User Reviews

I saw Minghella's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and Clement's "Purple Noon" back to back. Two entirely different movies based on exactly the same book. The differences are personal of course. Minghella has a moralistic view of his characters and their darkness must be, somehow, explained if not justified. Clement's allows the amorality of his characters to run loose. Minghella casts Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, a rather invisible actor in every way and although he's pretty good here, he's not good enough to overshadow his rival: Jude Law. Clement casts Alain Delon as Ripley and you will be with him all the way, you'll go where he goes you will turn out to be as amoral as he is - at least I did, I just wanted him to get away with it and why? Because he was Alain Delon, the Tom Ripley that, clearly, Patricia Highsmith intended. His rival is Maurice Ronet, good as he is, I didn't miss him when he left. You know why? Because I was left with the dangerous, magnetic, amoral, riveting Alain Delon. Clement allows us to see the difficulty and danger of the murders, we see them, we are there. Minghella plays it rather hurriedly. There is no real tension or horror. The most suspenseful moment is at an Opera house. The pluses on "The Talented Mr Ripley" - besides the aforementioned Jude Law - are Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett in two beautifully written and performed parts. In "Purple Noon" Marie Laforet is left rather to her own devices. Once all said and done you can watch both films as if they weren't even related. I prefer "Purple Noon" but that's just me.

Alain Delon and Maurice Ronnet play a fascinating duet of savage cruelty in this tense beautifully crafted Rene Clement thriller from Patricia Highsmith's pen. Anthony Minghella remade it as "The Talented Mr Ripley" with a more polished script and some startling character development but "Purple Noon" has an unbeatable extra gear in Alain Delon's portrayal. He is deadly because anyone would have fallen into his trap. His beauty is inviting and reassuring. We witness his brutal side but don't get to the point of judging him. That is more unique than rare in a movie. Delon's Ripley acts as if there was nothing objectionable about his behavior. A poster boy for amorality. Marie Laforet's Marge is stunningly beautiful but don't get to know her as well as we do Gyneth Paltrow in Minghella's version. If you liked The Talented Mr Ripley" you're going to love "Purple Noon" and vice-versa.

I'm fascinated by a scene at a restaurant. We get an extreme close-up of a woman who is kept out of focus while another character in the background, who is speaking and is in the center of the shot, remains in focus. Is the woman who is out of focus important or not? More to the point, was shooting it this way a good idea? It illustrates by contrast how sure-footed René Clément is most of the time. Usually there can be no debate.

I wasn't familiar with Clément's work until this film, but my God, he's good. His camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense. He shares that talent with Orson Welles (meaning the Welles of "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons," not, say, "Lady from Shanghai"), who also made decisions that are surprising yet invariably right.

Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) and Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) are lately inseparable friends. They're both idling in Europe, but on papa Greenleaf's dime. Phillipe's fiancée Marge (Marie Laforêt) feels sorry for Tom but resents his presence. Phillipe's other friend, Freddie (Billy Kearns), considers Tom Ripley a worthless moocher. But there's more to Tom Ripley, the mimic, the forger, the talented criminal improviser, than anyone, even Tom Ripley himself, can guess.

Alain Delon, with his chiseled looks and cold beauty, makes an excellent Tom Ripley. The script is brilliantly adapted from Patricia Highsmith's terrific suspense novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley": the dialogue is always bringing the themes of duplicity, love, self-love, the nature of identity, ruthlessness and murder to the surface where they are given a brilliant sheen by Clément and his cinematographer Henri Decaë.

We're left to figure things out for ourselves, which is rare. Do we need to be told what Tom thinks of when he sees all those dead fish? When a door with a mirror swings open toward Tom, do we need to see Tom's mirror image to understand the mirror's significance? Or is it enough that we know there's a mirror next to Tom? I know what the answers would have been in Hollywood—in 1960 and now. Here, the answers are no, no and yes.

Alain Delon stars as Tom Ripley in "Purple Noon," an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley." There is another filming of the same book in 1999 starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow, which I didn't care for.

Patricia Highsmith was happy with all of this film except for the ending, which differs from her book, the first of a series. She really liked Delon as Ripley, and it's clear why. He does an excellent job as the suave, charming Tom who hides all of his amorality beneath the veil of a chiseled face and beautiful smile. Delon is one of the great matinée idols, really at the height of his fabulous looks here.

