In the movie poster, Ripley in the foreground is standing in a dark corner, crouching on one side and hanging his head slightly, showing a depressed air. Following his gaze, a pair of men and women staring at each other stood in the brilliant golden yellow not far away. Under his background, the word happiness burst out.
This happy couple is likely to be Dickie and Marge? It may not be. It's too far to see clearly. This is not important, what is important is that they are somebody else, are happy, and stand in the sun.
It doesn’t matter who it is, but why not me? This is unbearable.
Have you ever wanted to be somebody else? With this little question, the message conveyed by the poster is obvious-Ripley is constantly struggling between himself and who he wants to be. The contradiction in his heart runs through the movie.
Ripley has to wait to see himself so much that imitation and forgery have become one of his specialties.
At the beginning of the story, he borrowed a set of Princeton uniforms to play the piano. Old Greenleaf asked if he knew his son who was studying in Princeton. He immediately realized that this set of uniforms provided him with a status and honor that he did not have. Dickie said hello, and immediately became another person.
In the next few minutes, a brief video confession exploded this little lie. Ripley was working as a waiter, with low brows and pleasing eyebrows, earning no more than a tip of two coins. Secretly played the piano on a dark stage and was driven away by the old man on the night watch. Live in a basement with no soundproofing but excellent neighbors.
He probably really didn't like this humble self.
So the old Greenleaf asked him, pay you 1,000 dollars, would you be willing to go to Italy to call Dickie back, he immediately agreed. Going to Europe to play and spend other people's money, the price is only to temporarily abandon yourself and be someone else-why not do that non-existent Princeton alumnus? You know, it is not easy for that humble self to fail to do this.
When I arrived in Italy, I met the beauty Meredith. The beauty exclaimed, are you Dickie? He immediately realized that the name of the rich and young Dickie provided him with the capital to attract beautiful women, so he became Dickie. It doesn't matter, Ripley can't do this at all, let Ripley go away.
Life in Italy is better than paradise. Dickie is passionate and unrestrained, life is full of all kinds of fun. The money spent is still from the old Greenleaf. This Princeton alumni who loves jazz brings happiness to Ripley that he has never felt before.
Up to this point, the identity dressing has brought benefits to Ripley. He escaped from the embarrassed living environment and enjoyed everything in the borrowed relationship, status, and fame. Yes, he did this out of the vanity of fame and status, but originally he was so poor and humble, he could only hide behind the curtain of the theater’s VIP seats and watch the gorgeous life far away. Fate was originally unfair. , Let him enjoy it, what's wrong? With such an adventure, the audience will probably be happy for him, even a little envious of him. How many people can't ask for it to escape from one's own life and to loosen up and breathe oneself in the process of becoming someone else. This escape also escaped into a rich life. Seeing this, I thought it was just a light-hearted little comedy to help the audience have a dream.
However, some unpleasant little details that appear next do not conform to all the beautiful dreaming principles of light-hearted comedy. One is that Ripley has been pointed out several times that his eating and drinking expenses are all from Dickie's house, which makes the atmosphere a little embarrassing. Second, on a whim, Dickie promised to take him to a well-known tailor's shop to customize his clothes, and let him join the yacht club gathered in the upper class, because he did not feel relieved and did not honor it, which made Ripley not happy.
In spite of some minor problems, overall this kind of life is still happy. Ripley was so obsessed with this kind of happiness that he couldn't help himself, so much so that he originally only planned to run a small run, temporarily abandon him, and began to dream about it forever. On a yacht in a small town in northern Italy, he excitedly told Dickie about the future he envisioned-I can come here with my own money, we can live together, you can break up with Marge... He is immersed in the extension of identity fantasy In dreams, reality is habitually ignored.
Reality is the existence of self. The real Ripley could not be killed, and from time to time he peeked out of the dark basement to breathe. Dickie said that he would go to a famous tailor shop to make clothes for him, and that he would take him to the upper class yacht club. Ripley was so happy that he couldn't help himself. This is too unusual for Ripley, just like the childhood father said he would go to the playground to play. He saw this as a promise and looked forward to fulfilling it. But this is just a normal life for the rich and young Dickie, not worthy of heart. When he met old friends, he put it aside. Expecting frustration, if Princeton alumni had anything to say, only the real Ripley would be unhappy because of her original insignificance. This is the embodiment of Ripley's self-existence.
Ripley tries on clothes in Dickie's room. In a suit and hat, he picked up one and changed his pose in front of the mirror. At that moment, he must have regarded himself as a real Dickie again, imagining that he was a romantic young master, chic and suave, and highly regarded. His performance in front of the mirror was established because of Dickie's absence. When the real Dickie came back and appeared in the mirror, it shattered the dream. His performance was exposed to the eyes of others. In the embarrassment of being seen through, Ripley was forced to return to himself, the Ripley who yearned for a rich life but had nothing, and then fled the room.
Ripley chose to ignore his own cries. He was afraid to get out of the dream of acting and return to the self he didn't like. He walked farther and farther on the road of betraying the self, but the self was like being tied to him, the more he wanted to break free, the more he found it was tied tightly.
