The Talented Mr. Ripley

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Tom Ripley series (the Ripliad)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
Ripley Under Ground (1970)
Ripley's Game (1974)
The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
Ripley Under Water (1991)

The Talented Mr. Ripley is a novel by Patricia Highsmith, published in 1955. It is also the title of a 1999 feature film based on the novel and directed by Anthony Minghella.

Highsmith won an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for this novel, which first introduced the character of Tom Ripley. He would return in the novels Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Underwater.

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About the Film

The Talented Mr Ripley was first filmed as Plein Soleil (also known as Purple Noon) in 1960. It was directed by Rene Clement and starred Alain Delon as Ripley.

The 1999 film version, The Talented Mr. Ripley, had the full title of The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr. Ripley. This version starred Matt Damon as Ripley, Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood, Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue (a character created for the film), Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles, Jack Davenport as Peter Smith-Kingsley (a character expanded for the film) and James Rebhorn as Herbert Greenleaf.

It was filmed mainly in Italy with famous landmarks in the cities of Rome and Venice being used as a backdrop for the narrative. An opera scene features the duel between Lensky and Onegin from Eugene Onegin.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
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The plot of the novel

Tom Ripley was a young man struggling to make a living in New York City, with no prospects but with a talent to survive by doing whatever is required. When approached by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf to travel to Italy to persuade Greenleaf's errant son, Dickie, to return to the United States and assume his responsibilities, Ripley sees this as an opportunity. Shortly after his arrival in Italy, he meets Greenleaf and his would-be girlfriend Marge Sherwood, and quickly insinuates himself into their lives. Over time, however, Marge becomes suspsicious of Tom, and Dickie begins to tire of Tom, possibly resenting Ripley's constant presence and growing dependence. Ripley's own feelings are complicated by his desire to maintain the new wealthy lifestyle Greenleaf has afforded him, and by his growing attraction to Greenleaf.

As a gesture to Tom, Dickie agrees to travel with him on a short holiday to San Remo. The two hire a small boat, and Ripley murders Greenleaf onboard, then sinking the boat containing the body.

Tom assumes Greenleaf's identity, carefully providing communications to Marge to assure her that Greenleaf has merely deserted her while living off Greenleaf's allowance. Freddie Miles, an old friend of Dickie, visits Tom at what he supposes to be Dickie's apartment in Rome. He is immediately suspicious of Ripley and suspects something is wrong. The confrontation results in Ripley murdering Freddie. Ripley's existence becomes a cat and mouse game with the Italian police with Ripley managing to keep himself safe by restoring his own identity and moving to Venice. In succession, Marge, Greenleaf's father and an American private detective confront Ripley. He contemplates murdering Marge, but when he finally realises that they have accepted his story, changes his mind. The story concludes with Ripley travelling to Greece. However, on arrival in Geece, he discovers that the Greenleaf family have accepted that Dickie Greenleaf is dead and have also accepted Tom's right to inherit Dickie's fortune, according to a will forged by Tom on Dickie's Hermes typewriter. The book ends with Tom calling for a taxi to the best hotel - he is (modestly) rich.

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Variations to the plotline used in the films

Both the 1960 and 1999 films follow Highsmith's plot very closely, but in the 1999 screenplay, Minghella made some subtle changes, and introduced characters to complicate Ripley's dilemma.

In the novel, Marge is frumpy (described as having a "gourdlike figure") and insecure and she may be one in a line of Greenleaf's meaningless flings. As portrayed by Marie Leforet in Plein Soleil and Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley, she is a more compatible counterpoint to Greenleaf, and both films suggest in several scenes that Greenleaf's feelings for her are genuine.

The 1999 film differs somewhat from the novel and the earlier film in its portrayal of Ripley: While the Ripley character in the novel and in Plein Soleil has some sympathetic qualities, he is primarily an opportunistic psychopath with no qualms about committing cold-blooded murder whenever it suits him; as portrayed in Minghella's film, however, he is an almost tragic figure motivated by his own self-hatred and not completely immune to guilt. This characterization received a certain amount of criticism, particularly from Highsmith fans.

The 1999 film also explores Ripley's fascination with Greenleaf as more overtly sexual. While this is alluded to in the novel, the film expands upon Ripley's feelings of jealousy and inadequacy, and creates greater tension between the characters.

The motivation for the murder of Greenleaf is treated quite differently, although the setting is identical. In the 1999 film, Ripley kills Greenleaf in a moment of rage after being mocked and rejected by him. He then quickly covers his tracks in his opportunistic manner. In the novel and in Plein Soleil, the murder was premeditated, with Ripley planning each detail in advance and then carrying it out.

Minghella created one character and modified another to provide Ripley with additional complications. Meredith Logue is an American heiress who is bored by her family's wealth but quite content to spend the money. She meets Ripley shortly after his arrival in Italy, and he introduces himself to her as Greenleaf. With their shared contempt for their families, she feels she has found a kindred spirit in Ripley (as Greenleaf), and the two have a romance of sorts. Her presence in Rome causes Ripley problems when he is with Marge, as Meredith, who knows him only as Greenleaf, keeps appearing at inopportune moments.

At the film's conclusion Ripley is travelling on an ocean liner, having escaped detection for his murders, when Meredith once more appears, by coincidence, in his life. As he appraises her, the audience is left to wonder if she is in danger, but as she is with a crowd of people he leaves her alone. Returning to his cabin he meets with Peter Smith-Kingsley, a very minor figure in the novel whose role is expanded for the film. Their conversation suggests that he and Ripley have become lovers, and as they talk, Ripley strangles him. He muses despondently shortly before killing Smith-Kingsley that his lies about who and what he is have left him lost and alone forever; he sobs as he commits the murder.

The ending of Plein Soleil, meanwhile, is significantly different than that of the novel: In that film, Ripley is finally caught as Greenleaf's body is discovered, tangled in the anchor of the boat that Ripley had murdered him on.

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Awards

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Awards nominated


Academy Awards:

Award Person
Nominated:
Best Supporting Actor Jude Law
Best Art Direction Roy Walker
Bruno Cesari
Best Costume Design Ann Roth
Gary Jones
Best Original Music Score Gabriel Yared
Best Adapted Screenplay Anthony Minghella


Golden Globe Awards:

Award Person
Nominated:
Best Actor Matt Damon
Best Supporting Actor Jude Law
Best Motion Picture The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Original Music Score Gabriel Yared
Best Director Anthony Minghella
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Awards won

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External links


de:Der talentierte Mr. Ripley fr:Le Talentueux Mr Ripley ja:リプリー sv:The Talented Mr. Ripley

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