Purple Noon

Purple Noon
Directed by	René Clément
Produced by	Raymond Hakim Robert Hakim
Written by	Patricia Highsmith René Clément Paul Gégauff
Starring	Alain Delon Maurice Ronet Marie Laforêt Romy Schneider (uncredited)
Music by	Nino Rota
Cinematography	Henri Decaë
Distributed by	Titanus Miramax re-released in USA
Release date(s)	March 10, 1960 (French) August 31, 1961 (US)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Purple Noon (French: Plein Soleil, aka Full Sun or Blazing Sun) is a 1960 film directed by René Clément, based on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, and starring Alain Delon in his first major movie. The film, principally in French, contains brief sequences in Italian.

The film's source novel was adapted again in 1999, under the original title, directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon and Jude Law.

Plot

Tom Ripley (Delon) has been sent to Italy to persuade his wealthy friend, Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), to return to the United States and take over his father's business. As Philippe intends to do no such thing and the impoverished Tom enjoys living La Dolce Vita (the sweet life), the two men essentially spend money all day and carouse all night, occasionally hanging out with Philippe's put-upon girlfriend Marge (Marie Laforêt). Tom is fixated on Philippe, wanting his life, girlfriend, and confident, cocky personality for himself. The spoiled, arrogant Philippe grows seriously disturbed by his friend's fawning and becomes cruel and abusive to him. The final straw is when, during a yachting trip, Philippe strands Tom in the launch and leaves him to lie in the sun for hours.

Back on board, Tom hatches a plan to kill Philippe and steal his identity. First, he leaves evidence of Philippe's philandering for an outraged Marge to find. After Marge goes ashore, Philippe confronts him and Tom admits his plan quite casually. Philippe, believing it to be a joke, plays along and asks Tom for the plan's details. Suddenly frightened, Philippe offers Tom a substantial sum to leave him and Marge alone, but Tom states that he can obtain this sum anyway, and far more. At last pretending to accept his offer, Tom stabs Philippe to death as the latter screams Marge's name. He casts the body overboard and returns to port.

Upon returning, Tom informs Marge that Philippe has decided to stay behind. He then goes traveling around the country using Philippe's name and bank account, even flawlessly mimicking his voice and mannerisms. In effect, Tom has become Philippe.

When Philippe's suspicious friend, Freddie Miles, begins to suspect the truth, Tom murders him as well. Freddie's body is soon found and the Italian police inevitably get involved. However, Tom continues playing his charade, switching between his own identity and Philippe, depending on what the situation demands. After carrying out an elaborate scheme to implicate Philippe in Freddie's murder, Tom sends a suicide note to Philippe's mother and leaves the Greenleaf fortune to Marge.

In the aftermath, Tom has survived a long string of close shaves, thrown the Italian police off his trail, and seems to have outwitted everybody. He even succeeds in seducing Marge, with whom he begins openly cohabiting. However, when Philippe's yacht is being moved into dry dock, his decomposed body is found tangled in the anchor cables. Tom walks toward the police shortly thereafter. It is implied that he has been caught at last.

Acclaim, authenticity, and influence

Purple Noon was lauded by critics and made Delon a star. In 1962, Clément and Paul Gégauff won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Foreign Film Screenplay. It enjoys a loyal cult following even today, with many fans including film director Martin Scorsese.

Roger Ebert gave Purple Noon three stars (compared to the four-star review he gave to the 1999 version of The Talented Mr. Ripley^[1]), writing that "the best thing about the film is the way the plot devises a way for Ripley to create a perfect cover-up," but criticized the "less than satisfactory ending," feeling that "Purple Noon ends as it does only because Clement doesn't have Highsmith's iron nerve."^[2]

James Berardinelli, however, rated Purple Noon higher than The Talented Mr. Ripley, giving it a four-star review (compared to two and a half stars for The Talented Mr. Ripley^[3]). Berardinelli praised Delon's acting, saying that "Tom is fascinating because Delon makes him so," and the "expert camerawork and crisp direction."^[4] Berardinelli placed Purple Noon on his All-Time 100 list, and compared it to the 1999 film: "The remake went back to the source material, Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. The result, while arguably truer to the events of Highsmith's book, is vastly inferior. To say it suffers by comparison to Purple Noon is an understatement. Almost every aspect of Rene Clement's 1960 motion picture is superior to that of Minghella's 1999 version, from the cinematography to the acting to the screenplay. Matt Damon might make a credible Tom Ripley, but only for those who never experienced Alain Delon's portrayal."^[5]

The movie has been cited as similar to Highsmith's novel in tone, style, and especially in the characterization of Tom Ripley. Out of all the actors who have played Ripley in movie adaptations of books in Highsmith's "Ripliad" series, many critics, including Highsmith herself,^[6] have called Delon's characterization the closest to her personal vision of the character: a charismatic sociopath who lies, murders, and manipulates without a shred of remorse.

In the book, it is implied (although never stated) that Ripley has homosexual feelings for Greenleaf, but is not so much interested in Greenleaf's money as he is in being him. This subtext is largely absent from this film, however.^[7] There are differences in plot, however; most importantly, Ripley does not get caught in the novel and successfully throws the Italian police off his trail. Four sequels describe his subsequent life of luxury and crime. Also, in the book, Greenleaf's first name is Dickie, not Philippe, and Marge is merely a friend with whom he has a casual sexual relationship, and who detests Tom.

In the novel, Marge is frumpy (described as having a "gourdlike figure") and insecure, and is implied to be just one in a long line of Greenleaf's meaningless flings. As portrayed by Laforêt in Purple Noon, she is put upon and mistreated, but loves him deeply. Several scenes suggest that, despite his frequent infidelities, Greenleaf is also in love with her.

Footnotes

External links

• Purple Noon at the Internet Movie Database

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