Mild spoilers ahead.
Plein Soleil is brilliant and it's the kind of movie I wished Talented Mr. Ripley would have been but Anthony Minghella doesn't give us that. He gives you a nearly 140-minute slow-moving film. Plein Soleil on the other hand is exciting and thrilling, right until the last minute where the director decides to undo the novel's amoral character meet a moral end.
In Patricia Highsmith's novel, Tom Ripley is amazed by his own cleverness in getting away. That's what made Ripley a great anti-hero. The last minute of Plein Soleil takes what was already a brilliant film and makes you question it as a whole.
Brilliant performances, stunning cinematography and a perfect Nino Rota score elevate Plein Soleil into a masterpiece. If you can end the film right before the last minute, you'd have watched a brilliant French masterpiece.
Plein Soleil is brilliant and it's the kind of movie I wished Talented Mr. Ripley would have been but Anthony Minghella doesn't give us that. He gives you a nearly 140-minute slow-moving film. Plein Soleil on the other hand is exciting and thrilling, right until the last minute where the director decides to undo the novel's amoral character meet a moral end.
In Patricia Highsmith's novel, Tom Ripley is amazed by his own cleverness in getting away. That's what made Ripley a great anti-hero. The last minute of Plein Soleil takes what was already a brilliant film and makes you question it as a whole.
Brilliant performances, stunning cinematography and a perfect Nino Rota score elevate Plein Soleil into a masterpiece. If you can end the film right before the last minute, you'd have watched a brilliant French masterpiece.