This very noir thriller is the latest adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr Ripley. It’s the first adaptation of the book into a series. It’s an 8-parter and it’s been streaming on Netflix since early April. I loved it.
If you’ve read the book or seen other screen versions you’ll know the basics of the story:
Tom Ripley is a low-life New York grifter who worms his way into the life of a wealthy young American, Dickie Greenleaf, who’s been living the high life at his father’s expense in Italy while trying to make a name for himself as an artist. Greenleaf Senior wants his son to come home and start taking life seriously. He gets the idea that Tom Ripley is one of Dickie’s old college pals. Ripley does not disabuse him of this exaggerated notion of his actual status and grabs the opportunity when the father sends him off to Positano, all expenses paid, to persuade Dickie to go home.
Dickie and his girlfriend Marge have their doubts about Ripley from the start, but they take him in on the father’s say-so, which turns out not to have been a good idea.
Highsmith published four more Ripley novels, the last in 1991. There have been six feature films featuring her nefarious character, as well as two TV productions. I know I’ve seen one or more of the movie sequels but I didn’t want to be sucked into a total Ripley rabbit-hole so for comparison purposes I restricted myself to re-watching Anthony Minghella’s 1999 movie The Talented Mr Ripley with Matt Damon as Ripley and Jude Law as Dickie. (Netflix is thoughtfully running both at the moment.)
For my money this latest version is the best. For a start, the casting is better. Jude Law was fine as Dickie Greenleaf, but the two characters should be in contrast. Matt Damon is a bit too fair-haired and square-jawed to be Highsmith’s creepy anti-hero. Perhaps HE should have played the golden boy, whose privileged life Ripley comes to crave for himself. In the Netflix version, Johnny Flynn’s wholesome blondness is the right contrast to Andrew Scott’s black-haired pallor and his unsettling, empty-eyed stare.
When I first started watching I thought it was a bit slow to get off the ground. What’s more, it’s so noir it’s filmed totally in black and white, which might seem a waste of visual possibilities compared to Minghella’s colourful movie version that gloried in the spectacular geography of the Amalfi coast and its rich artistic and architectural heritage. A lot of people I’ve quizzed about this had the same reaction and gave up on it.
But they should have stuck with it because in retrospect depicting these visual splendours in grey and black sets just the right tone, accentuating the gothic and baroque elements of the story. This is not an Italian travelogue, any more than The Innocents, the classic 1961 black-and-white production of Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw, was a celebration of the English stately home.
Ripley is a masterpiece of noir vérité. Some have complained about the excruciatingly detailed and pedestrian pace at which Ripley’s crimes and their aftermath are depicted, but that is the whole point. We are made to witness all the trouble Ripley goes to and to endure the tensions and uncertainties he experiences. We are drawn into his cunning high-stakes game to the extent that we almost can’t help hoping he gets away with it! This is what makes it a powerful psychological thriller rather than the glossy Hollywood drama of the earlier movie version.
Ripley is created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian. I hadn’t heard of him but I should have. He wrote the screenplay for Schindler’s List, for which he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. He’s also earned Oscar nominations for Awakenings, Gangs of New York, Moneyball and The Irishman.
Critics have praised Ripley for its writing, directing, production design, cinematography, score, and performances, particularly for Scott’s portrayal of Tom Ripley.
Perhaps the only virtue the Minghella movie had over this Netflix version is the presence of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Dickie’s friend Freddie Miles, who twigs early on that Ripley is a wrong ‘un. He’s such a powerful presence. The role is played adequately here by Eliot Sumner.
Most of the cast are excellent Italian actors, but watch out for John Malkovich’s cameo in the final episode.
Dakota Fanning is Dickie’s girlfriend Marge, the role played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie version. Nothing to distinguish these two good performances.
I’ve long been a fan of Johnny Flynn. He’s very convincing as the scion of a wealthy New York family.
Fun fact about him: He’s also a musician. He sings (and also wrote) the lilting folky theme song to the gentle English sitcom The Detectorists.