Plein soleil

Visually, this film could serve as a cinematic poster for a Mediterranean cruise. Cinematographer Henri Decae draws us into the film with its alluring Italian locales and gorgeous panoramic vistas. Bright, complementary hues and high color contrast translate into eye-popping reds and yellows. And, of course, there's the deep blue color of the sea, and a brilliant sunlit sky. Such is the setting for a story wherein three attractive, young adults (Tom, Philippe, and Marge) test a 3-way relationship that is far more complex than it first appears.

Indeed, trouble lurks beneath the surface (so to speak), in this "Italiano paradiso" thriller. In the first forty minutes, the psychological motivations of our three beautiful people are unclear and subject to change. It's hard to tell who is doing what to whom. Subsequent to this narrative setup, we see exactly where the story is headed. Because "Plein Soleil" is a psychodrama, casting is important. The three leads (Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, and Marie Laforet) are all convincing in their roles.

I have not read the Highsmith novel on which the screenplay was based. So I cannot make an intertextual analysis. I do think this 1960 film is superior, for various reasons, to the more recent remake.

Adroitly directed by Rene Clement, with a buoyant musical score by Nino Rota, "Plein Soleil" is a character study of an amoral pleasure seeker whose charming personality masks the evil within. The juxtaposition of inwardly criminal intent with outwardly idyllic scenes of Italy and the Mediterranean results is an art house film that is both picturesque and suspenseful. It's a film that appeals both to our eyes and to our brains.

Purple Noon wasn't the first film Alain Delon starred in, but it was the one that made him a star. Purple Noon is an autopsy of a near-perfect crime, and a compelling look at the man who commits it. One of Purple Noon's most obvious assets is Delon's acting. Tom is fascinating because Delon makes him so. This isn't a run-of-the-mill villain; he's a complex character with a well thought-out reason for everything he does. In addition to Delon's fine performance, Purple Noon is characterized by expert camerawork and crisp direction. Clement understands how to sustain tension without drawing it out too far. The film is exactly the right length, as are each of the individual scenes. There's nothing so engrossing as watching a truly intelligent thriller, and that makes this film a rare treat. If you enjoy atmospheric high intelligence content and aren't put off by subtitles, then you can't spend a better hour and a half than watching this movie.

Alain Delon and Maurice Ronnet play a fascinating duet of savage cruelty in this tense beautifully crafted Rene Clement thriller from Patricia Highsmith's pen. Anthony Minghella remade it as "The Talented Mr Ripley" with a more polished script and some startling character development but "Purple Noon" has an unbeatable extra gear in Alain Delon's portrayal. He is deadly because anyone would have fallen into his trap. His beauty is inviting and reassuring. We witness his brutal side but don't get to the point of judging him. That is more unique than rare in a movie. Delon's Ripley acts as if there was nothing objectionable about his behavior. A poster boy for amorality. Marie Laforet's Marge is stunningly beautiful but don't get to know her as well as we do Gyneth Paltrow in Minghella's version. If you liked The Talented Mr Ripley" you're going to love "Purple Noon" and vice-versa.

Tom Ripley is the poor friend of the wealthy and arrogant Philippe Greenleaf who spends his time sailing on the Mediterranean sea's coasts of Italy in his magnificent vessel. Philippe enjoys himself by humiliating Tom whenever he can and making him feel the power that money brings. Tom envies his friend's easy life and also his pretty girlfriend Marge Duval who sails along with them and finally he kills Philippe and takes his place as a rich man by achieving the sinister and carefully plan he has developed with such purpose. Things get complicated for the killer from then on but he manages to go on with his profitable impersonation and sentimental approach to the dead man's girlfriend.

The film is skilfully handled by director René Clement and interest doesn't fall till the end, the colorful and beautiful Italian coast on the Mediterranean sea brings a great background to the story and the final sequence when Tom's perfect plan is spoiled is excellent and memorable.

Alain Delon renders one of his best performances ever as the resentful and no scruples Tom, well supported by Maurice Ronnet as Philippe and Marie Laforet as Marge. These are the characters the whole plot is about and the rest of the cast is there just for need.

Most entertaining and made with intelligence, this is thriller to see. An 8 out of 10 to me.

I found this film more interesting than the recent Minghella opus because the people were more disturbing.

Alain Delon is too good-looking to be dismissed as the geeky wannabee Matt Damon plays. His insanity in a pretty package is as unsettling as Gene Tierney's in "Leave Her to Heaven." Delon looks like Maurice Ronet's brother, and you can see him wonder why if he's just as handsome as the other guy, why doesn't he have as much money? Ronet is more unpredictable than Jude Law as the whimsical rich boy and his death is every bit as shocking.

I can't imagine that Anthony Minghella hadn't seen this version before making his own. He probably regrets Scorsese's reconstruction of Rene Clement's film so we can all make the comparison. Some scenes play like a shot-for-shot remake. Billy Kearns's brutal Freddy Miles is an obvious template for Philip Seymour Hoffman's more calculated and less powerful performance, and Gwyneth Paltrow's final breakdown is VERY close to that of Marie Laforet's.

All through the 1999 film, I kept wondering why everybody couldn't see what was wrong with the toad-like Damon. In this one, Delon's plausible, even glamorous exterior made the success of his deceptions more understandable, and more frightening.