This suspenseful thriller has become the highest-rated American drama of the year. The picture is super beautiful and extremely immersive… | Literature City

Text | Du Lingguo

The following content contains spoilers, please read with caution

“Time” magazine once selected “The 50 Greatest Crime Novelists in History”, ranking first is Patricia Highsmith. Perhaps Highsmith is less famous than Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler who followed closely behind her. In fact, she should not be as famous as her criminal genius Ripley – however This may be a sign of a writer’s success, just as Sherlock Holmes’s reputation is always far greater than that of Conan Doyle.

Netflix’s version of “Ripley” (2024) is already the third adaptation of “The Talented Ripley” (1955). There were two movie versions in the United States and France, starring Jude Law and Alain Delon respectively at the peak of their appearance. This also greatly promoted Ripley to become a well-known classic figure in contemporary culture.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” stills

Apart from the actor’s good looks, the inherent appeal of Ripley lies in the fact that he touches people’s most secret identity anxieties. The diaosi’s counterattack against the rich and handsome is a routine that has been used in countless “cool articles” throughout the ages. It is not unusual at all, but what is strange about Ripley is: the uneasiness of the “successful person” after the counterattack – he is always afraid of being exposed, afraid of his own Showing flaws in your performance and fearing that you are not worthy of your external achievements.

From this point of view, Ripley is actually closer to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The resonance he arouses in the hearts of readers and audiences is also similar, that is, there is always an unbridgeable gap between a person and his social identity. Crack: People can never meet the expectations of others, and people can never truly be themselves – even “being yourself” itself is a false proposition – you just need to think about how many advertisements are urging people to be themselves! Perhaps “self” itself is already a fiction imposed from the outside.

There are five original books in the Ripley series and they have been adapted into movies countless times. You will be surprised to find that his image is so different. It is really “a thousand Ripleys in the eyes of a thousand readers” – this is for a ” For “scam artist”, it is undoubtedly the greatest “success”. With his infinite masks, he reversely cured the doubts about “self”. Whether it is the characters in the book or the readers and viewers outside the book, no one can really see through him. Perhaps it is for this reason that we are eager to read it again.

“Ripley” stills

The latest TV series version is written and directed by Stephen Zaillian, a super screenwriter who has written classic works such as “Schindler’s List”, “The Irishman” and “Hannibal”. hour-long retelling of this classic crime story. In fact, as early as the release of the extraordinary black and white trailer, discerning viewers have already seen that it will definitely be one of the best American dramas this year, and after its release, it has won unanimous praise at home and abroad (currently 8.7 on Douban). There is a high probability that the show will be renewed for a second season. Maybe this time we finally have a chance to see a Ripley with a unified image and temperament across multiple seasons.

The story of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” was originally very simple: a poor boy named Tom Ripley in New York was suddenly recruited by a wealthy man to do something to kidnap the latter’s son Dee who was wandering in Europe. Bring back Chi Greenleaf. Ripley and Dicky didn’t know each other well, they were just acquainted with each other at most, so this thing was totally unreasonable, but Father Greenleaf promised to give him a high salary, so Ripley didn’t do it for free. Anyway, at least you can travel to Europe for free.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” stills

Ripley found Dicky in Italy, and the two became friends for a time. However, when Dicky finally got tired of Ripley and wanted to drive him away, Ripley killed him. Then the bizarre part of the story begins. Ripley begins to steal Dicky’s identity and skillfully deals with Dicky’s girlfriend, friends and the police. A series of incredible crimes lead to a series of incredible exonerations. In the end, not only did Ripley succeed in clearing his name, but everyone (including Dicky’s old father) had to say thank you to him with tears in his eyes!

The above cannot be considered a spoiler – just like you cannot spoil “Hamlet” – when a story is too familiar, the point of interest is no longer in the story itself. Watching this new drama, just like fans of old dramas, they appreciate one detail: the overlord must bid farewell to his concubine, but when he is on stage, whether he takes six steps or seven steps, it is very interesting to taste. It seems like there is only one step left, but there is a lot of emphasis in this step. It may represent a rebellion against the entire tradition. The extra step leads to a completely different attitude and freedom.

“Ripley” stills

The 2024 version of “Ripley” uniquely chooses to be presented in black and white. Writer-director Zaillian explained that because the original version of Ripley he had had a black and white cover, it set the tone of his imagination from the beginning. And we got a very strange look and feel: the high-definition images of digital photography and the old-school retro light and shadow arrangement make the world in the play both novel and ancient, sober and sleepy, as if it were a nightmare that is remembered too clearly.

The great writer Graham Greene said this about Patricia Highsmith (it is printed on the cover of the original novel): “She created a world of her own, full of claustrophobia and irrational impulses. We felt a sense of danger as soon as we entered.” There is no doubt that the 2024 version of the TV series perfectly restored this feeling.

But black-and-white photography is only part of the overall adaptation strategy. In fact, this version has a very obvious change, which is directly shown in the title: it removes the prefix of “genius” in the original work, making it a matter for the audience to judge for themselves. In other words, it is like a hidden dagger. The less you see it, the more invisible pressure you feel. It is threatening everyone, including Dickey and his son, Dickey’s girlfriend, the private detective hired by the Dickey family, the Italian police and Ripley himself. Maybe it’s not that Ripley himself is too talented, but that he “relies entirely on the support of his peers” – is it that everyone in the world is too stupid?

We do see the show devote a lot of space to Ripley’s clumsiness. He was originally just a liar who forged checks to make a small profit, and was even exposed frequently. He is not a master criminal. In his two murders, he made mistakes that made countless viewers who have been baptized by CSI and Detective Conan call them amateurs. When he kills Dickie on the boat, he even spends an entire episode destroying the body, including sinking the boat, which he ultimately fails to do because the boat is filled with rocks. , he found that he had no strength to push the boat back to deep water.

