So I finally got around to watching The Talented Mr. Ripley, and I have to say: as a Cate Blanchett fan, I was disappointed; as a cinema fan, though, I was not.
I think I’ll start with the character of Ms. Meredith Logue, because she was the person that I had watched the film to see, and captured my attention whenever she was on screen.
Ms. Logue is a rather thankless character: she seems to have to her no other personality besides her innocence, her heartbreak, and her entitled ravings about having money but hating it. But in her, I saw a greater importance. She is the Marg to Mr. Ripley’s Dickie, and a constant reminder of just how fragile his lies were. She, unlike Marg or anyone who ever knew Dickie personally, was the main problem that Mr. Ripley faced over and over, and it was as though where ever he turned in lie or in truth, there she was. She was very, very convenient, but I think in a way, that makes sense. She was convenient for the plot, yes; but in reality, does not our demons come back to haunt us in times we least expect, much as Ms. Logue haunts Mr. Ripley just when he thinks he is safe? And her innocence is such a beautiful part about her character: she stumbles on her words and swallows sobs, but still she pulls herself together long enough to tell another grieving woman (Marg, in this case) that her lover will come back. She is almost like a light in Mr. Ripley’s dark maze of lies, but even then her light is weak, because it too is based on naught more than a lie he spun.
And I think it is rather interesting that it is Ms. Logue that Mr. Ripley introduces himself as “Dickie Greenleaf” to first. At that time, we are lead to believe that Mr. Ripley has yet begun his plans of taking over Mr. Greenleaf’s life, yet he still introduces himself to Ms. Logue as “Dickie”. On second viewing of the film, it would seem that from the very beginning, from the moment Tom put on that Stanford jacket, he had been planning to become Dickie, which only makes the film even more suspenseful and terrifying.
(I also love the mystery surrounding Ms. Logue. When she declares herself to be traveling under a false name as well, I thought that she perhaps was another person much like Mr. Ripley, which only made her purity more interesting in my first viewing of the film. Still, I wish she had more screen time.)
Marg presents a whole other perspective on the film, simply because she is the only person who stumbles upon the truth, yet her words are seen as nothing more than “womanly intuition” and are dismissed as quickly as she brings them up. She grew more suspicious as the movie goes on, and I love the subtle details that are shown of her suspicion: from not looking at Mr. Ripley when she addresses Peter about the suicide note to making not-so-subtle jabs at Mr. Ripley’s tastes. She reflects another grim reality of the story that the film does not dwell on: how women are mistrusted and not believed, how obviously suspicious circumstances can be dismissed on the honor of a man’s words but not rediscussed based on the witness of a woman. And the film portrays many women of such, who are silenced by societal views: Silvana commits suicide because she is pregnant and unmarried; Meredith, like Dickie, attempts to escape her familial duties but, unlike Dickie, is unable to escape them even when she is far from home; and the men speak of women as nothing more than a plaything for them to amuse themselves with.
I won’t say much on the storyline or the plot of the movie: I think those were interesting but not outstanding, and perhaps in the 90s they were more outlandish, yet in today’s film industry they are no longer surprising. I will say that I adore the atmosphere of the film: there is a constant feeling and fear of being caught that the audience has for Mr. Ripley, and like him, we feel that we are trapped in a rabbit hole, unable to get out and frozen, able to do nothing except watch the trains crash in slow motion. Also, Mr. Ripley has to be gay, right? There can be no other explanation for his various moments with various male characters. That's all I want to say.
And I enjoyed the small bits of foreshadowing: the aforementioned Mr. Ripley’s introduction to Ms. Logue, Mr. Ripley’s talents that he lays bear near the beginning of the film, the way that Mr. Ripley feigns not understanding Italian when he is seen to be studying it in one of the very first scenes of the film.
The film is beautiful to watch, the storyline is engaging, the music (I love jazz, so I am more than a little biased here) is wonderful, the characters are enigmatic, and the performances are stellar from an all-star cast. Would recommend (though maybe not to a person who only wanted to see Cate Blanchett acting *cough* me *cough*).
Happy Sunday!! (That reminds me: please go listen to Sunday Candy by Donnie Trumpet and the Social experiment; it’s so good.)
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