Can't tell if I fell in love with Dickie or Dickie's life. Ripley felt that he was so close to happiness. He tried to integrate into Dickie's life. He wanted to be Dickie's brother, confidant, and even lover, so that the dream would continue. When going to a small town in northern Italy, Ripley tried several times to show his true feelings, but every time Dickie seemed to ignore or ridicule.
Finally, on the yacht, he seized the opportunity to vomit. However, Dickie pierced his fantasy fiercely. Which green onion are you? Why are you involved in my life? Do you know how boring you are, you are like a parasite, and I just annoy you... These words gouge in Ripley's heart like a sharp knife. Ripley killed Dickie in the extreme disappointment that his dream was shattered and his self-esteem was injured.
His last two murders were also related to self-contradictions. Dickie's friend keenly felt the difference and found that Ripley was pretending to be Dickie. In order to keep the identity disguise, Ripley killed him. Compared with the other two times, Ripley did it deliberately this time and appeared very calm. He pretended to passers-by that he was holding a drunk friend from time to time and even did not forget to imitate the voice of the other person's response in order to be more authentic.
When Ripley killed Peter, he was already lost on this road and couldn't turn his head back.
It should be said that Peter's appearance is the most likely redemption that Ripley has appeared on the way of betraying himself in identity play. After Dickie and the friend of Dickie who had seen his identity were killed by him, the contradictory tension caused by Ripley's shuttle between different identities has become bigger and bigger. Whether it was Ripley's heart or Dickie's relatives' approach to the truth, Ripley was exhausted. When Dickie forced Marge to the door and Peter suddenly appeared, we all shouted fortunately, thinking that Peter saved Marge and Ripley's lie would never continue. The next plot should be that Marge tells the old Greenleaf of the suspicion, and the detective also finds out the truth. Ripley has nothing to say in front of the strong evidence and is sent to the police to be executed by the police.
If this is the case, then the story becomes Skynet's magnificent but not leaking routine, praising the inevitability of justice and the omnipotence of the law. Ripley is directly beaten into the ranks of bad guys. Justice solves everything without reason, and the audience does not need to think. Ripley's idea.
Fortunately not. The plot reversed, and the old Greenleaf was willing to stop pursuing everything between Ripley and Dickie in order to cover up the mistake Dickie made many years ago, and also assigned the inheritance that Dickie should have inherited to Ripley. When Marge, who knew the truth, snarled at Ripley at the water's edge in Venice and was dragged away by the old Greenleaf, it meant that as long as Ripley didn't tell him, no one would ever ask the truth about this matter. External pressures such as law, justice, and society no longer exist for Ripley.
Not only that, but there is even better news for Ripley—the elegant and considerate Peter fell in love with him. He cared for Ripley very much. In this way, everything was cleared, and everything he did was not only free from punishment, but also found support for life. It looks like he can live a good life. The director seems to be using the method of exclusion to make sense: You see, now that the legal investigation and social moral pressure are eliminated, Ripley only needs to face himself, what will his own reaction be.
He met Meredith, the one who fell in love with him as Dickie. Looking at this glamorous person, Ripley did not hesitate to role-play again and kissed Meredith. Peter saw this scene, he asked him, still gentle and did not pursue it. However, this scene was the same as Dickie spotted him wearing Dickie's coat and hat posing in front of the mirror, and the same as Dickie's friend spotting him pretending to be Dickie-he was smashed in the role-playing scene. As mentioned earlier, role-playing was established due to the absence of the insider. Once broken, Ripley can only be forced to return to himself, not the other roles he played, because only he himself will play this role. action. The problem is that he doesn't like himself. He likes to be Dickie, but he can hardly accept that humble self who pretends to be Dickie because he loves fame and money.
Now, what he was going to do was Peter's dear lover, but he was smashed by Peter. Ripley once again stood at the tipping point of self-tear. Everyone can see how weak his argument is. Peter didn't delve into it, but Ripley was at war in his heart. He began to wonder, why on earth would Peter like himself, who he can't even like? So he asked Peter to talk about his strengths. Peter enumerated lovingly, Ripley is gentle, Ripley is kind...
What we see is not the happiness of Ripley being loved, but his pain and tears. Gentle, kind, after so many things, is this person Peter talking about himself? If not, what is your true self? despicable? sin? After betraying himself for too long, he can no longer judge. The more affectionate Peter is and the more beautiful the words used, the more serious the tearing in Ripley's heart. The self who had been held in the basement for too long was so terrible that Ripley couldn't touch it anymore. In this intensely torn pain, Ripley killed Peter. As his true self, he couldn't accept Peter's love and appreciation. When he strangled Peter's throat hard (I guess by voice, maybe he strangled his throat or pressed it with a pillow), he was actually pushing that ugly self hard.
In the end, it was not the law, discrimination, or hatred that made him fall, but love and tenderness. He has gone too far, the self who was abandoned by him has become dead at sight, and even love and tenderness cannot save him. Isn't this the greatest punishment?
Have you ever wanted to be somebody else? I believe that everyone must have such a time. Ripley's fable is probably a bit extreme, but not at all absurd.
Getting along with your imperfect self is the most difficult thing. However, whenever our role is seen through, there is only one origin that can be returned, and that is the true self. All the anxiety of loss also comes from there. Instead of chasing unreliable soap bubbles, it is better to learn to get along with yourself.
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