He traveled thousands of miles and suffered humiliation, just for a handful of banknotes. He was looking for food like a sparrow, but he didn't know that he was actually a peacock. Until he killed the rich family he admired, he began to have bird feathers. One, one, the wealthy children who died in his hands became coverts, and they were hung on their tails as trophies and swaggered. He identified himself in the mirror enough to be on an equal footing with those he had looked up to. His name was Tom Ripley, and he was a tyrant. He always wanted to escape, from the low-rent buildings in lower New York, from the vulgar voices around him, from his own body. He is a snake, desperately maintaining his dignity, crawling in the direction of the upper class, he seizes every opportunity to shed his skin, and wants to get rid of the smell of low-rent buildings. He doesn't like the embarrassment that comes out of his bones, and he's fanatically obsessed with people who are comfortable and calm in every move. He killed the men he liked, and at that moment he felt like they were them. He kills to get rid of the self that he hates, but he doesn't know that the only thing he can get rid of is the sloughed old skin. He never dared to look back at the skin he shed, only to squirm away and climb the tall branches. His name was Tom Ripley, and he was a self-loathing person.
They are all Ripley, both born from the same mother, born in the same class, and equally unknown, and the opportunity for them to recognize themselves is to kill. Their fork in the road is the psychological change after the murder. The former Ripley hugged the scorching sun after killing people, and the latter hid in a more humid tree hole after killing people. They have very different endings. The best-selling novel "The Genius Ripley" was adapted by two generations and grew into two appearances. At the end of Dead Sea, Ripley is squinting in a chaise longue with the Mediterranean sun above his head, stretching out boastfully with the best wine in the pub. There were more detectives in the store, and he didn't realize it. Hearing someone calling him, he stood up and responded, showing an instinctive daze. He hesitated and walked a few steps, with a calm smile on his face out of thin air, as if he was about to receive his daughter-in-law's silly boy. Thinking of beautiful things, he walked briskly out of the painting, heading for the late judgment.
The author of "The Genius Ripley" has publicly stated that she does not agree with the ending of "The Dead". Later film critics also criticized this. Judging movies with the inertia of literary thinking, ignoring its unique media vocabulary - extreme arguments have always been easily echoed by the public. The movie stops at the scene after Ripley left: the sun, the blue sea, the reef, the sailboat... as if nothing had happened. The vacant scene forms a psychological complement in visual perception. At this moment, all people are thinking about is Ripley who has drawn the painting, and what is imprinted in their minds is his style - smile brightly, catch tomorrow in the palm of your hand.
Some commentators disagreed with the ending of "The Dead Sea", saying that Ripley should not be allowed to falter. In fact, during the film time, Ripley did not fight the law. At the level of story information, it was only explained that Ripley walked to the tavern, and there were police detectives in it, but it was not clearly pointed out that Ripley would fall under the law-as for whether he would be captured or escaped with a plan, it was a possibility outside the movie time. At the end, the following information was successively explained: the Maggie sailed out of the water-Philip's body was found-the police came to Ripley. At this time, Ripley was enjoying the sun, unaware. This parallel treatment is to emphasize Ripley's "unconsciousness". In contrast, the audience witnessed everything from start to finish. It's the difference in perspective between outsiders and insiders that shapes the intensity of the trial -- the audience's condescending trial of a serial killer. Secondly, given the limitations of human beings, and using the difference of perspectives, I asked a question-how did Ripley view his behavior and situation after the recidivism case? Due to the limited perspective, his cognition is bound to be framed, resulting in cognition independent of the audience's experience, leaving room for thinking.
Ripley got Maggie, like a trophy after a murder, he enjoyed Maggie, and he enjoyed the sunny day behind Maggie. The all-seeing audience will judge with common sense and ethics—Ripley gets away with it, the villain gets the upper hand. In fact, Ripley, who was lying in the sun, was just showing off his comfort, just like a student with a perfect score showing his test paper everywhere. In other words, he thinks that what he has now is what he deserves, through hard work and cleverness. Peace of mind is the only way to feel comfortable. In the end, even if the detective arrived, he could not touch the corner of his shirt. The calmness in the final painting is the biggest reward he has obtained. The eyes looking out of the painting at that time should be defined as the "victory" of the common people, and good days are waiting for me. think so.
