work so well anyway?

Whoops, that was supposed to be a reply to Betsy.

Thanks, Betsy, I think that list tracks really well. A couple of things: * While Crawford sure seems like a Mentor, I end up with him as more of a Trickster (more on that tomorrow). * Deaf Ears point about Lecter's escape is interesting. Indeed it has zero to do leading to the Final Struggle between Clarice and Bill except for two key things: (1) The escape drives home the fact that Clarice no longer has access to her primary source of information about Buffalo Bill and Catherine Martin. She admits as much on P. 88: "He's won, Ardelia. It's over." (2) Why that is critical is that it forces Clarice and Ardelia to go back to go back into the case files ["everything I need to catch him is right here, in these pages" -- 89]. And this leads to the realization that Bill knew his first victim ("covet what you see"), and that leads Clarice to Belvedere, Ohio which is where she eventually intersects with Bill. So yes, Lecter's escape has no direct impact on Act three, but it does have an indirect one. Indeed from a psychological standpoint, one could argue that Lecter's escape is a capstone on his narrative function with Clarice -- to get her to confront her worst fears, the nightmarish experience about the spring slaughter of the lambs, and that connection she made as a young girl between the lamb she carried and her father. In my view, Clarice could have never defeated Bill had she not pierced through that fear and confronted her shadow. Not only did she demonstrate a significant courage into 'going' to that place ("brave Clarice," Lecter says), something she could build on in stalking Bill in his house, but also the energy she used to suppress the influence of that shadow is now released and could be funneled into the positive act of finding and saving Catherine Marting... and critically killing Buffalo Bill. So in escaping and cutting himself off to Clarice, Lecter forces her to act on her own, to fulfill her destiny, and in so doing silence the lambs.

Since Betsy did a terrific job breaking down the key beats in SOTL per The Hero's Journey, I thought I'd do a structural analysis using my screenplay paradigm (Narrative Throughline) which features 10 major Plotine points: Opening [1-4]: Crawford offers Clarice an "interesting errand" -- visit Hannibal Lecter. The Hook [8-14]: Clarice's 1st meeting with Lecter. The Lock [22-26]: Lecter offers Clarice a deal in exchange for help finding Buffalo Bill / [26-28]: Bill kidnaps Catherine Martin. Deconstruction Test [36-39]: Clarice performs autopsy & discovers bug cocoon. Transition [49-54]: Clarice agrees to 'quid pro quo' arrangement with Lecter. Reconstruction Test [69-76]: Clarice tells the story of the spring slaughter of the lambs. All Is Lost [86-89]: Lecter has escaped ["It's over."] On The Offensive [96-100]: Clarice discovers key information about Buffalo Bill in Frederica Bimmel's house. Final Struggle [105-115]: Clarice vs. Buffalo Bill. And then the Denouement [117-120]: Clarice FBI ceremony and call from Lecter. The above really highlights a point Tally made in his interview, excerpted in today's OP: "we didn’t even have our heroine in physical jeopardy until almost the very end of the movie. She’s in emotional jeopardy but she’s not in physical danger." Almost all of the major Plotline points are tied to Clarice's story, not Bill. They drop him in about 4 times in Act Two. This all goes back to the choice Tally made: To tell the story through Clarice's perspective and her experience, a superior choice because her psychological journey with Lecter as her Mentor was not only compelling, it also put her in constant emotional jeopardy, and fortunately for the story was tied directly to the solution of the Buffalo Bill-Catherine Martin case.

Great points about Lecter's escape, it also plays for a bit of suspense because you're not totally sure he won't come after her. This is more character I guess, but in terms of Crawford, his roles at the beginning and end feel like a mentor, but there's definitely manipulation of Clarice by Crawford where you can see a trickster at play. There's also some sexual tension between the two of them (more apparent in the film version I felt), almost giving his character a shape-shifter feeling (and contributing nicely to one of the themes, a woman in a man's world). This is such a great film to study, look forward to seeing the character analysis tomorrow!

