Purple Noon

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."

The father of the reckless and spoiled playboy Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) sends Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) to Rome to bring his son back to San Francisco, promising a fee of US$ 5,000.00 to Tom if he succeeds. Phillipe uses and humiliates Tom, without any intention of returning to USA, and Phillipe's fiancée Marge Duval (Marie Laforêt) feels sorry for the bad treatment spent for Tom. When the father of Phillipe considers the deal off, Tom kills Phillipe and assumes his identity. When the snoopy friend of Phillipe, Freddy Miles (Bill Kearns), chases Phillipe, Tom Ripley feels pressed and also kills Freddy, using Phillipe as escape goat for the murder and Marge to reach Phillipe inheritance. The cult "Plein Soleil" is the movie that projected the great French actor Alain Delon to the world. This stunning thriller is engaging even when the viewer watches it for the fourth time (my case) and the scene on the yacht when Tom Ripley wants to dump the body of Phillipe in the ocean is still very impressive in the present days. I have not watched all the movies of René Clément, but "Plein Soleil" is certainly his most known and important movie in his filmography, actually a masterpiece of the genre. The plot is awesome, with one of the most impressive characters of the cinema history, the cold blooded killer Tom Ripley, and even Hollywood was not able to destroy this story with the remake "The Talented Mr. Ripley", with the also excellent Matt Demon. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "O Sol Como Testemunha" ("The Sun as Witness")

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.

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.

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 ****

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.

I initially saw Anthony Minghella's 1999 feature, "The Talented Mr. Ripley,' in which the title role was played by Matt Damon. Subsequently I read the original novel by Patricia Highsmith, before stumbling upon this gem. As a film, `Plein Soleil,' is somewhat more engaging, and features excellent acting by Alain Delon and exquisite cinematography from Henri Decaë. It must be said that Delon was a bit too pretty to accurately portray Tom Ripley, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography, the mood ended up far different from the novel. It seems that director René Clément was focused on making a quality film, and less concerned with a faithful reproduction of the story (as evidenced in the revised ending). Strictly for comparison, it appeared to me that Minghella more accurately sensed the mood of the original, rife with quiet brooding and dark hatred. I must agree with other reviewers who pointed out the miscasting of Gwyneth Paltrow in the remake, as I much preferred the casting and performance of Marie Laforêt. However, neither actress possessed the aire of normalcy and simplicity offered by the novel. While the revised ending did not trouble me, I was disappointed that a faithful adaptation of the novel, or its successors, has yet been made. Each director seems to have reinterpreted or misinterpreted the original story, perhaps out of the uncomfortable compassion the reader develops with the nefarious Ripley. That said, if you have seen the 1999 remake, watching this film will be an enjoyable perspective on the story, in many ways the superior.

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.

Two stars of the French cinematography, Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet, combined their efforts in this excellent film, which showed good views of Rome and Italy in its first half. The second part becomes the decisive one when Ripley (Delon)jealous of the wealthy position of Philippe Greenleaf (Ronet) decides to kill him in a yacht. Ripley intelligently was able to behave and sign bank checks as if he was Greenleaf. Even he conquered the love of Greenleaf's girl friend, but the end surprised him and everyone watching the film. This type of films should be among the 250 best of the last century, but for unknown reasons it is not included.

This 1960 version of the novel "Talented Mr.Ripley" beats the 1999 one clearly. Although other one was also good and more faithful to the novel, it dragged on a bit too much towards the end and Damon was just not a good choice for the leading role. Here we get to see Alain Delon, in his best days as actor and matinée idol. There are notable differences between this Ripley and the other one. He is not a homosexual here, so his murder of Phillippe Greenleaf is provoked solely by envy of his wealth and luxurious lifestyle, as well as the fact that he does what he wants and still gets away with it because he is the son of a bigshot. So this murder is cooler and more calculated than the one in the other film and the novel, I presume. I think that due to the time this film was made at, Ripley was turned into a heterosexual and thus his motif and personality differs somewhat from the original one. He also partly desires Greenleaf's sweet and forgiving girlfriend, Marge. The most interesting fact is that although Tom Ripley is a murderer and a crook, we still feel sympathy for him, or I do. The man he murdered was quite despicable and treated him like second class, an expendable thing, as he treated his women and in some way his own girlfriend. I believe Tom has a dislike for morally corrupt people and a sense of righteousness. His crime is therefore forgivable. He was a poor guy who wanted to get himself a piece of the cake and he did it. Delon is truly outstanding here. Other actors are solid, but he really shines. The last scene is the best and in some way both touching and sad, as we see Tom lying on the deckchair and drinking, blissfully unaware of what lurks around the corner. It is a magnificent touch by Rene Clement, a man whose work I have just started to get acquainted with and respect. Nino Rota's score enhances it all and makes this a true delight. Plein Soleil is really one of the best film-noirs I have seen.