The talented Mr Ripley

I first watched "The Talented Mr Ripley" few years ago while living in Glasgow. I still didn't know Anthony Minghella was the director at the time. I enjoyed the film at the instance, particularly very appealed to the "storyline", the criminal plots and the clever twist of the development throughout the film. It was after few years as I took notice of Anthony Minghella that I began to see the uniqueness of "The talented Mr Ripley". Years ago, a friend gave me the video tape of this film. Now, I still played and watch it over again and again. Apart from Tom Ripley, the below are other characters that I liked in the film.

1) Jude Law - He played Dickie Greenleaf. I also only get to know more of Jude Law through this film. His Spoilt rich kid, and playboy character in this film is very well acted by him. He teased each and every characters in the film with his charm. That is why Tom Ripley is so drawn to him and so "want to be him".

2) Cate Blanchett - Cate Blanchett played the character, Meredith, who is a brief encounter to Tom Ripley. She only appears in the beginning, middle and end of the film. But, Cate Blanchett is such a fine actress. She shows the eagerness for Tom Ripley, whom she mistaken to be Dickie Greenleaf, and able to express it just enough to maintain her subtleness, like any posh young lady would do in the 1950s.

3) Philip Seymour Hoffman - Philip Seymour Hoffman played Freddie Miles, the only character in the film that suspected Tom to be "involved" with Dickie Greenleaf. He is camp and show enough in his campness (which is just nice!) to imply to Tom of the latter "intention".



Overall the cast of this film is very good. Each and every character has a place in them and they are simply unforgettable. I also loved the "Jazz theme" in the film, using that as an element to show it as a "luxurious pastimes" of Dickie and enhance the 1950's feel of the film and even more so when it is set in Italy. How stylish that is! Just watch the clip above and see if you agree, :D

Gabriel Yared, who is the soundtrack composer, did a great job for the background music that often reflect the underlying emotion of Tom Ripley, reminded the audience of the irony of life facing Tom Ripley's sexualities. It left the audience engrossed in the underlying emotion embedded within the tracks (here's one of the tracks you can listen and decide it for yourselves) which so subtly captured the anxiety of Tom towards his own sexuality, which was made "unclear" in the film.

There was a short note on "desire" on a postcard shown in the film (and shown in the picture above), when Dickie was trying to write something back to his dad in New York. That could be taken as the theme the film is trying to focus on, and could be understood to go beyond sexualities and explain most of Tom Ripley's behaviour.