The Talented Mr. Ripley
Short description
Tom Ripley, a young American of modest means, is hired by a wealthy shipbuilder to travel to Italy and persuade his son, Dickie Greenleaf, to return home. Tom is a talented mimic and a habitual liar, and once he reaches the sunlit Italy of the late 1950s he is drawn to the easy, privileged life Dickie shares with his girlfriend, Marge Sherwood. Tom insinuates himself into their circle, adopting Dickie's tastes and mannerisms, and the arrangement grows increasingly dangerous as his desire to hold on to that world takes over.
Anthony Minghella directed and wrote the screenplay, three years after The English Patient and four before Cold Mountain, the third of the five features he directed. Matt Damon plays Tom, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge, Jude Law as Dickie, Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles; 64 cast members and 78 crew are credited.
Made for 40 million dollars, the film took about 129 million worldwide, a strong return for a period crime drama. On IMDb it holds 7.4 from 271,000 votes, on TMDB 7.2 from 4,299, while critics gave it 7.9 from 139 reviews, a warmer verdict than either audience sample. It runs 140 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The full title of the film (shown in the opening credits) is “The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr. Ripley”.
- In the film, the characters watch the opera "Eugene Onegin" at the theater.
- Anthony Minghella initially wanted to offer the role of Tom Ripley to Tom Cruise. However, after watching "Good Will Hunting" (1997), the director decided to cast Matt Damon.
- Jude Law broke a rib after falling from a boat during the filming of the scene depicting Dickie's death.
- During filming, Jude Law broke a rib after falling from a boat in the scene of his own death.
- The film is based on the novel 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1955) by Patricia Highsmith.
- The boutique where Ripley orders a business card with Dicky Greenleaf's initials is the "Gucci" boutique on Via Condotti.
- Patricia Highsmith's novel had already been filmed by René Clément under the title “Purple Sun.” Alain Delon played the role of Tom Ripley.
- Tom Ripley kills Freddie Miles with a bust of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
- The scenes in New York, with which the film begins, were initially filmed in Rome. However, the director was dissatisfied with the result and these scenes were later reshot in New York.
- Ripley kills Dick off the coast of San Remo, although the famous silhouette of the island of Capri, not far from Naples, is clearly visible in the background.
- Dicky Greenleaf's favorite menswear atelier in Rome, "Battistoni," is a real menswear atelier founded in 1946 and located in the inner courtyard of number 61a Via Condotti.
- The song sung by Damon's character, "My Funny Valentine," first appeared in the 1937 Broadway musical "Babes in Arms" and has been released on over 1300 albums by more than 600 artists.
- Matt Damon's lessons allowed him to reproduce the necessary piano fingering in the frame, however, the piano music actually heard in the film was recorded by professional pianists Sally Heath and Gabriel Yared (the film's composer).
- Dicky Greenleaf's suicide note is dated January 6, 1959. This date is the birthday of director Anthony Minghella.
- For the role of Tom Ripley, Matt Damon lost 30 pounds (approximately 13.61 kg).
- For the filming, Jude Law learned to play the saxophone, and Matt Damon learned to play the piano.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
