The way that Clarice Starling stumbles upon the home of the villainous Buffalo Bill is one of The Silence of the Lambs’ most inventive twists. The cross-cutting between Clarice arriving at Bill’s house while Jack Crawford and his FBI Hostage Rescue Team go to the wrong location is one of the movie's most iconic moments. It sets the stage for the film’s nail-biting finale, shot in terrifying night vision, in which Clarice chases Bill into his underground lair. But it’s not conspicuous how Clarice managed to find Bill in the first place.
The Silence of the Lambs is the only horror movie to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and one of the few films – along with It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – to win all five major categories. In addition to Best Picture, The Silence of the Lambs won Best Director for Jonathan Demme, Best Actress for Jodie Foster, Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins (with just 16 minutes of screen time), and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ted Tally. The way Tally’s script explains the culmination of Clarice’s investigation is so subtle that it’s often missed.
Clarice Was Looking For Mrs. Lippman
When Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, the FBI believed they’d missed their chance to save Bill’s latest target, Catherine Martin. But Clarice refused to give up hope and continued to follow leads in her search for Catherine. She went to the home of Bill’s first victim, Fredrica Bimmel, in Belvedere, Ohio, and spoke to her father. There, she found a dress with the same markings as Bill’s latest victim and heard all about Fredrica’s former employer, Mrs. Lippman. When she went to Mrs. Lippman’s house, she stumbled upon Bill living there. This hints at Bill’s backstory from the novel.
Before she became the first of several women he killed, Bill had developed a relationship with Fredrica. He had stopped consulting with Lecter and took a job as a tailor in Belvedere. His fascination with Fredrica’s skin eventually blossomed into the deranged killer that audiences meet at the beginning of the movie. Bill was delighted to learn that Fredrica’s boss, Mrs. Lippman, was living in an old house with an extensive basement featuring many rooms and a deep, dry well. This house provided the ideal lair for Bill to carry out his sadistic plans.
A Moth Gave Away Buffalo Bill's Identity
In its third act, The Silence of the Lambs' perfect protagonist, Clarice, didn’t realize she’d found Buffalo Bill right away. When he opened the front door, he identified himself as Jack Gordon and told Clarice he’d look for a number to help her get in touch with Mrs. Lippman. However, the jig was up when Clarice saw a moth fluttering around the house. She realized that “Jack Gordon” was really Jame Gumb due to his use of moths in his M.O. Bill put moths in the throats of his victims; he was fascinated by their metamorphosis process because of his own desire to transform.