Unlike the Minghella version, which I found preposterous, this story makes more sense and becomes absolutely riveting once Ripley gets rid of his rival Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and steals his identity. Rene Clement is a wonderful director, and the scene in the restaurant where Tom makes sure he is overheard talking to Marge (Marie Laforet) is especially good. The camera work is excellent throughout and a little unusual.

I, too, did not care for the ending, which was not Highsmith's.

One thing i've never bought about this story is the fact that Ripley hung around the same area as Marge and Philippe's friends after becoming him. That to me was a big problem in the Minghella film, which was made worse by some dumb scenes. Though I still don't understand it, it was easier to take in this film.

Like the Minghella version, Purple Noon is glorious to look at, with a more European flavor than The Talented Mr. Ripley. Highly recommended.

Purple Noon with Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet,and Marie Laforêt, is the chilling original to The Talented Mister Ripley. The blindingly beautiful Mediterranean background serves as a stark contrast to the lives of three spoiled and amoral characters on holiday in Italy. This original of The Talented Mr. Ripley is far different from the more recent movie, with Delon being more believable as Tom Ripley, his unbelievably handsome face hiding an evil mind, willing to do whatever it takes to trade places with Philippe Greenleaf.

There are some gratuitous shots here for 1960, and I wasn't real impressed with Maurice Ronet,who seemed too old for the part of Philippe, but on the whole, an enjoyable experience with great plot development and cinematography. The movie pulled you in like a day in the Riviera.

Rene Clement's "Plein soleil" offers a young Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, a character known to more recent audiences as the hero of the Anthony Mingella 1999 "The Talented Mr. Ripley." It is nice to note that both films hold their own well, with the Mingella providing more character and background information than the Clement version.

Delon, who was to become a favorite actor of Visconti and other fine French and Italian directors, renders a skillful performance, along with Maurice Ronet as Phillipe Greenleaf (known as "Dickie" in the later Mingella opus).

Clement keeps the camera focused on the handsome M. Delon (as did Visconti) with stark closeups to show detailed emotional reactions. Delon manages to rise to the challenge in subtle ways, and to project a fully realized character. While Clement fails to provide much background as to why this character acts the way he does, Delon's photogenic countenance somewhat overcomes this void by masking it with personality and charm.

We can be thankful to Martin Scorcese for the fine reprint of this memorable French thriller, known in the UK and USA as "Purple Noon."

Tom Ripley is the poor friend of the wealthy and arrogant Philippe Greenleaf who spends his time sailing on the Mediterranean sea's coasts of Italy in his magnificent vessel. Philippe enjoys himself by humiliating Tom whenever he can and making him feel the power that money brings. Tom envies his friend's easy life and also his pretty girlfriend Marge Duval who sails along with them and finally he kills Philippe and takes his place as a rich man by achieving the sinister and carefully plan he has developed with such purpose. Things get complicated for the killer from then on but he manages to go on with his profitable impersonation and sentimental approach to the dead man's girlfriend.

The film is skilfully handled by director René Clement and interest doesn't fall till the end, the colorful and beautiful Italian coast on the Mediterranean sea brings a great background to the story and the final sequence when Tom's perfect plan is spoiled is excellent and memorable.

Alain Delon renders one of his best performances ever as the resentful and no scruples Tom, well supported by Maurice Ronnet as Philippe and Marie Laforet as Marge. These are the characters the whole plot is about and the rest of the cast is there just for need.

Most entertaining and made with intelligence, this is thriller to see. An 8 out of 10 to me.

Purple Noon (1960)

It might be hard to see "Purple Noon" with the eyes of someone in 1960, when it was released, especially if you have seen the other famous movie based on the same book, the 1999 "The Talented Mr. Ripley." But in fact they are rather different films, even though a few scenes are quite similar. The more loosely filmed, less elegant, and rather clumsier "Purple Noon" is admired for exactly those qualities. It is not the 1999 highly (highly!) polished, superbly acted Anthony Minghella movie by any stretch, and yet, in most views, it is the better movie.

But not to me.

It's worth avoiding too much of that "which is better" comparison by remembering that the early film is distinctive as it spends much of its time as a kind of elevated mind game between to very good looking young men. They spar, they taunt, they find a kind of liberty and discovery in the ways they push each other to be something unexpected, even dangerous. This is developed in quick snippets as we go, but you get the sense of it more fully in a couple of longer scenes, and then eventually on the beautiful yacht where the crisis from their derring do comes to a head.

