The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)

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Movie
German title The talented Mr. Ripley
Original title The Talented Mr. Ripley
Country of production United States ,
Italy
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 139 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 14
Rod
Director Anthony Minghella
script Anthony Minghella
production Tom Sternberg ,
William Horberg ,
Steve E. Andrews ,
Sydney Pollack
music Gabriel Yared
camera John Seale
cut Walter Murch
occupation
synchronization

The talented Mr. Ripley (original title: The Talented Mr. Ripley ) is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith . The film was directed by Anthony Minghella in 1999 . As early as 1960, the novel served as a template for the film Nur die Sonne was Witness with Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet in the leading roles.

This version stars Matt Damon ( Tom Ripley ), Gwyneth Paltrow (Marge Sherwood), Jude Law (Dickie Greenleaf), Cate Blanchett (Meredith Logue - a new role created for this film), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Freddie Miles), Jack Davenport (Peter Smith-Kingsley - also rewritten for the film) and James Rebhorn (Herbert Greenleaf). The film was mainly made in Italy , with images from Ischia Ponte , Rome and Venice as a backdrop.

action

The film begins in New York in the 1950s. Thomas "Tom" Ripley plays the piano in a Princeton University blazer at a rich society celebration . He is then taken over by the manufacturer Herbert R. Greenleaf sen. asked whether he would have his son Herbert R. "Dickie" Greenleaf Jr. from his college days at Princeton. Tom pretends he knows Dickie, but the truth is that the blazer is on loan and Tom is a poor man who has to get by with odd jobs. Mr. Greenleaf is left in the dark about this. He has Tom at a second meeting 1,000 dollars , so this by Italy travels and Dickie persuaded to return to New York. Tom agrees and goes to Europe.

At the Italian passport control he met Meredith Logue, a wealthy American heiress, to whom he passed himself off as Dickie Greenleaf . Tom travels to Mongibello, near Naples , where Dickie and his girlfriend, the author Marge Sherwood, are staying. Tom introduces himself as an old college friend, although Dickie naturally cannot remember him. Tom soon lets Dickie know that he has come to guide him home. Dickie insists that for no cost in the world would he go back to America.

Tom uses a ruse to gain Dickie's trust: He pretends to like jazz, because Dickie is a lover of this type of music and an enthusiastic but moderately talented saxophonist. In fact, the trick succeeds and a visit to a nightclub in Naples welds the two together. You spend happy days in Mongibello. Tom moves into Dickie's house and the two of them fool Herbert Greenleaf by keeping the cover and Tom can continue to collect money from America.

During a visit to Rome , Tom Dickie's friend Frederick "Freddie" Miles, an American bon vivant, met. Tom seems to want to follow in Dickie's footsteps more and more. He secretly imitates him, puts on his watch and clothes and dreams of leading such a life himself. Dickie's interest in him cools down over time, however. When Dickie's secret lover was rescued dead from the water during the Madonna Festival, the millionaire's son suggested a farewell trip.

Tom and Dickie go to a jazz festival in Sanremo , then they explore the bay by motorboat. There is an argument when Dickie says he would be happy if Tom finally leaves. Tom recently suggested they come back soon, but Dickie has had enough of him. It remains unclear whether Tom fell in love with Dickie or just his lifestyle. The argument escalates and Tom kills Dickie, then sinks the boat with the corpse.

From now on, Tom poses as Dickie. He wrote a kind of farewell letter to Marge, in which Dickie announced that he would move to Rome because he needed a distance from her and Mongibello. Tom quartered himself as Dickie and Tom in two different Roman hotels. He meets Meredith again, who thinks he is Dickie. They go to the opera together and meet Marge, who is traveling with Peter Smith-Kingsley. Tom can avoid a meeting between Marge and Meredith. The next day he steers Peter and Marge into a café and also makes an appointment with Meredith at the same time. He observes from a distance how his problem solves itself, as Meredith declares that she has been to the opera with Dickie. Meredith assures that Dickie is fine and in love with Marge.

Tom is celebrating Christmas in his Roman apartment when he gets a surprise visit from Freddie Miles. Freddie seems to smell the roast, and after the housekeeper greets Tom with “Ciao, Dickie!” Tom kills the American with a blow to the head and makes the act look like a robbery. A little later the sunk boat from Sanremo is found and Tom is now suspected of being Dickie in the murder of Freddie; furthermore it is suspected that it has something to do with the disappearance of Tom. Tom forges a second letter in which Dickie quasi admitted the murders and deposited it in his apartment. He decides to go on living as Tom from now on and visits Peter Smith-Kingsley in Venice .