Many times, we find that the thing is like this: the world keeps teasing Ripley with surprises, and Ripley plays tricks on all investigators very easily. The laws of the physical world are airtight, but the laws of human society are loose and loose. The less genius Ripley is, the more ironic it becomes. A liar who is not very clever can run rampant, which only shows that there is a big problem in the relationship between people. Take the relationship between Dicky and his girlfriend Maggie as an example. In a normal, intimate relationship between a man and a woman, how can Ripley get involved and make up the excuse of “I want to be alone” for a long time to explain Dicky’s behavior? Leave without saying goodbye?

“Ripley” is a simpler and more mysterious title. It shows the determination of this version to be subtractive from the beginning. Yes, this sounds contradictory. When the screen time is extended to eight hours, the story is reduced. Compared with the 1999 classic movie version starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow, the drama version not only loses the colorful Italian sunshine, but also obviously loses the complexity. The relationship between men and women and the endless gorgeous lines.

The simple and gloomy nightmare atmosphere of the drama version is difficult to analyze rationally. Maybe it is Ripley’s repressed memories, or maybe it is his dark fantasy. But in fact, from the perspective of casting, we can still find a very practical angle to explain it, and that is age. In the original novel, Tom, Dicky and Maggie are all in their twenties, and Ripley is clearly mentioned as being 25 years old. In the TV series, these three people are obviously in the age range of 30 or 40 years old. Judging from the age of the actors, Johnny Flynn who plays Dickie is 41 years old, Dakota Fanning who plays Maggie is 30 years old, and the leading actor Andrew Scott of Ripley is 47 years old.

In short, if the 1999 movie version is a youthful dream of young people about class counterattack, then the current TV series version is a bitter delusion of middle-aged people. For the middle-aged version of Ripley, everything has become so monotonous, just make money, make money, make money. In terms of love, he is almost abstinent and shows no interest at all. This is very different from Matt Damon in the movie version who deals with various upper-class young men and ladies.

Even not only the protagonist Ripley, but also other characters in the film seem to be very indifferent to love. There is no spark of love between Dicky and Maggie, so much so that the woman is not surprised when the man leaves for several months. You see, is it appropriate to express a world stripped of male and female love in black and white?

Not only that, there is an anxiety in the play that can probably be explained by middle age. Needless to say, Ripley kept his face gloomy all day long, thinking about this and that, even mumbling to himself. Even Dickey, the second generation rich man, is very anxious about his failure to achieve anything. He is completely different from the relaxed and chic Jude Law in the movie version. By the way, Dickey in the movie version is not a third-rate painter, but a talented jazz musician, and his music is inherently more romantic. Dickey’s paintings in the play are not only ugly, but also have a bitter character everywhere.

Ripley’s inexplicable exoneration is of course a biting social satire. The irony of the movie version lies in machismo, not only in the flamboyant Italian police, but also in Dickey’s own father and the hired detective. Maggie, played by Pepper Potts, relied on female intuition, or normal people’s common sense, to see through Ripley’s tricks. However, Dad Dickey, who boasted that he had rich experience in life, and the private detective he hired… Out of discrimination against women, Maggie’s accusations were dismissed as random thoughts.

In the drama version, the satire may be even more pungent, because this time even Maggie herself has become the object of satire. First of all, as mentioned above, the drama version of Maggie also has a kind of career anxiety. She has no writing talent but has to be a writer. This kind of anxiety is not like that of a girl from a rich family, but closer to that of a female college student who is struggling to make ends meet. “The boyfriend is a murderer” was treated as a huge gimmick by the publisher, causing Maggie to turn a blind eye to the obvious facts and be easily misled by Ripley. Therefore, in the drama version, no one sees through Ripley’s crime. They care more about face than truth and justice, and use masks to gain recognition from the established order. From this point of view, they have nothing to do with Ripley. any difference.

The most exciting touch of the drama is how Ripley, pretending to be Dicky, confronts the police at the end. The Caravaggio oil paintings that have paved the way for a whole season are no longer an embellishment of Italian style, but have become the key to winning or losing. By studying and imitating the light layout in Caravaggio’s oil paintings, Ripley successfully deceived the police who came to talk to him face to face. This is much more catchy than the way Ripley used forged letters to defraud Dickey’s inheritance in the original novel, so we can even forgive the surreal parts.

There is a crucial sublimation here. Ripley is no longer imitating Dickey or the painter, but the person in the painting. In other words, he turned himself into a work of art. When a person cannot change the facts, he can also change the way he views the facts. “Light is the secret of a painting”, this Caravaggio’s secret may not be applicable outside the painting. Beauty is not only a natural gift, but also a man-made choice.

In the follow-up of the Ripley series, he did have a closer relationship with art, and he later became a big collector of art. On the title page of the second novel, “Ripley Underground”, the author Highsmith quoted Oscar Wilde: “Sometimes I think the life of an artist is a long and lovely self-destruction.” This may be the reason why Highsmith’s series can be ranked high. The reason why she is No. 1 on the “Time” list: She not only elevates crime to the level of artistic speculation, but also sees that all extroverted crime is ultimately a kind of introverted self-destruction.

Every time Ripley escapes, it’s just for him to accept new torture. Perhaps this represents that people can never get rid of the anxiety of “who am I”, “who can I be”, “who should I be”. In fact, it is impossible for a person to truly become another person, but everyone can choose what kind of light they put on themselves and turn themselves into a work of artistic beauty.

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