In addition to the irony of Ripley's "unconsciousness", the author deliberately created an omniscient audience, and through omniscience established the audience's possibility of sympathizing with the murderer. Ripley was a murderer, but he was a victim first. He was deceived by Philip, insulted by Freddie, and despised by Maggie. He has a father and brother-like worship to Philip, but also arrogance and provocation. In the beginning, it was a small fight, deceived, exiled (nearly lost his life), and finally forced to buy, his murderous intention grew little by little. At first, Ripley just wanted to take Philip home and get the money. Later, he found out that Philip had tricked him, so he started to stay behind and stole Philip's bank statement. Even here, Ripley still has expectations for Philip. On the boat, they were squeezed into an extreme space facing each other, with no way out. Philip had the advantage at first: the ship was his, the name of the ship was Maggie; the people were his, he declared the captain's status; it was his decision whether to return to the United States. When Philip finds out that the statement has been stolen, his sense of superiority is mixed with a sense of crisis, and he wants to entice Ripley to confess, so as to regain his sense of control. In fact, Ripley originally only regarded this as a backup plan. Once Philip broke it, his psychology was strengthened. Crime was named in the sun, provocative language, crime was predicted, and his malice began to grow. In the end there were only two men left, and he made moves, and the other cut them, until Philip was cornered and said he was going to throw the typewriter - at which point Ripley had to do it - or he would get nothing. The confrontation on the boat seems to be a gamble, but in fact it is a gamble. The murderous intent hidden under the provocation of the two of them chatting and laughing makes one's blood flow. In the end, Ripley refused to be bought by Philip because he had already mastered the trump card - the knife in his hand. The change of mentality from the tyrant to the murderer, and the progressive crescendo process, allows the audience to fully experience the brewing of killing intent.
Philip's attitude towards Ripley was to see him as a sidekick and a plaything. His reaction was subtle when he exiled Ripley and punished him too much. Of course he couldn't admit his remorse, and instead had to speak harshly in front of his lover - I hardly knew him. Perhaps, he has no regrets at all. He had a "see how good you can play" attitude towards Ripley, and even kept asking Ripley how he planned to use his identity to commit fraud. The game-like sense of duel seduces Ripley's criminal desire.
Philip gradually looked at Ripley, but when he realized the danger, he had no way to get out. At this time, he showed the ruthlessness of the rich, and while provocatively lured Ripley to reveal the criminal plan against him, he proposed a solution. Playing blind chess, Philip tried his best to tease Ripley, and then fought back with fighting spirit.
Philip is out of a thousand, is a wonderful pen of this dramatic paragraph. Compared with Ripley, Philip is a repeat offender, and he is used to deceiving people: to Maggie, to the lady on the street, to Ripley, and even to his own father. He exploits everyone around him with lies, and he has the capital to exploit - he can always get everyone's forgiveness. He even went so far as to lie to Maggie that he barely knew Ripley - an obvious lie, since he had spoken to Freddie in private - that they hadn't seen each other for almost five years. It's such a fuss after not seeing each other for five years, it can be seen that they are still acquaintances before.
Therefore, when Philip finally came out, he was still habitually deceiving people. He bought Ripley in a deceptive way, and he was not forgiving, and he also dismantled Ripley's fraudulent tricks. His unwillingness to admit defeat harmed him. Ripley rejects this kind of bribe exploitation, he wants a fair duel and rejects Philip openly.
There are comments that Philip overwhelmed Ripley's dignity. In fact, Rip's use of earrings is tantamount to abandoning his dignity. What aroused Ripley's murderous intentions was not the loss of dignity, but that he could no longer endure this kind of deceit and exploitation for granted. Philip had everything, and he had to exploit Ripley's $5,000 reward. Philip had clearly agreed to go back to the United States with Ripley to meet his father, but he betrayed his promise lightly. When confronted with questioning, Philip's attitude was as if he had never heard of such a thing. In Philip's eyes, no one has dignity, and he tramples on promises at will. Ripley refused to be exploited. As early as when Philip stated that he would not return to the United States, Ripley began to retaliate. First, he deliberately rocked the boat when they were making out. After being punished by Philip, he escalated his revenge and set up earrings. . This series of actions are all motivated by revenge, not natural malicious drive. As such, Rene Clement's Ripley doesn't take the audience's moral judgment—he kills people who are meaner than him, albeit dashing.
