'The Talented Mr. Ripley & Ripley' - Italy's Unseen Most Wanted Individuals

Unfortunately, after giving it some thought, I was able to kill with one shot the book, the movie, and the latest installment, Netflix's streaming show Ripley. That doesn't mean that if you read this you won't be able to enjoy them; you can even try to dismiss the problems the story has and just suck it up in the name of entertainment and the other themes that are tackled in it, of course. But for me, I will never look at the story with the sophistication it presented. Let’s acknowledge that, before the show, I really enjoyed the movie. It was one and done, but it was an interesting watch, not only to discover where those careers kicked off but also the story itself. A gay psychopath terrorizing the straights and the bisexuals? Sigh me on.

 Although the movie feels more real due to not only the color pictures, acting, and style, I love Andrew and I loved him as the Ripley character. Marge, played by Dakota Fanning, has more depth, even though that depth painted her as an opportunist, almost on par with Ripley himself. Dickie is much more interesting in the movie; here it becomes apparent that Johnny Flynn is no Jude Law, but in contrast to that disappointment, the child of Sting, who I didn’t even know existed, absolutely ravages the role of Freddie. I loved them. Here, Freddie is, from what I heard, much more accurate to the book and steals every scene, giving Tom Ripley the mind battle presented very differently in the movie. The movie took a white straight brat and opposed him to the gentle flamboyant con artist played by Matt Damon, and I see why that is an interesting direction that they took, but here Freddie just blossoms. He and Marge, in a tight choke of their friend Dickie, cannot stand the new addition to their company, who was able to steal their partner in crime and completely obliterate them from his life. Eliot is just one to watch and listen apparently,  which I will do soon. I still play this YouTube video where he asks, "Tom what?" and Andrew Scott replies with his psychopathic coldness, "Ripley," right before the best song from the TV show (Il Cielo in una Stanza) sung by the Italian legend Mina starts. Killer soundtrack and visuals, but is that enough? It’s true that the music, the imagery, the thriller aspects, as well as the actors’ performances, can get you drunk, much like Tom Ripley, in order for you to miss a detail that is so relevant that it makes the whole story look just weak. I wonder if this detail is missed on purpose, surrounded by the sweet, thrilling story, just like Ripley, convincing you in his game, manipulating your vision.

The movie was very interesting to discover, but the show is a visual fist. With the Alfred Hitchcock aesthetic and perfectly prepared scenes, every shot can be taken and framed. Absolutely stunningly looking show, which I feel serves as the distraction from the one thing that makes the story fall flat on its face. The show took some twists and turns different from the movie, which keeps the thriller aspect alive right until the end, leaving the door open for the continuation of the story. To be honest, I will watch season 2 if it comes to Netflix. The actors here did an incredible job, and the director who orchestrated the whole season is a master in his craft. The Academy Award-winning director for the writing of Schindler's List, Steven Zaillian, and Anthony Minghella, the director of the movie, along with Patricia Highsmith’s story, hold on to the stupid idea that while looking for the missing Dickie and Ripley, no one, not even the brilliantly suspicious detectives, the police, or the private investigators, ever saw or cared to look for a photo of those two individuals. Marge or Dickie’s family weren’t even asked how their son looked or to provide a photo for the ongoing search in the whole country of Italy. The final nail in the coffin is trying to convince me that these two men are different guys, without any suspicion. 

On the left is Ripley at the beginning of the story; he pretty much looks like that the whole time. And on the right, with the right light, the idea that came from the painting methods of Caravaggio, is Ripley impersonating Dickie when he met one of the most intimidating and suspicious detectives I have ever seen. The show and the movie, probably the book (I’ve never read it, and now, I never will), are trying to convince me or are saying, "Please play along, shh, don’t think about it, but look how beautiful the next shots are," like air-launched missiles from an aircraft released right before the enemy rocket hits you, to distract or destroy it. I just can’t move past the fact that the detective was fooled by something like this. We weren’t, or probably there is someone who will admit that he was, good for you, I don’t think I want to talk to you. This stupid scene probably looks better when your imagination is unraveling reading the book, but here, where 'show, don’t tell' matters, a realistic approach is needed, and this ain’t it.

So here I am, calling out the horseshit about the photo and this scene. The plot just fell apart, no matter how beautiful the images or thrilling the aspects of the story. I know that the author of the book had the freedom that imagination provides to include such points, as well as the choice to use this empty logic to serve the other psychological and thrilling themes of the story. But let’s be real — the first photographs were made in the 1820s. The earliest surviving photograph, known to us, was created in 1826 or 1827 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. By the 1960s, cameras were widely available and commonly used. Photography had developed significantly by this time, especially with the advent of more affordable and portable cameras like those from brands such as Kodak and Leica. People frequently took photographs in their everyday lives, especially for family and personal events. Cameras were also common for documents like passports, and in journalism and criminal investigations. And no one cared to look for a photo or to provide one? Horseshit! Anyway, I hope there’s a season 2.

Iliya Badev