As Highsmith's book does, and unlike Minghella's "Mr. Ripley", this early french version of the thriller is able to tell almost nothing - well, it's true, it tells even LESS than the book, p.g., about Ripley's sexuality - but to suggest, to hint, nonetheless, all the important things. Masterful, is, for instance, the brief sequence where Ripley walks along the fish market, playing with the motive of guilt and justice without any pretention, almost unremarkable. But in first regard this "enigmatism" arises from the performance of Alain Delon, who gives the whole range between complete bewilderness, the incapacity of expressing himself, and the charme of an animal aware of his cruel instincts. And this almost without "acting" in the strongest sense of the word, only due to his appearance.
Review of Purple Noon
