screenplays-by-steven-zaillian

"I'm not very good with people. I like them. I wish I could say I had more than a rudimentary understanding of them. Maybe if they were less unpredictable..."

"Awkward turtles make weird babies."

"I'm sorry, if you were right, I would agree with you."

"What we do know is that, as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place; that the human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter. This is what we'd forgotten. The simplest things."

"His gaze is from the passing of bars so exhausted, that it doesn't hold a thing anymore. For him, it's as if there were thousands of bars and behind the thousands of bars no world. The sure stride of lithe, powerful steps, that around the smallest of circles turns, is like a dance of pure energy about a center, in which a great will stands numbed. Only occasionally, without a sound, do the covers of the eyes slide open-. An image rushes in, goes through the tensed silence of the frame- only to vanish, forever, in the heart."

"Hello. My name is Leonard Lowe. It has been explained to me that I've been away for quite some time. I'm back."

"Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It's all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!"

"When my son was born healthy, I never asked why. Why was I so lucky? What did I do to deserve this perfect child, this perfect life? But when he got sick, you can bet I asked why! I demanded to know why! Why was this happening?"

"I can't imagine being older than 22. I've no experience at it. I know it's not 1926. I just need it to be."

"Robert De Niro - Leonard Lowe"

"Robin Williams - Dr. Malcolm Sayer"

"Julie Kavner - Eleanor Costello"

"John Heard - Dr. Kaufman"

"Penelope Ann Miller - Paula"

"Max von Sydow - Dr. Peter Ingham"

"Ruth Nelson - Mrs. Lowe"

"Alice Drummond - Lucy"

"Judith Malina - Rose"

"Anne Meara - Mirriam"

"Richard Libertini - Sidney"

"Keith Diamond - Anthony"

"Peter Stormare - Neurochemist"

"Bradley Whitford - Dr. Tyler"

"Dexter Gordon - Rolando"

"Giancarlo Giannini - Inspector Pazzi"

"Francesca Neri - Allegra Pazzi"

"[to Barney, on a recording from his imprisonment] There are shallow rollers, and there are deep rollers. You can't breed two deep rollers... or their young, their offspring, will roll all the way down, hit, and die. Agent Starling is a deep roller, Barney. Let us hope one of her parents was not."

"Frankie Faison - Barney"

"Zeljko Ivanek - Dr. Cordell Doemling"

"What is worst about this humiliation, Clarice? Is it how your failure will reflect on your mommy and daddy? Is your worst fear that people will now and forever believe they were indeed just good old trailer-camp, tornado-bait white trash, and that perhaps you are too?"

"[in a letter to Clarice Starling] Dear Clarice, I have followed with enthusiasm the course of your disgrace and public shaming. My own never bothered me, except for the inconvenience of being incarcerated, but you may lack perspective."

"[in a letter to Clarice Starling] By the way I couldn't help noticing on the FBI's rather dull public website that I have been hoisted from the Bureau's archives of the common criminal and elevated to the more prestigious 10 Most Wanted list. Is this coincidence, or are you back on the case? If so, goody goody, cause I need to come out of retirement and return to public life."

"[in a letter to Clarice Starling] Your job is to craft my doom... so I'm not sure how well I should wish you... but I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. Ta-ta. "H.""

"Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her, and find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight and ache for him?"

"My life? What is there to say about mine? I have been in a state of hibernation for some time... a little inactive. But now I'm back home and I'm very happy, and very healthy. You, though. It's you I'm worried about."

"Do you have so much faith in your abilities that you honestly believe you can somehow simultaneously arrest me and them? It could get very messy, Clarice, like the fish market."

"[repeated line] Okey-dokey, here we go."

"My freedom, just that. You'd take that from me. And if you did, would they have you back, do you think? The FBI? Those people you despise almost as much as they despise you? Will they give you a medal, Clarice, do you think? Would you have it professionally framed and hang it on your wall to look at and remind you of your courage and incorruptibility? All you would need for that, Clarice, is a mirror."

"[to Rinaldo Pazzi] On a related subject, I must confess to you, I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife."

"[to Rinaldo Pazzi] Please don't be confused—because I may have to fillet Signora Pazzi after all."

"[about Dr. Lecter] He's always with me. Like a bad habit."

"This is from the Guinness Book of World Records, congratulating me on being the female FBI Agent who has shot and killed the most people."

"It's all right. I have immunity from the U.S. Attorney. And I have immunity... from the risen Jesus. And nobody beats the Riz."

"[to Clarice] Isn't it funny? You can look at my face... but you shied when I said the name of God."

"When the fox hears the rabbit scream, he comes a-runnin'... but not to help."

"Break The Silence"

"Never Forget Who He Is"

"How long can a man stay silent before he returns to what he does best?"

"Anthony Hopkins - Hannibal Lecter"

"Julianne Moore - Clarice Starling"