To continue our discussion from two weeks ago, as you know, Scott, I see it differently. And I don't think we will ever see eye to eye on this particular story theory. In any case, here are my thoughts: I see no connection between Clarice confronting her past and her solving the case. Where is the evidence that she could never have defeated Buffalo Bill unless she pierced through that fear and confronted her shadow? Lecter gives her clues, and that's how she ultimately solves the case, not because she had to go through some psychological transformation. He could have asked for any type of favor in exchange for his assistance and the result would have been the same. I agree with your point about the indirect impact Lecter has after his escape, forcing Clarice to go through the case files. But that's just detective work. There's nothing psychological about it. Like I said in my original comment, she is already on her way to graduating among the top of her class, her superiors believe in her enough to assign her the Lecter interview and she is portrayed as very ambitious and strong-willed. She is there to prove herself, and she does just that. In the script (pages 91-92) Clarice gets suspended and taken off the case. That's not in the film, right? When I watched the movie, I never got the sense that Clarice wouldn't graduate from the academy. There was never any doubt about that. I think it's interesting that that plot point was eliminated from the film version. Maybe it was too much of a cliché. Regarding the metamorphosis, in my view, Clarice has not gone through any transformation, which seems to be the point of the Joseph Campbell theory. She went on a “journey”, if you want to call it that, and I agree about all the metaphors you mentioned; the caterpillar into cocoon into beauty, even the nice imagery in the last scene where she has to go into the darkest place imaginable and after shooting Buffalo Bill, the light comes through the basement window. It's all there. Except at the end. Ultimately, Lecter has control over Clarice. It is evidenced by the last scene. “Well Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming...?” Well, have they? In the script, it's a bit more overt: “Your flock is still for now, Clarice, but not forever...” “You'll have to earn it again and again, you know, this blessed silence. For you, there will always be other lambs, on other nights.” Demme was smart enough to cut that out because it wasn't necessary. Just like Tally explained about that third flashback; the acting says it all. Clarice's expression when she hears Lecter on the phone is the key to the whole thing. It will be Clarice's and Lecter's secret and Clarice can project the strong, successful woman image to her surroundings, but deep inside she is still that little girl hearing the lambs scream. And she has not transformed. She is the same as she was in the beginning. In the end, Lecter is in control. Over his life, over Chilton's, and over Clarice's. Lecter walks away free. After all, it really is his story.

First off, that's one of the beauties of story, movies especially: They are always open to interpretation. They are not closed loops, but open. The characters are flesh and blood (in the story universe as well as our imaginations), the actions and events have multiple layers of meaning, and the thematic elements and narrative archetypes can dip into what Jung calls the collective unconscious. Combine all that with the fact you have lived your life and I have lived mine, and it's entirely possible to look and interpret the same movie in entirely different ways. And the really fun part: There's no right or wrong. I will say this per your perspective: Based on what Thomas Harris did with the follow-up ("Hannibal") where Clarice ends up as Lecter's lover, that suggests you have surfaced more of what Harris saw in their dynamic: Lecter having some sort of control over Clarice. However I'll be happy tomorrow when we get into characters to provide my neo-Jungian take on Clarice's metamorphosis -- and I do believe she goes through one! -- and you may feel free to debate, hate and/or desecrate it... just as long as you accompany it with a nice Chianti and some fava beans!

Deal :)

Extraordinary insight in here and in Scott's PDF about the script's Narrative Troughline. I agree with the connection CS-HL and CS-BB, between her dark inside and her external mission. It is what makes this such an original thriller, what distinguishes it from the way the genre settled in the 90's. This inner, psychological dimension of the characters, of their journeys. It humanizes Clarice and is so fresh. But I'll wait for the characters' topic. Beyond that, you all put it down very good. Can't add anything right now.

Finally finished SOTL, what a great read. Late to discussion, brief observation to share, three moments popped enough I checked timeline location: "School's out, Starling," pg 33. (Clarice in the big leagues.) "Transferred", pg 60. (Lost control of Lecter.) "He knew her," pg 90. (Breakthrough for Clarice.) The back and forth right after that felt huge, and wow was scary (even more so because of prior back and forth bad outcome in Chicago). How we know it all ends well, pg 116, "you hit a home run... your father sees you."