🍸🍸What was better? RIPLEY (2024) or THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)?🍸🍸

1999 Talented Ripley reigns supreme.

In my view both versions are good and worth watching several times… but I love the pace, the b&w imagery, the photography and the extraordinary portrayal by Scott of Ripley. Scott is amazingly restrained… you can see the machinations of his thinking in the silence and suspense, underplayed with vast stretches of disturbing silence. I particularly liked the extraordinary detail of how he manages the death of Freddie and the suspense of the clear up… particularly the cat! Everyone in Ripley looks at Tom with suspicion, including the cat.

Andrew Scott is amazing as Ripley.

I often rewatch 99 for that retro summer vibe of them hanging out as friends and listening to jazz

The black and white cinematography was visually stunning

The 1999 version is easy to love as an iconic fashion travelogue. The series is very different, and is a masterpiece of cinematography. Director Steven Zaillian and cinematographer Robert Elswit have reinvented Noir cinema to create a work of art. The series is much more measured, even aloof, coldblooded. Atrani in the series is pre-tourist and is empty, shabby, while the 1999 film was the epitome of postwar glamour. Both are outstanding in their own way.

You did a fantastic job of comparing and contrasting the two works. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is probably my favorite film of all time. Such perfection in every way. I've watched it more times than I'd care to admit. I actually binge watched the entire "Ripley" and at first, I kind of felt it was moving at a glacial pace. But soon it became pretty obvious that as a modern Film Noir, it's a magnificent work of art. Visually stunning. there's an interesting piece in the current Vanity Fair where the director and the cinematographer are discussing the various shots/setups. So I'd have to say that having sat through the entire 8 hours, I did finally come around and to greatly admire all aspects of this new Ripley.

"Tommy, how is the peeping?"-Freddie (Philip Seymour Hoffman) teasing Tom (Matt Damon).

Apples and oranges. I love both but the 2024 is darker.

I love Highsmith's Ripley novels, and I like this series the best of all three filmed versions I've seen... 1960's Plein Soleil more or less blamed Ripley's murderous tendencies on the cruelty of the rich, and had a "crime doesn't pay" ending. The 1999 version was excellent, but portrayed Ripley as a bit of a gormless idiot who stumbles into a world to which he desperately wants to belong, and ultimately becomes a victim of his own lies and his puppy-like eagerness to please everyone. Ripley as portrayed in this series is much closer to how I read him in the novels - a dispassionate, obsessive and ruthless imposter and forger who until the story begins has used his special skills merely to survive in the harsh environment of a society in which he has no place, and now finds himself presented with an opportunity to achieve riches beyond his wildest dreams. Riches meaning the amount of money that he can steal, but more so the aesthetic gratification that the money can unlock for him - all that great art and music that he surrounds himself with at last allowing him to feel like a worthwhile human being. If a few people have to die on the way, no problem - the man has zero empathy for others and never engages in guiilt. I would wager that smacking someone in the head with an ashtray doesn't even raise his blood pressure. Classical psychopath, very subtly played by Scott. And yes, I admire his single-mindedness and ability to drown out the annoying sounds of conscience 🙂

Hoffman's Freddy is so menacing and fun for the few moments he's on screen. I didn't get the new one at all.

Matt Damon's Tom Ripley was much more likeable and appealing. He has boyish good looks. And Jude Law, oh my god, he's so unfeasibly handsome. Who wouldn't want to be him. There's chemistry between Matt, Jude, Gwyneth and Philip. Something that's lacking in the 2024.

I really had fun watching the Netflix version because I love the novel and the 1999 film so much, but I probably won't go back to the Netflix series and I'll annually go back to the 1999 film--it's so sumptuous, glamorous and entertaining--like a 1950s Hitchcock film.

The new version is better in my opinion. The cinematography was excellent!

Same story but very different run time & approach… the movie is one of my favorites but it does have a more traditional approach to how the story is told and executed. The series did caught me by surprise as I am someone who would watch anything that has this character I wasn’t expecting much from Netflix really, but wow did this series become one of my favorites of 2024… I might even say it’s one of the best made, best looking, best executed movie, series, media out right now. It is very patient, very calculating, loves details, it likes teasing and then diverting, it’s very deceiving yet brutally honest, very subtle yet absolutely grandiose in its framing and love for its characters, theme and location. Simple yet profound in its acting and execution. I love how it brings the classics back to modern streaming, modern day Hitchcock film… I can watch this all day and see art in every frame. This series really puts us in Ripleys world and the more we see his actions the more we are intrigued and can’t see how we have now become his accomplice, his disciples… this is one of the most beautifully filmed, framed and edited shots I’ve seen in quite a while and I hope one day we can see this in cinema❤ a love letter to the book, to classic film making, to the old masters of film, art and subtle character study… can’t recommend it enough and will go down as one of my all time favorites along with the film but I honestly think this as not just a companion piece but will be a masterpiece and a classic in its own right moving forward.

before 1999 "The Talented Mr Ripley" there was also the French film "Plein Soleil" (Purple Noon), the three versions are actually an adaptation of a same book, but I think the tone of the first movie is closer to the 2024 Ripley series.

Not recognizing him under the disguise is the most ridiculous thing in an otherwise brilliant series. I guess the idea is that time has passed so he wouldn't recognize him; however, not only was that terribly communicated, but also, their prior interactions make it unimaginable that he wouldn't recognize him. He should have either used a better disguise, created a scenario where he wouldn't be able to see his face, or just used a stand-in.

Both are superb adaptations in their own unique ways. 90s is "La Dolce Vita", Sun-soaked Italian elite glamour and Joie de Vivre/playboys/riviera vibes. It had a lot of raw emotion and vibrant playful energy. The 2024 version is pure Film Noir. Icy, cold, calculated, subtle, moody and intense. Andrew Scott was perfection, even loved the Asexualness of the character, (as I am one myself) and it was just brilliant. He was so riveting and enigmatic. I also much preferred the new versions of Dickie (not a sleazy, user playboy but just a kind, low-key nice guy) and the Italian Inspector (he was FABULOUS! CAST HIM IN EVERYTHING!) who were both just fantastic. Sadly, in 90s version, actor Sergio Rubino's inspector is a wonderful actor and was totally wasted, love his Italian films. Not such a fan though of Dakota Fanning or Elliot Sumner, who both gave very dull, static/monotone and irritating performances. Gwyneth Paltrow and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were much better actors with more range and much more believable emotions/actions.

For me the newer version is much more well told, both story-wise and pictorially. There is so much more detail which is closer to the book itself. The speed at which it evolves raises the tension and keeps the viewer on edge. The latest Ripley is darker with each shot being a masterpiece of composition. The choice of lighting and black&white was perfect, had it been in colour it would have been overwhelming. The introduction of the Italian cast added that authentic touch. However, all the casting was just perfect.