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Summary: Catch Me If You Can...
Review: ....fans of the stories of master improvisionist Tom Ripley will truly love this inspired piece of French cinema filmed in the sixties. It shows no signs of being dated and no signs of those non-sequitur and dreaded foreign film edits that makes the viewer say, "What the heck does this mean?" When I saw it again recently on IFC, I was enthalled by the pacing of Tom's manueverings on the boat and the difficult dispatching of the good life gadabout Freddy from the apartment. The lead actor makes you feel as if the modern day Ripley would have been better served by Banderas, not Damon. Not necessarily to undercut Damon's performance, but this Ripley is more of a dark european which seems to fit better. Also there are snatches of everday goings about and faces in the crowd which give the movie a distinct flair. A warning though: if you can't handle english subtitles, this ain't for you. I found them not to be so much of a hinder, but some movie viewers may not.
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Summary: The First 'Mr. Ripley'
Review: A different (and somewhat more traditional) spin on Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Alain Delon is a more convincing double-edged protagonist than is Matt Damon. This first version is taut, highly suspenseful and, ultimately, more satisfying than the 1999 version. (The wrap-up is breathtaking -- and totally unlike the newer, Anthony Minghella version.) Brilliantly photographed and certainly worth a look -- if only it were on DVD.
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Summary: WOW-ALAIN DELON!
Review: Alain Delon makes Brad Pitt look ugly!
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Summary: a beautiful thriller
Review: Beautiful cinematography, beautiful music and beautiful Alain Delon in his early 20's. It is a murder + suspense movie, but the talented French moviemen did such a beautiful job that Hollywood could not match up 38 years later. Alain Delon is no doubt the most handsome man in 20th Centry. But he was not reliant on his look, that's why he was, and still is, the greatest French movie star.
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Summary: Mediocre Movie
Review: By now, everyone has summarized the story, so I'm not going to cover the same ground. Instead, the points that cause me to take off two stars from this movie: (1) The movie starts in the middle of the book. Hence, the background information which develops Ripley's character, his humble beginnings and seduction into the good life, is left out. Without this information, Mr. Ripley's motivations are not clear. (2) Dickie Greenleaf has foreknowledge of Mr. Ripley's plot and netharious nature, yet does nothing about it. For instance, Dickie finds his bank papers which have been stolen by Mr. Ripley. When confronted, Mr. Ripley reveals his intentions, including how to assume Dickie's identity if he were hypothetically murdered! Yet, Dickie continues to put Mr. Ripley up (perhaps out of aragance assuming he can deal with Tom?) Then, surprise surprise, Tom Ripley kills Dickie just like he said he would. (3) Mr. Ripley's sexual preferences are not ambiguous, taking away some of the suspence. (4) The ending.Of course, the real fun in reviewing this movie is comparing it to both the book and the 1999 "Talented Mr. Ripley" version. I'm in the minority by liking the 1999 version better than this version. In the 1999 version, it starts from the beginning of the book completing the whole story. It better developes the Freddie Miles character, the fly in Mr. Ripley's devious plans. It smartly ads an extra love interest (played by Cate Blanchet). It better develops Dicke Greenleaf as a playboy character. It more clearly shows Mr. Ripley as an unsophisticated twit in the beginning and his overall evolution to a man of the world. Finally, the 1999 version better demonstrates the overall lesson, of how Mr. Ripley was, in the end, able to take over Dickie Greenleaf's life, at a very murderous cost. If you get one, get the 1999 "Talented Mr. Ripley" If you really enjoyed it, then get this movie.
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Summary: MIDDAY SUN and just a touch of HEAT.
Review: DELON's 'heat' that is - what a debut, and what eyes, face and smile! One almost wants him to get away with this one - and maybe he does ... he does have the gift of talking his way out of any situaiton, not so? FAR superior to the remake, this one is sundrenched, and peopled with lovely, boring, pointlessly babbling rich kids .... until our 'hero' is sent to bring this old schoolchum back home ... he likes what he sees, wants to be part of it - and tries his best to be. Can't blame him - the Victim somewhat deserves to be snuffed! It's amazing to see how comfortable Delon is with this role, and how easilyhe slips into 'the life' Beautifully paced movie with just the correct elements of suspense - will he ever get rid of that overweight victim? Or be crushed by the guy? Nice twist at the end too! Oh yes, Romy Schneider [long time amour of Delon] has a bit at the very start of the movie - before her career took of with "Bocaccio 70".
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Summary: Ripley Done Right
Review: I discovered Plein Soleil in France while living in Paris and since it had a four star rating (out of four) in the TV review, I decided to tape it, and have not regretted it since. I have seen the film four times and simply never get tired of it. My friends and family were disappointed in the American Ripley film version and I really wanted them to see this, the original film. However, I was not willing to translate every single line from French into English (irritating for all involved... defeats the purpose...) and I could not find a copy of the movie with subtitles. Then I found that Plein Soleil existed under the title "Purple Noon" in English and was overjoyed. As the other reviewers have already noted, the cinematography is superb, and, Alain Delon, pretty boy or not, is sublime. (And I was not a fan of his- quite the contrary- before seeing this film). The twist and sense of poetic justice at the end was far more gratifying than the Talented Mr. Ripley. To me this is a PERFECT MOVIE. Just to give you a sense of my taste, other "perfect films" in my book are "Cyrano de Bergerac" (version with Gerard Depardieu), "Goodfellas", and "Rocco et I suoi fratelli" (Viscomti- an Italian drama also starring a young Alain Delon). Call it Plein Soleil or Purple Noon- what you get is style, suspense, finesse, and French class. An American formerly in Paris
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Summary: Purple Noon
Review: I had forgotten "Purple Noon" until I recently saw "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Half way through the film I said, "I've seen this story before!" Slowly the name "Purple Noon" came back to haunt me. I now must have this film with Alain Delon for my collection! Subtitles cannot keep me from a film that is really good!
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Summary: Dark, yet Exciting Film that looks deep into human nature
Review: I have seen this film several times: first-long time ago, then again-on the big screen, and more recently-after "Talented Mr. Ripley" came out. I liked PM every single time I watched it...the more you watch it, the better it gets. This version of the novel is very dark and breath-taking; it is also more of a criminal drama, than TMr.R. The fact that this film is not about americans does not take away the pleasure from the plot and the cinematography. Alain Delon is marvelous in his debut role as "Mr. Ripley" (imagine, getting a role like this one for a big debut... Quite a task! ). He is as devious as you can get... "Purple Noon" is a challenging film, that takes a deep look into human psyche. It is a real masterpeice.
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Summary: "Ripley" was better...
Review: I saw "Talented Mr Ripley" first, then read the book, then saw "Purple Noon." I think "Ripley" was much more faithful to the book, much better-acted and directed. WHat I didn't like about PURPLE NOON is that it picks up right in the middle of the book, with no exposition or development of any of the characters. And the ending was very finite, not open-ended the way "Ripley's" was. What DID i like about Purple Noon? It's the most beautiful color and cinematography I think I've ever seen on a screen.... gorgeously photographed.
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