Once Tom Ripley takes full control of his destiny, and Mr. Greenleaf's, we see that he is not, actually, the brilliantly deceptive and disarming Mr. Ripley in Minghella's film. That is, he isn't the "talented" Mr. Ripley at all, but a young man who barely avoids catastrophe time after time in his plot to take over Greenleaf's identity. He does succeed, to a point, but the constant dodges and role playing of Matt Damon's character are less the point here. This is more the picture of someone in slightly over his head.

Alain Delon is certainly a pretty boy actor, a kind of cleaner, and more French, James Dean (who was already 5 years dead by this point). I can see how people prefer his version of Tom Ripley, because it's more likable the way any pretty rebellious and slightly dangerous boy is likable. In a way, I admire Damon simply because he wasn't such a paradigm. His flaws showed. It's Jude Law in the later film who is the pretty boy, playing Mr. Greenleaf, and in the earlier French version we have Maurice Ronet, who at least has the advantage of looking a lot like Delon.

There are some weird flaws in "Purple Noon." One I couldn't accept at all was when Ripley calls Greenleaf's girlfriend, Marge, pretending to be Greenleaf, and Marge can't tell the difference. There are also touches in the later film that add to the complexity of it all--the addition of another woman, the greater presence of Freddy Miles (played in both movies by rather similar men), and the inner struggles of Ripley.

Further, there is an authenticity to the American (later) film for the unavoidable reason that the characters are Americans in Europe, which they are (though Jude Law is British, a small point). In "Purple Noon" the characters are still American, with American names and histories and passports, but of course the look, act, and sound like they are French. Understandable, but odd in some larger view. There is also a wonderful sexual undercurrent in the later film missing in the first--the idea that Ripley is homosexual and doesn't know how to access those feelings, or how to come out to Greenleaf about it.

Both films are beautifully filmed, this one far more simply, lacking the huge resources of Minghella's enterprise. That makes "Purple Noon" more gritty at times, and if it sometimes seems to cut corners (the market scene as the same woman in a blue dress in the background too many times), it is also more direct and less lofty, which is good in its own way. Jazz makes a brief appearance here, but nothing like in Minghella's version, where you might say the music takes over too much at times from the plot. "Purple Noon" does not, except for one short stretch on the yacht, dwell on atmospherics for their own sake.

Rene Clement is certainly a celebrated French director, a generation before their amazing "New Wave" era. This is one of his lesser known features, but it has been getting closer attention in recent years, and you might really enjoy it. If you've seen the Damon/Law version of the two main characters here in action, you should enjoy the contrast of Delon/Ronet in the same roles. Very impressive, and different.

Visually, this film could serve as a cinematic poster for a Mediterranean cruise. Cinematographer Henri Decae draws us into the film with its alluring Italian locales and gorgeous panoramic vistas. Bright, complementary hues and high color contrast translate into eye-popping reds and yellows. And, of course, there's the deep blue color of the sea, and a brilliant sunlit sky. Such is the setting for a story wherein three attractive, young adults (Tom, Philippe, and Marge) test a 3-way relationship that is far more complex than it first appears.

Indeed, trouble lurks beneath the surface (so to speak), in this "Italiano paradiso" thriller. In the first forty minutes, the psychological motivations of our three beautiful people are unclear and subject to change. It's hard to tell who is doing what to whom. Subsequent to this narrative setup, we see exactly where the story is headed. Because "Plein Soleil" is a psychodrama, casting is important. The three leads (Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, and Marie Laforet) are all convincing in their roles.

I have not read the Highsmith novel on which the screenplay was based. So I cannot make an intertextual analysis. I do think this 1960 film is superior, for various reasons, to the more recent remake.

Adroitly directed by Rene Clement, with a buoyant musical score by Nino Rota, "Plein Soleil" is a character study of an amoral pleasure seeker whose charming personality masks the evil within. The juxtaposition of inwardly criminal intent with outwardly idyllic scenes of Italy and the Mediterranean results is an art house film that is both picturesque and suspenseful. It's a film that appeals both to our eyes and to our brains.

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.

