The Talented Mr. Ripley

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by j

1. Put a head in a box.
I think it were those really perverse facial expressions of Dirk Bogarde's that got to me--very skilled.

 

[HaysoosAlivera]

Thanks for the article -- I always thought the movie had great style and it is really fascinating when talented costuming brings an era back to life, TTMR was definitely a fine example of this.

 

[mumbojumbo]

Originally Posted by nemuu

You need to go see the original French movie...It's wonderful.

I concur, IMO 'Plein soleil/Purple Noon' (with Alain Delon as Ripley) was superior to the hollywood remake.

 

[FLMountainMan]

Of course! The obscure European original is always superior to the hollywood remake that these cretins enjoy.

 

[mumbojumbo]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

The obscure European original is always superior to the hollywood remake that these cretins enjoy.

Unfortunately, i just cant remember any remake that i liked significantly more than the original (i must confess that i do not know every 'remake & original' pair; e.g. i have yet to see the 'Manchurian Candidate' remake, but dont excpect it to be better than the original).

Look at 'Nattevagten vs. Nightwatch' or 'Spoorloos vs. Vanishing' for two other imo worse remakes. See 'Insomnia' or 'vanilla sky', for other imo uninspired remakes.

Or 'Truth About Charlie' (havent seen this one, but cant believe that this could be a good remake, because 'Mark Wahlberg' vs. 'Carry Grant' resp. 'some to me unknown actrice' vs. 'Audrey H.') vs. 'Charade'.

Edit: maybe Soderbergh's 'Ocean's Eleven' qualifies for a good remake, but i havent seen the original and the original was not european

.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

Of course! The obscure European original is always superior to the hollywood remake that these cretins enjoy.
That's strikingly often the case, yes.

 

[RJman]

I wouldn't call Talented Mr Ripley a remake of Plein Soleil. Plein Soleil was a strikingly different adaptation of the Ripley story, Frenchifying it (Ripley (Delon) kills "Philippe" Greenleaf and falsifies a will of Greenleaf's leaving everything to Marge, played by folk singer Marie LaForet, so that he can marry her and have the money. There's very little of the psychological structure of the book, which dealt with Ripley's fascination with Dickie's looks, wealth and charm. The "Philippe" Greenleaf of Plein Soleil is a rather unattractive churl who is killed quite early on in the movie. The homoerotic overtones of Ripley's fascination with Greenleaf were swept aside in Plein Soleil, as I remember, with the emphasis more on Ripley's attraction to Marge. Perhaps a different movie could not have been made at the time. At the end of the movie, as well, Ripley is about to be caught, with Dickie's body discovered tangled in the undercarriage of his body. The American version of Ripley at least ends with a certain openness to things -- the viewer could imagine Ripley will get caught or that he's wriggle out of his last transgression somehow. The book, of course, ends with Ripley getting away scot-free.

Of course, another interesting set of contrasts could be drawn between the recent Liliana Cavani version of Ripley's Game with John Malkovich and Wim Wender's excellent, haunting Der Amerikanische Freund with Dennis Hopper as a strikingly bizarre Ripley. Both movies were based on the third Ripley novel of Patricia Highsmith. The Cavani version -- which AFAIK did not get theatrical release in the US -- seemed to flatten the story with what I remember to be its clumsy handling of the plot. The Wenders version had much more finesse and much more humanity in dealing with the central element of the plot -- Ripley's strange relationship with a normal, ethical man whom he drives to commit murder.

 

[j]

Thanks RJ, I had forgotten about the 'Freund' version. I will try to get it and see what I think.

Re: the "Hollywood" remake, it is ironic that someone would say that as aside from the foreign language, Purple Noon is a much more Hollywood type movie than TTMR, IMO. They even completely changed the ending to a clean, nice wrap-up, which ends any questions one might otherwise continue to think about after it's over. Kind of ruined it, actually, as without it, you would be left in some sort of suspense over whether Ripley would get away with it, etc....

Oh well, at least it's obscure and foreign.

 

[mumbojumbo]

remake: In film, a remake is ... a newer version of the source (play, novel, story, etc.) of a previously made film. (see wiki) Thus TTMR should be called a remake.

Havent read the book, but according to wiki both versions have deviated from the highsmith book:

Both the 1960 and 1999 films follow Highsmith's plot very closely, but in the 1999 screenplay, Minghella (TTMR) made some changes, and introduced characters to complicate Ripley's dilemma...In the novel and in Plein Soleil, the murder was premeditated...(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tal...d_in_the_films)

The movie (plein soleil) has been cited as similar to Highsmith's novel in tone, style, and especially in the characterization of Tom Ripley. Out of all the actors who have played Ripley in movie adaptations of books in Highsmith's "Ripliad" series, critics, including Highsmith herself, have called Delon's characterization the closest to her version of the character(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plein_Soleil)

IMO the TTMR sequel-friendly ending is utter cheese (although more close to the book) and is one reason why i dislike the movie. Wouldnt call plein soleil hollywoodesque just because the moralistic ending.

 

[Britalian]

Having just watched it again after several years I'm reminded of the great style of the era.
The dark blue suit and shirt coupled with the chestnuty belt and shoes which Dickie wears when he and Tom are leaving the Galleria in Naples: bally good show!
Dickie's attire throughout impresses me. The movie is a feast for the eye.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by Britalian

Having just watched it again after several years I'm reminded of the great style of the era.
The dark blue suit and shirt coupled with the chestnuty belt and shoes which Dickie wears when he and Tom are leaving the Galleria in Naples: bally good show!
Dickie's attire throughout impresses me. The movie is a feast for the eye.

Maybe a glorified version of the era. Nothing beats the original:



As to ending, I don't know wether Plein Soleil ending is moral or not, or hollywoodesque for that matter.
I think depicting Ripley as a cunning and machiavelic character, while making him the focal point of the movie as some sort of anti hero, despicable yet fascinating, can only lead to his demise at the end.
An "hollywoodesque" movie would have built a more romantic character out of Ripley, more ambiguous as well, with no premeditated murder of Greenleaf. This could lend to a happy ending where he eventually succeeed without being caught.

!luc

 

[Britalian]

Originally Posted by Luc-Emmanuel

Maybe a glorified version of the era. Nothing beats the original:



As to ending, I don't know wether Plein Soleil ending is moral or not, or hollywoodesque for that matter.
I think depicting Ripley as a cunning and machiavelic character, while making him the focal point of the movie as some sort of anti hero, despicable yet fascinating, can only lead to his demise at the end.
An "hollywoodesque" movie would have built a more romantic character out of Ripley, more ambiguous as well, with no premeditated murder of Greenleaf. This could lend to a happy ending where he eventually succeeed without being caught.

!luc
No doubt. But black and white can't deliver where colour can re. attire etc.
I thought the re-make was quite Hollywoodesque enough. OK, the romantic angle could have been played up but considering his sexual ambivalence, is it surprising it was played out as it was?
Anyway, on the clothing front: great.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

yes, that was my point, the remake is more hollywoodesque than plein soleil. The movie is in colour though, I found only b&w pictures. Delon is probably too beautiful for the role, but who cares?

!luc