1/24/2024 0 Comments Soleol v2 suedeWith his arresting good looks and stylish wardrobe, Delon makes a more sinister Ripley than Matt Damon would succeed to in Anthony Minghella’s version. The English translation, Purple Noon, is misfortunate, because it fails to capture that very inescapable feeling of enjoyment under the Mediterranean sunlight, despite the dark plot.Īlain Delon, in his first major part, plays Tom Ripley to perfection – even Patricia Highsmith agreed. And this is also the reason why I prefer the French title: plein soleil. One other fascinating thing about it is that it is an unusual noir: all is bright and in the open, inviting, once again, the viewer in. The cinematography, by Henri Decaë, is exquisite and the sun-drenched mise-en-scène (the picture was shot entirely on location, in Rome, Naples and the vicinity islands) sharply contrasts the themes of envy, deceit and murder. In fact, he was named the French Alfred Hitchcock after he made this film. Clément himself was a technician, too, who had trained as an architect and made his debut in cinema as a cameraman, and if you watch the film, you’ll be able to observe all these influences on each frame. Plein soleil is a visually beautiful film – Highsmith described it as “very beautiful to the eye and interesting for the intellect” – and its style reminds me of Hitchcok’s works. ![]() And by choosing Alain Delon for the role, who embodies a stylish and handsome anti-hero, you almost get to identify with him, or at least you don’t start to criticize Ripley’s motives, but observe him and get to know him intimately. Well, I think I will stick to the classic after all. René Clément’s gripping thriller focusing on the cruel, but cool Tom Ripley (Alain Delon), who ingeniously and skillfully finds ways to further his finances and lifestyle, is much more subtle in portraying the darkness of the character. Ripley, I was saying I preferred the 1999 remake. Am I allowed to change my mind? In my feature on the costumes in The Talented Mr. Today I’m going to talk about the style in Plein soleil (1960), the first adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s book, The Talented Mr. ![]() So expect a Fashion in Film installment each week, classic and new European movies features, and a few other articles on the subject in between. It’s the Cannes Film Festival month, so in May I’m going to dedicate more space than usual to cinema on my blog (which really makes sense since I do love film more than fashion).
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