Anyone who has read the book knows how awful this adaptation really is. Patricia Highsmith's Ripley is so much more insane. He has so much more of an agenda than Dickie's money and winning Marge, in fact, HE HATES MARGE!!! Both Dickie and Tom are in-the-closet, which would make sense for a book written in 1955. Egads, what was Rene Clement thinking??!! Of course, I know in 1960, it was still super taboo for people to be gay, but can that possible explain all the other differences?? Like Phillipe Greanleaf? HIS NAME IS DICKIE. He is supposed to be and American, that's why he has an American name. And what's all this talk of San Francisco? Patricia Highsmith never mentions San Francisco once. He's from New York. And the ending... Hello!!! I won't tell you the differences here, but you will see for yourself, it changes the entire story all around!!

Extremely well done, tightly edited, well acted (by everyone, including the small roles, especially the actor who has to appear dead with long camera shots in a tense scene in the hotel). Delon is perfectly cast, with his calculating cool.

The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the scenes on the yacht---nothing gimmicky, but shot with an expertise that gives true drama to the action. You can feel the waves, the wind, and the sun. The colors are vibrant on the DVD. Though a scene like this in a typical movie today would include a heavy ominous score, the director simply lets the sound of the wind create the tension. The score (by Nina Rota), in fact, is understated, unlike anything today. Even the opening credits have style.

In scenic Italy, criminally handsome Alain Delon (as Tom Ripley) has become friendly with hedonistic Maurice Ronet (as Philippe Greenleaf). Hired by his friend's wealthy father, Mr. Delon hopes to collect $5,000 for bringing Mr. Ronet back home to San Francisco. They may never get there. The party-loving men go out on Ronet's boat, along with girlfriend Marie Laforet (as Marge Duval). There, murderous intentions bubble to the surface...

There are few minor problems with this revision of novelist Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1955). Still, you will see a lot of perfection on the screen. Under skillful and innovative direction from Rene Clement, Delon's devastatingly handsome, aloof and sneaky anti-hero perversely appealed to viewers. He became a major star. On or off the water, Henri Decae's photography is appropriately drop-dead gorgeous and Nino Rota's musical score is surprisingly complimentary. The story was memorably re-made in 1999 by director Anthony Minghella, with the primary roles filled by Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. The 1999 version took gay subtext and shoved it up your screen. You did not see much of that in 1960...

Even in France...

Although it drifts too far from the source, this version still rocks the boat.

********* Plein soleil (1960-03-10) Rene Clement ~ Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet, Billy Kearns

This is one of those movies that will persist in your memory. Head and shoulders above recent remake - "Talented Mr. Ripley". The beautiful photography and horrifying crimes will fascinate and disturb. Alain Delon is delightfully deceitful (as Ripley). Marie Laforet (Marge) is stunningly beautiful. A must see for film noir fans.

Sun-swept adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel "Monsieur Ripley" involves two French playboys in Rome--one a millionaire's son, the other a ne'er-do-well who worships money and the people who have it--who come to an impasse at sea, resulting in tragedy and an elaborate cover-up. Hitchcockian drama, a whirlpool of murder and deceit in exquisitely beautiful visual terms, has luscious color cinematography and locations. However, like Alfred Hitchcock, director René Clément is more interested in the How rather than the Why; the film doesn't run so much on emotion as it does on a rather far-fetched level of logic (though the final twist is really pressing things). The film's American counterpart, 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", played up the thriller aspects of Highsmith's story, while Clément is more interested in letting the scenes unfold through careful pacing and detail. It's often extraordinary--and, by the end, extraordinarily empty. **1/2 from ****

When I got this film, I had no idea that it was later remade as the Mr. Ripley films in the US. Now I have not yet seen any of them--but after seeing "Purple Noon" I am much more inclined to seek them out in the near future. This is because the film is so intelligently written--darn clever and quite original.

Tom Ripley appears to be a mouse of a man. He's been sent to retrieve an American playboy back to the States, but with no luck. So instead, he hangs with this spoiled rich guy as he wanders through Europe having a good time. During these travels, the rich guy keeps treating Ripley like dirt--and enjoys seeing just how far he can push him. As for Ripley (Alan Delon), you are hoping that he does SOMETHING to stand up for himself. Unfortunately, this means killing the rich guy and assuming his identity! Now you think that this plan is really flawed--after all, how long can he pretend to be this rich guy and spend his money. BUT, this is NOT Ripley's plan--it's much more complicated and intelligent than that. Tune in to see the plan unfold.

What I liked about this scenario is that HOW and WHAT Ripley did really worked well. It's NOT the half-baked plan it seems to be and was fascinating throughout. In addition, Delon, who is a fine actor, is really good in this role. Well worth seeing and one of the better films I've seen in recent weeks--and I watch A LOT of films!

I liked PLEIN SOLEIL but as with the recent THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY film, this early French adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's book is still not right and the perfect Tom Ripley film has yet to be made. The biggest problem with this movie is the pacing. It's deadly slow. I don't mind slow movies (I love the original SOLARIS) but for a thriller, there were few thrills to be had during its entire 2 hours time. And casting Alain Delon as Tom Ripley is, even if Delon's acting is good, totally wrong. The Tom Ripley character is an average looking guy nobody cares about and who can't ever get a fair break. He fades in the background and because of this, he's capable of being a chameleon of sorts. It's hard to imagine someone like Delon in the part of a man whom no one notices or cares about. He's just too handsome for Tom Ripley. Another big problem with the film is Tom's relationship with Dickey (named Phil in this movie). In the book (and in TALENTED MR RIPLEY) there's a special love/hate relationship between the two men. In PLEIN SOLEIL, Tom's relationship with Dickey is strictly business. This oversight basically pulls the rug from under the whole meaning of the story.

But even with all these faults, PURPLE NOON is light years better than the Matt Damon/Minguella crappy production (see my IMDB review) and it is one of the best looking films I've ever seen. It looks like it was made yesterday. The cinematography is so eye-pleasing that it's often breath-taking. And the actress who played Marge is way better than Gwyneth Paltrow. So, in the end, the film is half successful. PLEIN SOLEIL is not as moronically simpleminded as the disastrous Minguella version but it's still not true to Highsmith's Ripley books. But it is worth checking out just for the cinematography and the film's "look".

Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) is a handsome and unassuming young man that hides a dark secret, he's a talented forger, impersonator and all round conman and opportunist. He seizes one such moment, when he claims to be a lifelong friend of Philipe Greenleaf and gains employment from his parents, who want their playboy son to return home to the US. Ripley befriends Philipe in Rome again claiming they were friends as children, Philipe doesn't believe it for a minute, but he enjoys Ripleys company, although doesn't show it much, preferring to treat him like a dog. While sailing on Philipe's yacht, Ripley is confronted by Philipe who claims he knows what he's up to, he's not wrong, Ripley kills him and then assumes his identity, but how long can he keep up two identities, as Philipe's friends and family seek him out, not to mention the growing police interest? I guess the better known adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Mr Ripley novel these days is Anthony Minghela's The Talented Mr Ripley, which is a shame as this is a super version of the story. Ripley is a despicable character is many ways, but because its Delon playing him, this viewer was almost rooting for him to succeed and get way with his dastardly plan, its hard not to take to him as he sits astride a yacht, bronzed body, wind blowing in his hair like some Greek God returning to Olympus, its only his blood stained hands that blows this myth. The film is beautifully filmed, in stunning locations, the ever present brilliant sunshine being a perfect juxtaposition against the dark deeds taking place within. Its unusual to see Delon play a demure character, but he shows his range and he pulls it off in style because we know behind it all there is an amoral man (perhaps even insane) trying to get out. One scene that sticks out, is the aftermath of the crime on the yacht, as the sea suddenly swells and Ripley struggles to control the yacht and also cover up his deeds from the prying eyes of a nearby ship, its power is quite breathtaking, the danger for Delon must have been very real. Clement has crafted a slow burner of a thriller, the script being very thrifty and lean, the film being engrossing and full of life.

The fact that "Purple Moon" plays well after almost thirty years is a testament to French director Rene Clement's clean, objective direction and his faithful adherence to the Hitchcock formula. Pretty poor boy goes after everything pretty rich boy has, including his yacht and his girl friend in this tightly focused semi-thriller. We see once again (cf., Polanski's "Knife in the Water" (1962) and the early Nicole Kidman vehicle "Dead Calm" (1989)) that some very bad things that can happen when you get two men and one woman on a yacht in the middle of nowhere.

Charming locales and a clever ending make this a treat to watch.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Interesting to compare this with "The Talented Mr. Ripley". In many ways the original is stronger in some areas and weaker in others, than it's more famous remake. Delon seems miscast, and Damon made for a better nerdy killer. However the obvious similarities speak testament for the mood, pace and setting of the original.