Tom Ripley is a charming man, but above all he is a crook. In New York in 1961, one of his greatest talents was remaining elusive. Hence his surprise when a detective tracks him down and puts him in contact with a rich industrialist. The latter, wrongly taking Tom for a friend of his son Dickie, asks him to join his son in Italy and bring him back home. Except that, there, Tom not only takes a liking to dolce vita, he takes a liking to Dickie, or rather to Dickie’s life. Based on the brilliant novel The Talented Mr. Ripley (Mister Ripley), from the no less brilliant Patricia Highsmith, the series Ripley appears on Netflix on April 4 under the imprimatur of Steven Zaillian, Oscar-winning screenwriter for Schindler’s List (Schindler’s List). The duty spoke to him exclusively.
You should know that the eight episodes of one hour each were created, produced, written and directed by Zaillian. Knowing this, we are allowed to conclude that the character imagined by Highsmith exerted a certain fascination on him.
“Yes, wearing all these hats, on a production of this magnitude, involves an enormous investment of time – several years –, energy and determination; you have to be passionate about the equipment,” opines Steven Zaillian, joined by videoconference.
“I discovered this novel many years, decades ago. When the opportunity presented itself to make a series, I wanted to take the opportunity to present the character as I had perceived him at the time. Despite the numerous adaptations – there are around ten actors who have played Ripley over the years – I had never found my vision of the character on screen. »
What is Tom Ripley like? In fact, he can be given a myriad of “eur” qualifiers: liar, thief, fraudster, manipulator, calculator, usurper… not to mention killer.
“At the same time, Tom Ripley has personality traits that we all have, to some extent. Obviously, in his case, it’s exacerbated. But this means that he is never a one-dimensional monster: he has at his core a humanity with which we can identify at times, and again, to a certain extent. This is Highsmith’s genius: to manage to place us in a relationship of identification with this criminal. This is what I wanted to reproduce in the series. »
A lethal desire
In this case, Steven Zaillian touches on a fundamental fact in relation to the novel and its author. Indeed, in the work Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks – 1941-1995the main subject wrote in 1954, while she was immersed in writing what would become the first of five novels starring Tom Ripley:
“If I feel pity for mankind, it is pity for the mentally ill and criminals. [C’est pourquoi ils seront toujours les meilleurs personnages dans tout ce que j’écris.] For normality and mediocrity? I’m not needed. It bores me. »
Precisely, Tom Ripley is extraordinary and aspires to escape from his mediocre condition. Hence his desire – lethal – to reinvent himself as someone else. Someone prettier, more cultured, richer than him: Dickie.
In this regard, if there is certainly homoeroticism in the character, Ripley is first and foremost in love with himself, or, finally, with who he intends to become.
It should also be noted that, during the design of Tea Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith was in heartbreak, her partner having just left her in order to get back together with her ex. However, one of the main subplots of the novel (and the series) is the love story between Dickie and Madge.
Insanely jealous of the second, Tom sneakily contrives to destroy the couple…
Shades of dark gray
In short, beneath a harmless exterior, Highsmith’s antihero hides a narcissistic and psychopathic nature. No pun intended, many actors would kill for such a role.
This explains this, big names have played Tom Ripley in the cinema: Alain Delon in Full sunby René Clément, Dennis Hopper in The American Friend (The American friend), by Wim Wenders, Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley), by Anthony Minghella, John Malkovich in Ripley’s Game (Ripley is having fun), by Liliana Cavani…
Still crowned by his poignant performance in All of Us Strangers (Without ever knowing us), by Andrew Haigh, Andrew Scott is the leading figure in this new adaptation.
“Like all great characters, Ripley can be reimagined, and therefore reinterpreted, endlessly: like Hamlet,” notes Steven Zaillian.
“So all that matters is finding the best possible actor to play him. Ripley is often alone, so we spend a lot of time just with him: you need an actor who can communicate what the character is thinking without the aid of dialogue. I wasn’t necessarily looking for the actor closest to the physical description or age of the character, but someone capable of captivating for eight hours. »
What Andrew Scott, aka Moriarty in the series Sherlock and “priest sexy ” in the series Fleabag, has no difficulty in accomplishing. With his customary talent, the actor makes this score his own, all in shades of dark gray.
Film noir atmosphere
Besides, speaking of color, or rather the absence of color, Ripley was shot entirely in black and white with the help of cinematographer Robert Elswit, an Academy Award winner for There Will Be Blood (There will be blood).
“I opted for black and white because it’s magnificent,” says Steven Zaillian, “but above all because it’s a very dark story. I wanted a film noir atmosphere. »
Coming from the pen of Patricia Highsmith, the humor is also dark, and perfectly preserved by Steven Zaillian. We can discern its trace each time an unforeseen event thwarts the protagonist’s plans. Protagonist who, paradoxically, is at his best when fate persists…
Referring to the novelist’s diaries for the period in question, we find a possible source for this grating dichotomy:
I opted for black and white because it’s beautiful, but above all because it’s a very dark story.
“The sad truth is that art thrives on unhappiness. It’s one thing to be vaguely aware of it at 17, it’s another to experience it, between tragedy and ecstasy, in your thirties. »
This says a lot about Patricia Highsmith’s state of mind while she was creating Tom Ripley… and this explains the story’s dark and haunting content. Which obviously Steven Zaillian understood. Thus, Ripley’s odyssey will take him from New York to Venice, via Rome and Paris. Prepare to be insidiously seduced.
Series Ripley appears on Netflix on April 4.