At the Venetian police, Tom is interrogated by a Roman policeman, but luckily he doesn't know him from Rome, where he spoke to the police as Dickie. Dickie is now considered missing, but the police have already discovered the forged letter. Marge comes to visit and Mr. Greenleaf also flies across the Atlantic. The latter has hired a private detective as it is still not clear what happened to Dickie.

Marge finds Dickie's rings in Tom's clothes and is very upset. Tom says that Dickie gave him the rings. Peter Smith-Kingsley, who believes Tom's story and thinks that Marge is overreacting, bursts into the precarious situation. The private detective is talking to Tom. He is lucky again: Dickie was noticed in Princeton because of a fight, and the detective found out about Dickie's pregnant lover. Dickie (aka Tom) has been seen getting into Freddie's car and his luggage has also been found. It is clear to the detective and Herbert Greenleaf that Dickie killed Freddie and then took his own life. Tom indicated in Dickie's confession that he was the heir to part of Dickie's Trust property.

Marge accuses Tom of murder to the end - but she is not believed. Tom and Peter go to Athens by ship. There Tom meets Meredith again on deck. Meredith, for whom Tom Dickie is, is disappointed that he suddenly disappeared from Rome. Tom serves her one last fairy tale and promises to explain everything later. However, Peter, who was already in his cabin at the time of their meeting, saw them and Tom strangled him with a heavy heart with a scarf.

Deviations of the film from the novel

The film follows the plot of Highsmith's novel, but Minghella made some changes and introduced new characters.

Dickie Greenleaf works as a painter in the book; in the film, however, he is a moderately gifted saxophonist and lover of jazz music .

In the film, Ripley kills Dickie in emotion after he mocks and rejects him, then quickly covers his tracks. In the novel, however, it's a murder ; Ripley plans every detail in advance and carries out the deed accordingly.

Minghella created an additional character and complemented an existing one. Meredith Logue is an American heiress who is bored with her family's wealth but loves to spend their money. She meets Ripley shortly after his arrival in Italy, where he introduces himself to her as Dickie Greenleaf. With their common disdain for their families, she thinks she has found a kindred spirit in Ripley (aka Greenleaf). Her presence in Rome causes problems for Ripley while he is with Marge, as Meredith, who only knows him as Dickie, always shows up at the inopportune moment.

Towards the end of the film, Ripley travels to Athens on an ocean liner with his gay friend Peter Smith-Kingsley, who plays an insignificant role in the book. He appears to be escaping the exposure of his murders when Meredith re-enters his life and trouble begins again. Peter knows him as Ripley, Meredith as Dickie, and Peter knows Meredith, a meeting on board is inevitable.

In his cabin, Ripley meets Peter, who has seen him with Meredith and whom he is now strangling with a scarf. The film ends with this murder.

synchronization

The FFS Film- & Fernseh-Synchron took over the dubbing based on a dialogue book and directed by Beate Klöckner.

role actor Voice actor
Tom Ripley Matt Damon Matthias Hinze
Marge Sherwood Gwyneth Paltrow Katrin Fröhlich
Dickie Greenleaf Jude Law Florian Halm
Meredith Logue Cate Blanchett Bettina White
Freddie Miles Philip Seymour Hoffman Oliver Stritzel
Peter Smith-Kingsley Jack Davenport Tom Vogt
Herbert Greenleaf James Rebhorn Joachim Höppner
Inspector Roverini Sergio Rubini Franco Mattoni
Alvin MacCarron Philip Baker Hall Rainer Basedow

Awards

Reviews

The film received mostly positive reviews, earning an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 128 reviews. At Metacritic , he got a Metascore of 76 based on 35 reviews.

“A psychological crime film based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith, whose initially relaxed and imaginative narrative style is increasingly giving way to a heavy psychologization. This barely withstands the underlying criminal act in the long term. Captivatingly photographed, appealing in the multi-layered use of the music. "

- Lexicon of international film

literature

  • Michael Staiger: Film adaptations of literature in German lessons. Oldenbourg, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-637-00557-0 , pp. 42-59.

Web links

Wikiquote: The Talented Mr. Ripley  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Age rating for The Talented Mr. Ripley . Youth Media Commission .
  2. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | The talented Mr. Ripley. Retrieved April 3, 2018 .
  3. ↑ The talented Mr. Ripley at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  4. ↑ The talented Mr. Ripley at Metacritic (English)
  5. ↑ The talented Mr. Ripley. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used