The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris, his second to feature sociopath psychiatrist and cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In the novel and the film based on it, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is sent to question an imprisoned sociopath psychiatrist to get information on one of his former clients, Buffalo Bill, who is abducting women and skinning them.
The film adaptation was made in 1991 and directed by Jonathan Demme, who won an Oscar for direction. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins both won Oscars (for their roles as Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, respectively); the film won additional Oscars for adapted screenplay and best picture.
Other works including the character Hannibal Lecter: