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Plein Soleil (Purple Noon) vs. The Talented Mr. Ripley


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Having seen neither film treatment of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novel, I was wondering if Ballet Talkers could give me a recommendation as to what they think of either film -- the 1960 Alain Delon version and the 1999 Matt Damon version. They both look interesting and I can't make up my mind which one I should watch first.

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Haven’t gone out of my way to see the Delon version as it features one of my least favorite actors. The recent one was okay, but interesting only until Jude Law checks out (you know, you ARE boring, Tom) but nothing to write home about. But then I didn’t much care for the book, either, although there are differences that are interesting to compare and contrast.

I hope you see both and tell us about them. :blush:

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Haven’t gone out of my way to see the Delon version as it features one of my least favorite actors.

Oh good, that should get us on an even keel about the actors, since we like about 4 or 5 of the same ones. :P Anyway, I also don't 'like' any of the actors in 'Ripley', but they are all good in this. Damon is an usher at Carnegie Hall at the beginning, after the concert is over he playes the Bach Italian Concerto--but it's professional playing, so makes no sense about 'dreaming to be a concert pianist'. It's flat by comparison to the French work, which one will find plangent if one is not repelled by Delon (I guess that's who is referred to.) Admittedly, he's known for some questionable activities a la Corse, but then Frank Sinatra didn't ever lose any of his following because of mob.

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The Matt Damon version is way over produced--almost an opera--for such a small scaled original, though his performance is small scaled.

"Purple Noon" does depend on whether you do like Dirac's least favorite, "the ice cold angel" as someone on You Tube has posted about Alain Delon.

It has a good director, Rene Clement, who also did the haunting "Forbidden Games." The music is by Nino Rota and the photography by Henri Decae who was the cameraman on "400 Blows", and "Elevator to the Gallows."

"Purple Noon" comes off as a well made whole thing, with a very existential grip on its subject. The last part is a little like Antonioni's "Passenger" in the way it goes on and on. I haven't seen it since film school where it was a favorite where movies like this seemed to sting to the quick and we couldn't see enough of them. This was probably also the case for Martin Scorsese, who re-released it.

Delon did a lot of interesting work with Jean Pierre Melville in the 1960s, also Antonioni "Eclipse," later a Godard film that he produced, "Nouvelle Vague," and earliest of all the great "Rocco e Suoi Fratelli." His artistic heart seems to have been in the right place.

The other great Patricia Highsmith film of course is "Strangers on a Train" and the Robert Walker Bruno character is closer to the Highsmith type.

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Did you see Delon in 'Swann in Love''? I thought that was sort of underrated, esp. since 'Le Temps Retrouve' seemed so overrated. I guess both of the Charluses were good, though. I can't think of anybody but Orson who's managed to do a worthy screen adaptation ('The Trial', which hardly anybody has seen) of the giganitc kind of literary masterpiece. Thanks for reminding me of 'The Passenger', which I remember liking a lot. I am now going to reserve both that and also 'Purple Noon', which I want to see again. I just noticed that Alain Robbe-Grillet was Goncourt in 'Temps Retrouve', I hadn't known at the time.

Oh yes, 'Rocco and His Brothers', that's wonderful.

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Delon did a lot of interesting work with Jean Pierre Melville in the 1960s, also Antonioni "Eclipse," later a Godard film that he produced, "Nouvelle Vague," and earliest of all the great "Rocco e Suoi Fratelli." His artistic heart seems to have been in the right place.

I always wanted to like Delon, because he plainly had good taste in material and, as you say, good intentions. As it is, I can go along with ‘ice cold’ but not ‘angel.’ I found him affectless.

The other great Patricia Highsmith film of course is "Strangers on a Train" and the Robert Walker Bruno character is closer to the Highsmith type.

Walker would have been a fine Ripley. He gave another performance in the Bruno vein for a terrible anti-Communist picture, “My Son John,” which was, sadly, his last.

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This thread sent me Googling. I came upon something from the NY Times last April. Now one can purchase a boxed set of five Delon films, some of which might be unfamiliar to non French audiences. I've only seen La Piscine.) Here's the article, with a nice photo of Delon and Romy Schneider:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...GLR:en%26sa%3DN

The review mentions Borsolino from 1970, although it's not included in the set. Delon was fine in that, but Jean Paul Belmondo stole the movie.

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The Matt Damon version is way over produced--almost an opera--for such a small scaled original, though his performance is small scaled.

Quiggin, you've really managed to put your finger on what is wrong with The Talented Mr Ripley. I have always thought it was better than the sum of its parts because some of those parts were just too much for the movie.

That said, Cate Blanchett and Jack Davenport in bit parts are worth any price of admission.

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No -- unfortunately! The combination of a week-long head cold, Thanksgiving and life generally has defeated my best intentions in this regard. However, I'm leaning toward Purple Noon. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pretty face! :clapping:

Jude Law works for me, although Delon is pretty pretty, too. :dunno:

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I don't know which movie better follows the book, which I haven't read. For one who hasn't read the book I think movie preference might depend on which movie you see first. I saw the Damon movie first. Because of this thread I bought the Delon version. I did not like the Delon version as well (and it had nothing to do with the dubbing). In the Damon version I felt you got to know the characters better (plus I like Damon); I felt the movie was driven by the personalities of the characters.

Giannina

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Thanks for posting, Giannina. I think that the Damon/Minghella version is closer to the book (although the character of Tom is softened and as Quiggin notes above, the movie is really too lush - I guess unvarnished Highsmith is a bit much for a big budget film).

Liking Damon helps, I agree.

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I recently learned that there are at least two more movies based on Patricia Highsmith's Ripley character: "Ripley's Game" with John Malkovich (!) as a middle aged Ripley and Wim Wender's "The American Friend" with Dennis Hopper (!!!) as Ripley. The Wenders movie sounds fascinating, in light of Wender's long-lasting interest in exploring and comparing European and American culture.

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The American Friend (doesn't the "American Friend" always come up short in the end) is more Wenders than Highsmith. It had a wonderful helicopter tracking shot of a train, the filmic equivalent of the long lifts in the second movement of Symphony in C, as I remember. It's a good film.

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