Purple Noon (Criterion Collection) (1960)

I saw this before I read the Patricia Highsmith mystery novel from which it was adapted, and before seeing the recent and excellent The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. Here the accomplished French director René Clément has Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet and Marie Laforêt as his stars in this very fine interpretation. Seeing it again only confirms my high opinion.

The fact that "Purple Noon" plays well after forty years is a testament to Clément'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 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 can happen when you get two men and one woman on a yacht in the middle of a whole lot of water. Note too the Mediterranean rock island atmosphere reminiscent of Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960). It will probably get me into trouble with Italian film aficionados to add that it's a little surprising that both films are from the same year, inasmuch as Plein Soleil is still a treat to watch, while L'Avventura seems terribly dated. Perhaps the beautiful use of color and the charming locales and interiors so well done by Clément make the difference.

Delon is a particularly "pretty" and uncomplicated Tom Ripley, while Ronet is a somewhat nasty and macho Philippe ("Dickie" in the novel) Greenleaf, and Laforêt is a very sensual and sexy Marge. All do a good job and are well directed by Clément whose attention to detail in all aspects of the production is admirable. The fish market scene and the scene where Ripley projects Philippe's signature on the wall in order to practice it, and especially the cold, windy feel of being aboard the yacht work very well and keep us engaged.

Comparing the Minghella film, I would say it owes something to Plein Soleil (e.g., the jazz motif, the real love between Marge and Philippe) but is essentially a different spin. Perhaps the most important difference is that there is no sexual ambiguity to Ripley's character in this film as there was in both the novel and Minghella's production. Clément plays it straight throughout also eschewing any sort of psychological study of Ripley's murderous nature. He even deviates from Highsmith's daring (at the time) resolution for something more traditional. Nonetheless the very clever ending is beautifully ironic and will give you a surprising jolt.

--Dennis Littrell, author of "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!"

No problems with the film itself, I saw the theatrical release several years ago, and loved it. I refuse to buy the lame excuse for a DVD that Buena Vista has offered. When will the message get through? Serious films need the serious treatment on disc, especially if we are going to be gouged with Disney prices. The absence of anamorphic enhancement on this film is close to criminal in my eyes, and the rest of the shoddy package, right down to the boilerplate on the case, is an insult. Criterion did a Laser Disc of this film, and this DVD needs the Criterion treatment. Tell me I'm having a bad dream!!

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Many comparisons can be made between "Plein Soleil"(better translated as "Broad Daylight" than "Purple Noon") and "The Talented Mr. Ripley". They are both good films, with incredibly intriguing story lines and fine performances. The cinematography in both films is superb as well. The more recent version does look better, technically, but the Clement film is very pleasing to the eye, not just for the scenery, but for the incredible beauty of the young Alain Delon.

This is not really a 'great' film--it's really just about the intrigue, and it fascinates the viewer by forcing identification with a nefarious protagonist--but it is mighty entertaining.

The Miramax DVD is something of a disappointment. Apart from some flashing in several scenes, the film transfer looks mostly very good. There is some distortion in the mono soundtrack, which unfortunately mars Rota's lovely score. Yet, there is at least one moment when everything works together beautifully: for instance the non-dialogue scene where Tom Ripley looks over an outdoor fish market in Naples--the colors, Delon's face and the music combine for five minutes of cinematic magic.

The DVD is also a letdown in terms of features: there are three skimpy trailers, NOT including one for "Plein Soleil". The English subtitles must be turned on, they are not automatic, AND the French-language soundtrack must be selected from the setup menu, otherwise the disc defaults to the inferior English-dubbed version.

Still worth having for an enjoyable movie

Read Best Reviews of Purple Noon (Criterion Collection) (1960) Here

Patricia Highsmith's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY might be the finest American suspense thriller ever written. A clever young man from a disadvantaged background is sent abroad by an industrialist to bring home the latter's spoiled and vicious son; befriending the young rotter in Italy, the antihero becomes enamored of his decadent lifestyle and kills him so he can assume his identity. The novel is not only suspenseful but it forms a brilliant disquisition on the nature of identity at mid-century, and its relationship to texts, reputation, and capital. Two very intelligent films have been made from it that capture different parts of it successfully: the latest is Anthony Minghella's 1999 big-budget Hollywood thriller starring Matt Damon, but the first was this beautifully photographed French version directed by Rene Clement starring Alain Delon as Ripley.

Clement's version succeeds best in its evocation of the lovely rarefied atmosphere of the tourist Italy of the American jetset: the cinematography has a crystalline postcard beauty that makes Rome and the Italian coast seem supernatually beautiful. It also has a much better Ripley in Delon than Minghella had in Damon: Delon is much less hesitant and much more desperate and amoral, and he also has the requisite handsomeness (and facial resemblance to the rich wastrel he murders and replaces) that Damon lacks. As the gorgeous, cruel Dickie Greenleaf (here called Phillipe), Maurice Ronet is absolutely first-rate, toying with Ripley in the mistaken belief that he holds all the cards in their friendship. Less successful as Phillipe's emotionally abused girlfriend Marge is Marie Leforet, who doesn't seem to react to Phillipe at all as an American girl would ever conceiveably do. The film is great at conveying an aura of homoerotic decadence, but it loses quite a bit by beginning the story in medias res: by not showing us the circumstances from which Ripley came, we have little sense at what is at stake in his masquerade. But this is this fine adaptation's only major shortcoming.

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A different (and somewhat more traditional) spin on Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Alain Delon is a more convincing double-edged protagonist than is Matt Damon. This first version is taut, highly suspenseful and, ultimately, more satisfying than the 1999 version. (The wrap-up is breathtaking -and totally unlike the newer, Anthony Minghella version.) Brilliantly photographed and certainly worth a look.

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