Dr. Hannibal Lecter

• You are indeed a remarkable boy. I think I'll eat your heart.

• We musn't judge too harshly Will, it was his first time. Have you never felt a sudden rush of panic?

• [in the final letter to Will] My dear Will, you must be healed by now... on the outside at least, I hope you're not too ugly. What a collection of scars you have. Never forget who gave you the best of them, and be grateful, our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real. We live in a primitive time, don't we, Will? Neither savage nor wise. Half measures of the curse of it; a rational society would either kill me or put me to some use. Do you dream much, Will? I think of you often. Your old friend, Hannibal Lecter.

• Ah yes Dr. Chillton. Gruesome isn't he? Fumbles at your head like a freshman pulling at a panty girdle.

• Tell me, Will. Did you enjoy it? Your first murder? Of course you did. And why shouldn't it feel good? It does to God. Why only last week in Texas, he dropped a whole church roof on the heads of 34 of his worshippers, just as they were groveling for him. He wouldn't begrudge you one Journalist.

Francis Dolarhyde

• I am the Dragon. And you call me insane. You are privy to a great becoming, but you recognize nothing. To me, you are a slug in the sun. You are an ant in the afterbirth. It is your nature to do one thing correctly. Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe.

Dialogue

Will Graham: I need your opinion now.

Hannibal Lecter: Then here's one... you stink of fear under that cheap lotion. You stink of fear Will, but you're not a coward. You fear me, but still you came here. You fear this shy boy, yet still you seek him out. Don't you understand, Will? You caught me because we're very much alike. Without our imaginations, we'd be like all those other poor... dullards. Fear... is the price of our instrument. But I can help you bear it.

Hannibal Lector: Then by implication, you think you are smarter than I am, since it was you who caught me.

Will Graham: No, I know I'm not smarter than you.

Hannibal Lector: Then, how did you catch me?

Will Graham: You had... disadvantages.

Hannibal Lector: What disadvantages?

Will Graham: ... You're insane.

Reba Mclain: If there's anything I hate worse than pity, it's fake pity. Especially from a walking hard-on like Ralph Mandy.

Francis Dolarhyde: I have no pity.

Dr. Frederick Chilton:: Tell me, when you saw Lecter's murders, their style, so to speak, were you able perhaps to reconstruct his fantasies? And, if so, did you jot down any impressions?

Will Graham:: No.

Dr. Frederick Chilton:: Let me be frank, Mr. Graham. The first definitive analysis of Lecter will be a publisher's wet dream. I'd give you full credit, of course

Dr. Frederick Chilton:: Dammit, man, you must have some advice. You caught him. What was your trick?

Will Graham:: I let him kill me.

Hannibal Lecter:: Beneath the yellow folder, you'll find your latest rejection slip from the archives. It was brought to me by mistake with some of my archives mail. I'm afraid I opened it without looking. Sorry.

Dr. Frederick Chilton:: I think we'll remove Dr. Lecter's toilet seat as well

Francis Dolarhyde:: Drop it. Do it now gumshoe. Your son is about to change. Then your wife. You can watch, then I'll take care of you.

Cast

• Anthony Hopkins — Dr. Hannibal Lecter

• Edward Norton — Will Graham

• Ralph Fiennes — Francis Dolarhyde

• Harvey Keitel — Jack Crawford

• Emily Watson — Reba McClane

• Mary-Louise Parker — Molly Graham

• Philip Seymour Hoffman — Freddy Lounds

• Anthony Heald — Dr. Frederick Chilton