The Silence of the Lambs

In 1983, Jack Crawford sends FBI trainee Clarice Starling to talk to Hannibal Lecter, locked up in Baltimore, hoping for leads on Buffalo Bill, who kills women and takes their skin. Lecter trades clues for memories of Clarice's childhood. When Senator Ruth Martin's daughter is abducted, he gives a fake name, makes a lockpick and escapes after his transfer, killing his guards. Crawford loses his wife, Bella, that same day, and Clarice nearly gets thrown out of the academy. She realizes the killer knew his first victim, tracks down Jame Gumb, kills him in his basement and saves Catherine. From a hotel, Lecter writes three letters, one to her. Clarice sleeps in peace.

1. ChangeCrawford's wife

   In the book, Jack Crawford works the case while his wife Bella is dying; she dies the same day Lecter escapes. The film drops that thread.

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2. ChangeNo romance with Pilcher

   The book gives Clarice the start of a romance with Dr. Pilcher, the entomologist who identifies the moth. The film drops the romance.

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3. ChangeLetters instead of a phone call

   In the book, Lecter writes three letters, one of them to Clarice, and she ends up sleeping peacefully. The film swaps that for a phone call from Lecter as he watches Chilton from afar, and ends on a far more unsettling note.

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