The Ripliad (1960 - 2005) REVISIT TOP 100

Crime writer Patricia Highsmith's most famous character, the murderous yet sympathetic Tom Ripley, has been brought to the screen 5 times (six if you count an Indian film loosely based on the first book as well),  each portrayed by a different actor and each with very disparate portrayals. Despite appearing in a series of 5 books, only three of those have been adapted as films, two twice and one once. Two of those are rather loose adaptations with different names while the other three are (somewhat) more faithful. Each has its fanbase, except for the last which was barely seen by anyone. As someone who finds this characters endlessly fascinating, I wanted to revisit each and compare the different approaches, explore what each offers, and enjoy what I found most interesting in each version.

The first Ripley film to make it to the big screen was the french film Purple Noon in 1960 starring the gorgeous Alain Delon, perhaps the most beautiful actor to take on the role, who rose to stardom and sex symbol fandom due to this movie. This film from Oscar winning director Rene Clement (Forbidden Games) adapts Highsmith's first Ripley novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, but veers from the story quite a bit, shortening it in some ways, focusing on different elements than the novel. The film starts out with Tom already having met Phillipe (not "Dickie" in this film) and moving quickly into his murderous plot, motivated more by greed and jealousy than anything more complicated.

Delon's Ripley is solely in it for himself. He isn't given reasons for latching on to Phillipe or then committing murder other than to advance his own situation. However despite the lack of depth to the character he remains enigmatically alluring. Perhaps it is the class element the film gets into. Phillipe, like most iterations of the characters is a selfish cad who takes advantage of and abuses Tom. So it ends up being satisfying to see Tom take him on. Perhaps there is a bit of just desserts in what happens.

Purple Noon is beautiful from its sun-drenched Italian vistas to the fashion and style, Clement makes a gorgeous film to watch, especially with Delon in the lead. As the film plays out Tom's crimes it becomes rather edge of your seat and is beautiful in the way 60s French films are. But it cops out at the end when it implies Tom gets caught. The 90s remake handles Tom's tragic climax much better. Purple Noon keeps things on a more surface level even if it remains lovely.

Plein soleil/Purple Noon (1960)
Starring: Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet
Director: Rene Clement
Writers: Paul Geauff, Rene Clement

Legendary indie director Wim Wenders adapted the third novel, Ripley's Game, very loosely in the 70s and changed it to The American Friend. There is something truly attractive about this rather tragic story of Tom first manipulating a good man into a web of crime and then helping him out of it and what works the most in Wender's films is how he captures the intricacies of that story even as he changes much of the novel's tale. Wenders crafts a beautiful film, capturing a gorgeous sort of desperation in Zimmermann's journey (he's not called Trevanny here).

And this is Zimmermann's story here. Tom is more of a looming figure in the background. Unlike the later more faithful adaptation which once again centres Ripley, this film focuses on Zimmermann, his journey into the world of violence and crime. It plays like a tragic hero arc.  The young Bruno Ganz as Zimmermann is a complicated target of Ripley's game. He isn't just a simplified sick man taking chances to benefit his family. He has some darkness to him in that makes his trajectory make sense. Ripley is more the demon he invites in.

Hopper's Ripley is different from the rest as he remains more at arm's length, more mysterious. He is both a threat and yet somewhat seductive, although in that way that screams at you to stay away. He has an almost supernatural presence, appearing to both menace and save Zimmermann. As Wenders' film ends we've seen something truly sad but we may not have learned much about Tom at all.

Der Amerikanische Freund/The American Friend (1977)
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer
Writer/Director: Wim Wenders

By far the most faithful to the novels, and by far my favourite (as it is one of my favourite films of all time) is Anthony Minghella's film which returns to the first novel and artfully yet diligently tells Tom's full story from being sent to Europe, through his murders, his impersonations, and his ultimate succumbing to the consequences of his choices. What makes this film rise above some of the rest is the way it adds to Highsmith's narrative in a way that gives Tom so much more human dimensions. He still exhibits pathological behavior but Minchella grounds this character by giving him relatable emotions as well, making our sympathy for Tom all the more troubling.

We start off by seeing Tom's ease at lying, his comfort with dishonesty and appropriation. He is willing to step into other people's lives and take pieces of them without remorse. And in doing that he develops passions. Minghella embraces Tom's queerness in a way that no other adaptation is willing to do making his passion for Dickie palpable. Tom isn't queer coded as he is in some other versions and his queerness isn't used to vilify him. In fact it is used to humanize him which is quite revolutionary for a film like this. Minghella adds a relationship with Peter Smith-Kingsley which turns Tom's story from charming villain as he often is portrayed into tragic anti-hero.

