Plein soleil (1960)

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Patricia Highsmith (novel)
René Clément (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

10 March 1960 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Passion at ten. Envy at eleven. Murder at noon.

Plot:

Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.

Plot Keywords:

Moocher | Police | Typewriter | Famous Score | Poker

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Tom Ripley / Philippe Greenleaf
Maurice Ronet	...	Philippe Greenleaf
Marie Laforêt	...	Marge Duval
Erno Crisa	...	Riccordi
Frank Latimore	...	O'Brien
Billy Kearns	...	Freddy Miles (as Bill Kearns)
Ave Ninchi	...	Signora Gianna
Viviane Chantel	...	The Belgian lady
Nerio Bernardi	...	Agency Director
Barbel Fanger
Lily Romanelli	...	Housekeeper
Nicolas Petrov	...	Boris
Elvire Popesco	...	Mrs. Popova

Also Known As:

Purple Noon (UK) (USA)
Blazing Sun (UK)
Delitto in pieno sole (Italy)
Full Sun (Australia) (literal English title)
Lust for Evil (USA) (reissue title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for momentary violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min | Argentina:115 min | France:115 min | Hungary:110 min | UK:118 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | Italian | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Ischia Island, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Robert et Raymond Hakim

Trivia:

Author Patricia Highsmith, on whose novel "Plein soleil" was based, expressed satisfaction with the film, which she called "very beautiful to the eye and interesting for the intellect," and with Alain Delon's performance as Tom Ripley. She was, however, disappointed with the film's ending, calling it "a terrible concession to so-called public morality."

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the boom on the sailboat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Nouvelle vague (1990)

Clément's camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense; Alain Delon makes an excellent Tom Ripley

I'm fascinated by a scene at a restaurant. We get an extreme close-up of a woman who is kept out of focus while another character in the background, who is speaking and is in the center of the shot, remains in focus. Is the woman who is out of focus important or not? More to the point, was shooting it this way a good idea? It illustrates by contrast how sure-footed René Clément is most of the time. Usually there can be no debate.

I wasn't familiar with Clément's work until this film, but my God, he's good. His camera is always in some unexpected place that enhances the drama and tightens the suspense. He shares that talent with Orson Welles (meaning the Welles of "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons," not, say, "Lady from Shanghai"), who also made decisions that are surprising yet invariably right.

Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) and Phillipe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) are lately inseparable friends. They're both idling in Europe, but on papa Greenleaf's dime. Phillipe's fiancée Marge (Marie Laforêt) feels sorry for Tom but resents his presence. Phillipe's other friend, Freddie (Billy Kearns), considers Tom Ripley a worthless moocher. But there's more to Tom Ripley, the mimic, the forger, the talented criminal improviser, than anyone, even Tom Ripley himself, can guess.

Alain Delon, with his chiseled looks and cold beauty, makes an excellent Tom Ripley. The script is brilliantly adapted from Patricia Highsmith's terrific suspense novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley": the dialogue is always bringing the themes of duplicity, love, self-love, the nature of identity, ruthlessness and murder to the surface where they are given a brilliant sheen by Clément and his cinematographer Henri Decaë.

We're left to figure things out for ourselves, which is rare. Do we need to be told what Tom thinks of when he sees all those dead fish? When a door with a mirror swings open toward Tom, do we need to see Tom's mirror image to understand the mirror's significance? Or is it enough that we know there's a mirror next to Tom? I know what the answers would have been in Hollywood—in 1960 and now. Here, the answers are no, no and yes.