In 1996, director Anthony Minghella won an Oscar for The English Patient. He immediately wanted to make his favorite novel "The Genius Ripley" into a movie, and at first, he wanted to ask Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise to play Ripley. However, the person who finally got the role was Matt Damon, who was known as the "golden boy" by the popularity of "Good Will Hunting".
Minghella saw in Damon some of the qualities he had in Ripley, such as juvenile charm.
The rest of the film's casting was equally flawless. Jude Law as the mature and sinister Dickie, Jack Davenport as the heartbreaking Peter, Philip Hoffman as the brilliant actor, Gwyneth Patriy, Cate Blanchett youthful beauty...
However, when the movie came out, it didn't go as well. Despite earning several nominations and doing well at the box office, Damon's performance didn't get the recognition it deserved.
Even his friend Ben Affleck "taunted" him (by way of a self-deprecating performance): "I'm sorry I pulled you (referring to Ben himself) from those gay serial killers who ride horses and like to play golf. Open." (This is a reflection of the harsh evaluation of the film critics at the time - and satirized Damon's three consecutive film failures: "The Horse" riding, "Return to Glory" golfing, "Ripley" gay streak killer)
In 2019, a post titled "Matt Damon's tragic history of award winning" sparked a heated discussion on the Reddit forum. Fans are upset that Matt Damon's work was cold in those days.
"I saw Ripley the Genius in 2000, the second year it came out. Damon's talent was suppressed by the Academy. That year, Kevin Spacey deservedly won an Oscar for 'American Beauty' Best Actor. I think Damon was snubbed because the other four nominees were Russell Crowe, Richard Farnsworth, Sean Penn With Denzel Washington, they made four great masterpieces -- and Damon wasn't one of them."
"The film itself was nominated for 5 Oscars. Jude Law was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. In fact, he was nominated in various acting categories at no less than 8 independent film festivals. Damon's performance was only Got 3 nominations. He got nothing and Jude Law won a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)."
"When I revisited the film, it still felt like a gem. Suspenseful enough, beautifully shot, Italian, and everyone's acting was brilliant, yet Damon wasn't appreciated by the Academy."
Others praised the film's enduring allure from another perspective: "'Effortless cool' is a word that appears so often in fashion magazines that everyone is numb. However, "Genius Ripley" It's a movie that truly embodies the concept of effortless cool."
The film paints a comprehensive picture of romantic life in 1950s Italy, including street scenes of outdoor cafes, crowded jazz clubs, glamorous sailing trips, people riding the narrow Italian streets, and idyllic, full of A coffee-scented summer picnic.
The style of the film is impeccable: slouchy suits, loafers with bare feet, slender black turtlenecks, cuffed white trousers, knitted shorts, vintage-print skirts, and linen shirts fluttering in the Italian breeze...
The film also features incredible stylistic details, such as Dickie Greenleaf's gem-set gold ring, Tom Ripley's acetate frames, and Maggie Scheer's White shirt from Marge Sherwood.
However, when Minghella died in 2008, the outside world finally gave this work a fair evaluation, and it was generally believed that "The Genius Ripley" was his greatest and most important achievement. Twenty years later, the film is widely hailed as a classic of modern cinema.
The nostalgia for "The Genius Ripley" continues to this day.
In 2019, the 20th anniversary of the film's release, a columnist wrote "20 ways to celebrate the 20th anniversary of "The Genius Ripley":
"1999 is considered by many to be one of the best years in the film industry. The Matrix, Eyes Wide Shut, Fight Club, Election, Magnolia, About My Mother Everything, Lola Run, Come On, Boys Don't Cry, The Sixth Sense, American Pie, The Three Kings, and Puppet Life."
"It was also the same year 'The Genius Ripley' came out. The film was well-received, if not highly regarded at the time. Maybe that's because it came after 'The English Patient' - Anthony Ming Guerra's last film was a huge success and won 9 Oscars."
"The Genius Ripley has gotten better over time as the young actors who starred in the film have flourished: Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth, Hoffman and Kate Boo. Lanchet. The film's aesthetics have also stood the test of time: whether it's the costumes or the style, and the Italian scenery bathed in the sun. The uniqueness of the queer subject matter and the delicate framing of the thriller have repeatedly resonated with fans. (Indeed, Ripley's orientation should be closer to "queer" than "gay")"
"Today, 'The Genius Ripley' is undoubtedly considered a classic, beloved by many moviegoers."
"As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this film, here are 20 ways you can celebrate this wonderful film ↓↓↓
1. Find an excuse to travel to Italy 2. Travel under a pseudonym like Meredith Logue 3. Call your fridge an icebox 4. Go to a jazz club and sing "Tu Vuo Fa' l' americano" 5. Slowly, slightly like Cate Smoking deliberately 6. Going to see Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin 7. Crying while watching the opera 8. Peeking when your friend is having sex. 9. Get called out by the haters you hate 10. Invite people who claim you went to college with you to lunch 11. Try taking a bath with Jude Law 12. Be part of a circle of friends - this The group of "friends" will end up winning 5 Oscars and being nominated 19 times 13. Don't be the Jack Davenport of your friend circle, the only one who doesn't have an Oscar nomination (hello!) 14. Recite all of this The names of the films and categories for which the actors were nominated for Oscars. Gwyneth has 1, Jude Law 2, Philip Hoffman 4, Matt 5 and Kate 7 15. Light a candle and watch a Hoffman movie to commemorate his untimely death. 16. One more candle, for Anthony Minghella, who also left prematurely. 17. Sing a very sad My Funny Valentine 18. Backtrack line: "I always thought it was better to be a hypocrite than a real nobody." 19. Listen to a podcast of the movie. 20. Finally, tell us an anecdote about this movie that you occasionally see. "
Seeing you here, why don't you revisit it again, this masterpiece that was finally blown away by time and revealed a brilliant light?
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