Plein Soleil DVD

The first and best adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Monsieur Ripley, in which Alain Delon’s Tom Ripley is trying to take Philippe Greenleaf home for a $5000 re... Read on

The first and best adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Monsieur Ripley, in which Alain Delon’s Tom Ripley is trying to take Philippe Greenleaf home for a $5000 reward to be paid by Philippe’s father. Philippe isn’t interested. He’s too fond of Italy, his boat and his girlfriend Marge, so Tom senses that instead of just taking the money, he could risk everything and take over Phillippe’s life. Director Clement doesn’t put a foot wrong throughout and the casting is spot on. A vein of sly humour runs through the film too, beginning with the credits, where the actor’s names are suffused with colours that prefigure their roles. Delon goes green, Maurice Ronet (Philippe), red. It continues with touches such as the ballet music that accompanies Delon as he tries to manhandle the large and wholly incapacitated Freddy down the stairs. Notice too the way Clement uses colour like a connoisseur, withholding red except in dabs and touches, while making the two objects that significantly further Ripley’s course – the earring and the jade Buddha, the same minty green. It’s touches like this that make the film such an accomplished piece on all levels. Lastly, the film has been characterised as the Hakim Brothers’ homage to Alain Delon’s crotch. This is plainly inaccurate – bronzed torso is more on the mark. Hide