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This is such an obscenely pleasurable movie it's almost ridiculous. You can take the story however you want -- as a cool look at high society's greediness and chic sensibilities, a homoerotic peek under-the-surface of gay culture at the time, or the empty, whorish rot of a story about money, sex, and murder.
Alain Delon is just outstanding in the Ripley role, not because he burns up the screen with acting but because he's so open to letting the camera objectify him. He's devilish, with a childlike quality, like a pretty Jack Nicholson. Early on, he and the Philippe character have a playful sexual energy that's very much deliberate. After having sex later in the film, he bites into a peach and there's the same orgasmic intensity. At one point Clement actually zooms in on his crotch. But more than just allowing himself to be the director's plaything, he's willing to embarrass himself completely. There's a stellar scene where he's trying on Philippe's clothes for the first time and kisses his own image in the mirror; I think it's one the most direct demonstrations of male vanity I've ever seen on film.
Unlike Matt Damon, who used geeky glasses and hideous green swim trunks to play his character in the more recent adaptation of the Highsmith novel, Delon plays him from the inside; he doesn't feel the need to hide his exotic beauty, rather makes it a part of it. He plays the character as a young man without, always reaching a little too far for the money he doesn't have. Nino Rota's wonderful score should also be noted.
French version of Patricia Highsmith's novel "The Talented Mr Ripley".
*MR
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