Furthermore, if you, like me, actually watched this film for Jack Davenport, then I'm sure you won't have any other feelings other than trying to choke Matt Damon after watching it for the first time. Peter Smith-Kingsley, played by JD in the film, is a qualitatively different character from the novel. The director created him and asked JD to play it. The purpose was to break the audience's heart.
Of course, if you are looking at the ambiguous relationship between MD and JL...just forget it, this film will only make you abandon your corruption.
——"The Talented Mr. Ripley"
The content of the review film is about a hapless poor boy who is obsessed with the young master. The key word is material desire (emphasis), playing with homosexuality themes (it really doesn't matter if you get into it more deeply), and the main color is dim.
Four male characters: the protagonist Tom Ripley (MD decorated), the young master Dicky (JL decorated), Fredi (the young master’s fox friend, the fat actor Hoffman), and the musician Peter (the only character who is indeed a homo, JD decorated)
two Female characters: Marge (golden beauty Gwyneth Paltrow, young master’s girlfriend and true sweetheart), Meredith (a rich lady who has the same family background as the young master, and has a romantic relationship with Tom)
The protagonist Tom is a poor American boy who works as a waiter in the theater. He lives in a poor life. He can only rent the basement and often sneaks on the piano in the theater when there is no one. His hobbies are classical music and theater, and he carries Shakespeare's scripts with him. He is very talented in singing and playing piano. He is meticulous and shrewd in character, has amazing imitating talent (including other people's voices and handwriting), and has a deep yearning for the extravagant life of the upper class. Matt Damon was very successful. If you watched his spy shadows at the same time, you might think that the manly, simple and resolute MD is not the same person as the poor worm in the play.
It all started with a celebrity rally. Poor boy Tom played piano accompaniment to the female singer at the rally. He wore a borrowed Princeton school uniform that day. Because of his artistic talent and his outfit, he was influenced by Mr. Jenny, the ship’s king. Favor. Here Tom tells the first lie of the whole show-when Mr. Jenny asked him if he was a Princeton student, he didn't tell the truth out of vanity. Mr. Jenny liked his good-looking and smart, and at the same time gave Tom enough travel expenses to help him go to Italy to find his son Dicky.
Tom agreed, and at the same time he faced the difficulties caused by lies. He had to pretend that he was indeed from Princeton University and was a classmate of Dicky. The eldest master Dicky is a handsome playboy who loves jazz and is lingering in the Italian landscape and chic life. Tom made careful preparations for his task. He reviewed all the knowledge about jazz at home. Here comes the first contradiction in the whole play. In fact, Tom doesn't like and despise jazz. He is a fan of classical music and is playing records. At that time, he said one of his most masculine lines in the whole play, ironically saying that he could not tell whether the jazz singer on the record was a male or a female. In fact, this contradiction was also used as a symbol of the whole play.
Then he set off, found Dicky, and squeezed into the life of the young master with his own wrist and wisdom, and then he fell into the picturesque summer of Italy.
Tom is obsessed with Dicky and Dicky's lifestyle. Yes, their relationship is infatuation, even if Tom says I love you anymore, saying that I am willing to do everything for you, even wearing Dicky's clothes to smell Dicky's body, their relationship is both infatuation and infatuation, it is material The product of desire and curiosity is more or less chilling.
The film says that Young Master Dicky is a sun-like figure, this is his girlfriend Marge's evaluation. "He gives you the same warmth as the sun when he cares about you, but it is so cold when he has forgotten." The charming girl commented, and Tom agreed. But I don't agree. The first time I saw Jude Law's appearance, I totally rejected Dicky who wrote "untrustworthy" on that handsome face. In fact, the same is true. While the script says that Dicky is the sun, it also gives a lot of hints to his real situation. He is in love with his girlfriend Marge, and even willing to give up his unmarriageism for her, but he can't control himself to move around in search of freshness, out of the impulse of his youth, after playing ambiguously with Tom, he is tired of rejecting, and he has also made trouble with local women. Abandonment resulted in a tragedy of one death and two lives. Here you can clearly see Dicky's character flaws. He is completely immature, mentally empty and mentally unstable. This was later proved. He was violent in college. Not only that, in the movie, Master Dicky will always be a heartthrob, but in fact Princeton didn’t teach him anything. He reads and spells very poorly, and wastes a lot of time on bars and yachts. He is a jazz fanatic. Looks like, it's a pity that you carry a saxophone with you, but you can only play a few poor tunes. In short, he may have deep pain in his heart, but his mind is really simple.
So I sighed when Tom said he loved Dicky. He was really blind. The silly boy was fed up with poverty. As soon as he saw Italy's charming summer, the eldest master's extravagant and prosperous life immediately surrendered. What’s more sad is that he actually regards Dicky’s lifestyle as a pursuit goal. This is reflected in Tom pretending to like jazz and attracting Dicky’s attention. Dicky has no idea about the piano he really loves, and even more about the drama he likes. Sneer. But no matter how ignorant Dicky is, this young master has a kind of wild intelligence. He finally got tired of Tom, realized the difference between Tom and himself, and when he refused Tom’s confession, he said cruelly: You are simply Just like a nasty little girl.