From beginning to end, Ripley never really enjoyed Philip's money - he didn't kill for money, but to enjoy a sense of arrogance. He wanted Maggie for the pleasure of arrogance. Taking control of Maggie made him really feel like he was on an equal footing with Philip. Before that, Ripley had been sneakily "playing" Philip. While Philip and Maggie were making out after a long absence, Ripley slipped into Philip's bedroom, put on his full outfit, looked in the mirror, and learned his accent. It's a pity that Rene Clement only gave him half a sentence of time, and Philip was caught in this arrogant scene, and the pride that Ripley had stolen was shattered. The embarrassment of being caught is pitiful for Ripley. The "narcissism" time stolen by this scene is so short that it makes people feel sympathetic. This narcissistic self-satisfaction is, precisely because of its briefness, imprinted in our memory. It was Ripley's own moment, even though that image in the mirror wasn't "self." It's very much like when we were children, parodying the knights in costume dramas - putting on the sheets and pulling out the broken plastic sword in front of the mirror. At that moment, we knew that we could not become the illusion in the costume drama, but we were still intoxicated by the other "self" played by ourselves.
Ripley was exhausted, committing crimes one after another in order to cover up the crime, and he switched between his and Philip's identities in embarrassment, without a moment's safety. Until finally, he got Maggie. At that time, he was probably the most comfortable time in his life when he was by the sea. He was just "self" and no longer needed a mirror. The people around him would become mirrors reflecting him. When he was called to "answer the phone," the smile on the corner of his mouth revealed an unprecedented confidence.
Compared with "The Dead Sea", "The Genius Ripley" explained everything too clearly. Including Ripley's living conditions and how he got an errand, it's the equivalent of putting characters in slides and looking at textures under a microscope. "The Dead Sea" did not explain where Ripley came from. He had already reached a tacit agreement with Philip at the beginning - it was he who urged the rich man to run away from his serious lover. To provide entertainment for Philip. If placed in the traditional setting of comic opera, Ripley is Philip's clever ghost footman, who makes the master's life no longer boring. And "The Genius Ripley" is much more boring, the textbook-like plot is laid out, step by step, the characters never show their charm, all actions are explained for the sake of explanation, and the paper explains Ripley's criminal path. At first glance It is simply a high-cost legal drama. There is only one place, "The Genius Ripley" gives us a little space for thinking, which is a hidden matter hidden under the plot chain.
"The Genius Ripley" puts too much effort into the beginning and end of the plot, to the point of being tiresome, to convey a critique. Ripley met Philip's father in high society in the United States, and he was so yearning for the class above his head that he faked his academic identity along the way. He got errands from conservative high society, but the destination was the cradle of the Renaissance, the utopia of true liberation. In Italy, Ripley liberated his nature, was able to face his sexuality, and had intimate contact with two men with charming faces. Sadly, when he re-encountered the daughter of the American chaebol, he did not hesitate to clench the clinging vine, decisively killed his lover, and tied himself to the doorpost of the conservative upper class again. He thought he was moving forward, but he didn't know that it was his tail that was biting. He was just a gluttonous snake spinning in place.
Also adapted from the film, "Shine the Dead" shows the side of the sun. Ripley embraces the sun without any hesitation. His unconsciousness is even full of the beauty of power. "Treasury" has the scorching heat of revolution, and murder can give people a sense of candor. It is my favorite crime movie to date. "The Genius Ripley" gives the darkest side. He is swallowed up by all the details, and even his musical taste is difficult to break through the bourgeois arty. There is no temperature in his self-loathing, and all that is left is the friction of snakes crawling. , his unconsciousness does not belong to him, it is just a tool used by the author to curse the world.
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