Purple Noon (1960)

This is one of those movies that will persist in your memory. Head and shoulders above recent remake - "Talented Mr. Ripley". The beautiful photography and horrifying crimes will fascinate and disturb. Alain Delon is delightfully deceitful (as Ripley). Marie Laforet (Marge) is stunningly beautiful. A must see for film noir fans.

Fmovies: Rene Clement's "Plein soleil" offers a young Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, a character known to more recent audiences as the hero of the Anthony Mingella 1999 "The Talented Mr. Ripley." It is nice to note that both films hold their own well, with the Mingella providing more character and background information than the Clement version.

Delon, who was to become a favorite actor of Visconti and other fine French and Italian directors, renders a skillful performance, along with Maurice Ronet as Phillipe Greenleaf (known as "Dickie" in the later Mingella opus).

Clement keeps the camera focused on the handsome M. Delon (as did Visconti) with stark closeups to show detailed emotional reactions. Delon manages to rise to the challenge in subtle ways, and to project a fully realized character. While Clement fails to provide much background as to why this character acts the way he does, Delon's photogenic countenance somewhat overcomes this void by masking it with personality and charm.

We can be thankful to Martin Scorcese for the fine reprint of this memorable French thriller, known in the UK and USA as "Purple Noon."

Visually, this film could serve as a cinematic poster for a Mediterranean cruise. Cinematographer Henri Decae draws us into the film with its alluring Italian locales and gorgeous panoramic vistas. Bright, complementary hues and high color contrast translate into eye-popping reds and yellows. And, of course, there's the deep blue color of the sea, and a brilliant sunlit sky. Such is the setting for a story wherein three attractive, young adults (Tom, Philippe, and Marge) test a 3-way relationship that is far more complex than it first appears.

Indeed, trouble lurks beneath the surface (so to speak), in this "Italiano paradiso" thriller. In the first forty minutes, the psychological motivations of our three beautiful people are unclear and subject to change. It's hard to tell who is doing what to whom. Subsequent to this narrative setup, we see exactly where the story is headed. Because "Plein Soleil" is a psychodrama, casting is important. The three leads (Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, and Marie Laforet) are all convincing in their roles.

I have not read the Highsmith novel on which the screenplay was based. So I cannot make an intertextual analysis. I do think this 1960 film is superior, for various reasons, to the more recent remake.

Adroitly directed by Rene Clement, with a buoyant musical score by Nino Rota, "Plein Soleil" is a character study of an amoral pleasure seeker whose charming personality masks the evil within. The juxtaposition of inwardly criminal intent with outwardly idyllic scenes of Italy and the Mediterranean results is an art house film that is both picturesque and suspenseful. It's a film that appeals both to our eyes and to our brains.

Purple Noon fmovies. Tom Ripley is the poor friend of the wealthy and arrogant Philippe Greenleaf who spends his time sailing on the Mediterranean sea's coasts of Italy in his magnificent vessel. Philippe enjoys himself by humiliating Tom whenever he can and making him feel the power that money brings. Tom envies his friend's easy life and also his pretty girlfriend Marge Duval who sails along with them and finally he kills Philippe and takes his place as a rich man by achieving the sinister and carefully plan he has developed with such purpose. Things get complicated for the killer from then on but he manages to go on with his profitable impersonation and sentimental approach to the dead man's girlfriend.

The film is skilfully handled by director René Clement and interest doesn't fall till the end, the colorful and beautiful Italian coast on the Mediterranean sea brings a great background to the story and the final sequence when Tom's perfect plan is spoiled is excellent and memorable.

Alain Delon renders one of his best performances ever as the resentful and no scruples Tom, well supported by Maurice Ronnet as Philippe and Marie Laforet as Marge. These are the characters the whole plot is about and the rest of the cast is there just for need.

Most entertaining and made with intelligence, this is thriller to see. An 8 out of 10 to me.

Purple Noon with Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet,and Marie Laforêt, is the chilling original to The Talented Mister Ripley. The blindingly beautiful Mediterranean background serves as a stark contrast to the lives of three spoiled and amoral characters on holiday in Italy. This original of The Talented Mr. Ripley is far different from the more recent movie, with Delon being more believable as Tom Ripley, his unbelievably handsome face hiding an evil mind, willing to do whatever it takes to trade places with Philippe Greenleaf.

There are some gratuitous shots here for 1960, and I wasn't real impressed with Maurice Ronet,who seemed too old for the part of Philippe, but on the whole, an enjoyable experience with great plot development and cinematography. The movie pulled you in like a day in the Riviera.

Extremely well done, tightly edited, well acted (by everyone, including the small roles, especially the actor who has to appear dead with long camera shots in a tense scene in the hotel). Delon is perfectly cast, with his calculating cool.

The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the scenes on the yacht---nothing gimmicky, but shot with an expertise that gives true drama to the action. You can feel the waves, the wind, and the sun. The colors are vibrant on the DVD. Though a scene like this in a typical movie today would include a heavy ominous score, the director simply lets the sound of the wind create the tension. The score (by Nina Rota), in fact, is understated, unlike anything today. Even the opening credits have style.