Ripley in the later novels has become a committed hedonist, he is devoted to great comfort, understated taste and civilized interests. He has wonderful relationships with women and they never fully understand who or what he is. He has friendships, real ones with many of his victims. His crimes are like moves in a chess game. He understands that as much as he may like and respect his opponents, he must end with a checkmate. This film is based on the novel Plein soleil written by Patricia Highsmith and adapted by Rene Clement.
Tom Ripley is sent to Europe by Mr. Greenleaf to fetch Philippe, his spoiled playboy son and bring him back home to the States. In return, Tom will receive $5,000. Philippe toys with Tom, pretending he will go back home but has he no intention of leaving his bride to be, Marge. He also will not honor his father's wishes. After some time passes, Mr. Greenleaf considers this mission a failure and cuts Tom off financially. Now Tom will need all his con man abilities to keep afloat financially.
The best thing about this film is the way the plot devises a way for Ripley to create a perfect cover-up!! There is a substitution of bodies for which a second corpse comes in handy. Ripley's meticulous timing, quick thinking and brilliant invention snatch victory out of the hands of danger. This earlier treatment is definitely European in its sensibilities and its movie making technique. In the beginning it glosses over the Hollywood version covered in depth (like Ripley having been hired by the father to get his son to come home). The homo-erotic aspect is more subtle and less of a feature. Still, this film might be even better than the Hollywood release. Plenty of tension with the three onboard the boat. Alain Delon is excellent as Ripley and really good acting all around. *Despite the comments later made by Marie Laforet in the role of Marge Duval. A memorable, gripping film. 3 /12* (I liked this movie)
118 Min, Crime directed by Rene Clement and written by Patricia Highsmith with Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet, Maurice Ronet, Erno Crisa, Frank Latimore, Billy Kearns, Ave Ninchi, Viviane Chantel, Nerio Bernardi, Barbel Fanger, Lily Romanelli, Nicolas Petrov, Elvira Popesco.
Note: Imdb 7.8* out of 10* with 14,487 reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, reelviews.net 4* James Berardinelli, Rotten Tomatoes 95% with 37 critic reviews 92% with 2500+ audience scores, basement rejects.com 8.5* out of 10* (8/10 story, 9/10 acting, 9/10 visuals) JP Roscoe, Letterboxd 3.9* out of 5* with 103 fans, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 299 ratings
Special Note: Alain Delon’s then girlfriend Romy Schneider appears in the very first scene as a friend of Freddie Miles. Author Patricia Highsmith expressed satisfaction with this film and she called it "very beautiful to the eye and interesting for the intellect,” With Alain Delon’s performance as Tom Ripley, she was disappointed with the film's ending. She called it "a terrible concession to so-called public morality.” The yacht “Marge" is a key character in this film. It is a 60ft yacht called "Lasse" designed by Johan Anker and built in Denmark in 1940. It was restored in the 70s and then completely rebuilt about 10 years later. Jacques Charrier turned down the role of Philippe Greenleaf because he had just married Brigitte Bardot. He did not want to go alone on location in the South of Italy and Maurice Ronet replaced him. *In an interview of 1966, Marie Laforet said that she regretted taking her role in this film. She said she felt she was too young then and she'd let herself "be influenced by too many things around her?” She said she also missed her chance to perform it well.
Mistakes: While sitting in a hotel room, Tom takes an envelope and licks it before putting it in his coat pocket. But he acutally never sealed the envelope and he left the flap open. Ripley's belt goes over the middle belt loop on the back of his white Levis about eight minutes into the film. A couple of minutes later, the belt goes through the loop though the action was continuous with no possibility of him having removed his belt to correct this fashion fumble? The position of the boom on the sailboat is inconsistent. The name of composer Nino Rota is misspelled "Nino Rotta" in the opening titles. Onlookers are clearly visible in the background in the fish market scene.
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