In he ambiguous ending, like many of TV""s cartoon characters, he walked off the stage - and literally walked on water - reinforced by the film""s final refrain: "Life is a state of mind." Lecter realized that Graham had the troubling gift of "eidetiker...more akin to artistic imagination.You""re able to assume the emotional point of view of other people" - and then added: "How I""d love to get you on my couch.You know what Harry was.You oughtn""t to speak to her.It would only cause her pain.Martins: Oh not necessarily.She""d probably want to help.Kurtz: What""s the good of another post mortem? Suppose you dig up something - well, discreditable to Harry?.The madcap film from Columbia Studios (one of the lesser studios) was an unexpected runaway box office sleeper hit (especially after it began to play in small-town theaters), and it garnered the op five Academy Awards (unrivaled until 1975, forty-one years later byOne Flew Over the Cuckoo""s Nest (1975)- and then again byThe Silence of the Lambs (1991).