Damon's Ripley is extraordinary. I do believe this is his best performance yet. He is a chameleon, an innocent, a blackhand, and a loser all in one. Law, Hoffman, Blancett, and Paltrow are all at the top of their games here (for many of that cast that is remarkable) but the film hinges on our ability to connect with and be repulsed by Damon, he has to centre the whole film. And he does giving a truly extraordinary, singular performance.

Minghella films his story as a hip crime drama of the mid-century era it's set in with all the glory and jazz of that time and it is a thing of beauty. Still the best filmed take on Tom Ripley yet and just a truly enjoyable, powerful film. I still hold out hope Damon could return to the role as the older Ripley we see in later novels.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Starring Matt Demon, Gweneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Davenport
Writer/Director: Anthony Minghella

The success of Talented lead to a follow up film. Italian director Liliana Cavani cast a much older Malkowitch as the mature Tom, living the high life in France partially off his wife's fortune and partially off his criminal endeavors. I love this story, about how Tom attempts to get revenge against a neighbor who insults him, but ends up bonding with the neighbor and helping him out of the mess he originally set out. But I found this movie was hit and miss with the narrative. The film captures some nostalgic eurocrime film vibes I enjoy and when Malkovitch plays into the joyousness of the character I can get into it. But I also the felt the film misses much of the richness of the story.

It feels like the film is desperate to heterosexualize Tom. After Talented leaned deeply into Tom's homoerotic feelings, Game removes most references to this. There is some queercoding of Winstone's character Reeves but it is all but removed from Tom. And here I think that is an important omission. I know there is controversy over how gay we should read Tom's character in the books, but much of the richness of this story it tied to Tom's relationship with Trevanny, how he goes from distaste to resentment, to some feelings for him. The story needs the two men to care deeply for each other (whether romantic or not) and the film's "no-homo" approach errs on the side of there being no actual chemistry between them. You never believe enough of their connection to make the story workable.

I also felt the film's handling of Heloise (here Louisa) was wasteful. She doesn't do anything and is completely unremarkable, truly giving us the sense that she's only there to ensure we see Tom as straight. The film ends with showing us how much he cares for her, despite most of the film not bothering to build any relationship at all.

So while the action sequences are intense, the characters feel thin and the emotional weight just isn't there. It is still a closer adaptation of this story than The American Friend, but perhaps doesn't capture the spirit of the story in the same way.

Ripley's Game (2002)
Starring: John Malkovitch, Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone, Lena Heady, Chiara Caselli
Director: Liliana Cavani
Writers: Charles McKeown, Liliana Cavani


The most recent attempt to put Tom Ripley on the screen is likely the least successful. It barely got a release and remains hard to find to this day. This film, based on the second Ripley novel set between Talented and Game, features Barry Pepper as the title character (probably the most against type casting in any of the films) and co-stars Willem Dafoe and Alan Cumming. I was always surprised the film received so little attention.

I've found this story an interesting one. Tom has moved on from his initial dabbling into crime and is building who he is as an adult criminal mastermind. The film takes this even further, showing Tom to be a struggling criminal meeting his future wife and becoming the successful man he is in Game. The film makes changes (modernizing it first so it looses some of the magic of the time period) and sets the story earlier in Tom's career. I enjoyed that last element as in the novel Tom is presented as handling everything masterfully while here he sort of figures it out as he goes. Also I liked how it shows Tom becoming, unlike in the book how he is already established his post-Dickie Greenleaf life. All of this works well.

Another thing I appreciate about this film is the way it handles Tom's relationship with Heloise, his wife. While I feel the Ripley's Game film fumbles this by making her a two-dimensional prop used just to show how hetero Tom can be, this film sets up their relationship more organically. She is interesting and invested in Tom. She's more of a character than the books every make her out to be as she seems to know there is more to Tom than meets the eye and she is ready to take that on, perhaps it is even because of this that she finds him as her way out of who life has set her up to be.

Still the film de-queers Tom. I've already read it so that Tom's relationship with Heloise doesn't mean he's not queer and a film that embraced that could be fascinating, especially with a strong Heloise like this one. But this film isn't interested in that and leaves something out because of that. Still it feels like a stronger film than it was been understood to be.

Ripley Underground (2005)
Starring: Barry Pepper, Willem Dafoe, Alan Cumming, Tom Wilkinson, Jacinda Barrett
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Writers: W Blake Harron, Donald E Westlake