It may take a while for my reasoning faculties to return as they have been shut down by the sexy, lush atmosphere of this film and in particular the impossible beauty of young Alain Delon.

I've never liked Matt Damon anyway but this original adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley further emphasises how miscast he was. Delon's physical perfection makes Tom Ripley even more mysterious, as he should be ... I don't think he's a character whose inner workings are meant to be fully understood, and it makes it all the easier to understand how he fools others.And to be fooled; even in the Damon film I remember somehow being on Ripley's side, but this time no part of me…

René Clément’s screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley is an enjoyably pulpy story of duplicitous characters, identity theft and murder. Alain Delon, appearing in a star-making role, is predictably magnetic as the blue-eyed con artist who worms his way into high society after offing his childhood friend.

Highsmith’s series of Ripley novels have proved popular with a whole host of filmmakers over the years and with obvious reason as the character is such a fascinating and amoral anti-hero. This, his first screen outing, is a film very much of its time but no less interesting to a modern audience. The sun dappled and history-filled cities are a wonderfully evocative location for this deceitful and suspenseful story to…

Purple Noon or Plein Soleil is based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Now, I'm pretty sure we're all aware of the 1999 remake starring Jude Law, Matt Damon, and Gwyneth Paltrow. You might not be aware of this one, though, but you should be as I think it is the better of the two.

Alain Delon AKA The most beautiful man on the planet stars as Tom Ripley. He's been tasked by his friend's father to bring him home from Italy back to San Francisco in exchange for $5,000. His friend, Phillipe Greenleaf, does not want to go back. He'd rather lounge around Italy doing fuck all, apart from Marge, that is. Phillipe has beaucoup money.…

Der Film traut seinen Zuschauern erfreulicherweise einiges zu. Man bekommt keine Einführung der Geschichte oder Charaktere. Man wird sofort in die Handlung geworfen und bekommt mit ein paar Dialogzeilen die nötigen Hintergrundinfos. Eigentlich könnte man dem film Vorwerfen, dass er erzählt, statt zu zeigen, aber wenn man den Anfang mit der amerikansichen Version (Der talentierte Mr. Ripley) vergleicht, fällt auf wie schlau die Dialogentscheidung war.

Ein Satz Erklärung contra einer langen kaum was zum Film beitragenden Hintergrundgeschichte ist deutlich effizenter. Zudem macht es den Ripley Charakter undurchsichtiger. In der amerikansichen Version wird er gleich als Betrüger dargestellt. Hier kann man es zunächst nur erahnen.

Mutig ist auch die Entscheidung, die männlichen Hauptcharaktere dem Zuschauer auch gleich als unsymphaten vorgestellt werden…

Dios mío, el final de esta película es de lo mejor que he visto últimamente.

René Clément nos adentra en un siniestro thriller en donde hace cadencia de un pulso narrativo casi perfecto y un nivel analítico de sus personajes muy bueno. Acompañado de las increíbles actuaciones de su trío protagonista, en donde resalto al gran Alain Delon que interpreta fríamente a su personaje tan maquiavélico y calculador.

Con momentos de total deslumbre cinematográfico y escenas tan memorables como irrepetibles en el cine, una dirección y fotografía para aplaudir, con pequeños momentos en donde el silencio y lo visual predomina para adentrarnos en este violento mundo en donde la ambición y el crimen tienen límites insospechados.

Una pequeña obra maestra…