That's right, I don't want to see Tom being ridiculed so much, but Dicky's words hit the nail on the head. Nothing can describe the mental state of Tom who has lost himself more accurately than this sentence.
The break between Tom and Dicky is also symbolic. When the two of them first happily spent their days on the yacht, they agreed to go to Venice together. At that time, Dicky said, "I don't regret seeing Venice die", but when Tom invited him to go, the young master was tired of repentance. They changed to Northern Italy, and then Dicky died on the boat rented by Tom. However, Venice did not disappear from Tom's life, and it finally proved that it was indeed a place of death without regret, but it was definitely not because of Dicky, but because there was Peter—Peter played by Jack Davenport.
Actually, I don’t have much tolerance for movies with same-sex taboos. I was touched by the slightly innocent part of Brokeback Mountain at the beginning, but happy together I just want the actors to go back to each house and find their own wives... So I have to say that I’m picking. JD went to play Peter's director. You are a genius. I was completely fascinated by him when Matt Damon hit him in the theater and JD smiled and said the first word Hello. The relationship between Tom and Dicky is a false obsession caused by material desires, mixed with the kind that first began to rise because of the protagonist's long-term self-repressive sexual orientation... well, pure physical attraction. Tom and Peter are completely opposite and purely spiritual.
Peter is the only character in the whole show who is uncontroversial and is indeed a homo. JD succeeded. Compared with fans arguing about MD's orientation in the film, basically his acting skills are considered to be homo at first glance. There is no I love you nor a mandarin duck bath between Peter and Tom, but I must say that with the tender eyes that Jack Davenport gave to Matt Damon, you should believe that his acting skills are not covered...not every straight man You can look at a brother half a head shorter than yourself with that kind of look. If you don't believe me, find one to try. Regarding the topic of homosexuality in Ripley's film, Matt Damon gave an interview, and the part about Peter was interesting:
Reporter: But at the end of the movie, Peter, a sweet and delicate musician...
Damon: He is an excellent man. Man.
(Before watching JD's performance, I don’t think that sweetness is used to describe men in any way, but now I have to say that this is also a precise word. What’s more interesting is that although he is always tender and delicate and poetic, but better than It's easier for me to think of a certain Chopin-like temperament in him since he is homo...hehe)
Many Ripley film reviews say that Tom loves the young master Dicky, but he is only ambiguous to Peter. But after watching the whole show, I feel that the truth is just the opposite. Tom loves Peter from the bottom of his heart. The director gave a decisive hint, but of course he would not let them go naked and soak in a bathtub. The explicit technique is It's left to Tom and Dicky's relationship.
Here is the question of whether Tom is bisexual or not (he has a homosexual tendency, so the official setting is not controversial), I think he is still a little bit. Just like he actually enjoyed the relationship with Meredith. Meredith, a rich family eldest lady, is generous and frank and proactive towards him. The kind of blinded love has a hint of innocence, but it is definitely not annoying. On the other hand, Tom has dignity in front of Meredith and the confidence of men in women. He also kissed Meredith (although there are elements of exploitation and deception in it). Meredith's love is one of the reasons why he enjoys the life of pretending to be Dicky.
However, the most unfortunate thing about Tom is that he finally had to face the contradiction between Meredith and Peter. Peter loves Tom, and Meredith loves Tom who pretends to be Dicky, but if Tom wants to live and his crimes are not revealed, he can only choose to kill Peter, who is traveling alone with him, rather than surrounded by relatives and friends. Meredith...utilitarian answer, tragic result, but I still want to choke Matt Damon to death.
The cost of killing someone like Peter is huge, and your soul will surely bear the eternal curse. Many fans describe Peter as an angel in clichés. Let's make an analogy. You have to always bear the sin of killing the angel. This is Tom's ending.
Tom loves Peter, the feeling is real and deep. His feelings here are as clean as piano music played under his fingers, with sadness and regret. He loves Peter just as he can finally return to the pure beauty of classical music without pretending to like the noise of jazz. He loves Peter so when he sees musicians playing piano in the church choir, his expression is as religious and obsessed as believers.
In fact, it would be strange if he didn't love Peter. Think about it, a person with the same upper-class temperament as the young master he is obsessed with, the difference is that he still loves him. Peter is elegant, gentle and considerate, and obviously the musician is obsessed with classical music like him, not the piano instead of the jazz that stays up all night in the bar.
Peter's kindness made him love and pity Tom. He didn't know what Tom had committed. He thought that Tom just couldn't face discrimination against homosexuality in society. The first time this issue was mentioned in the police station, he told Tom that the Italian authorities do not accept homosexuality, but you see, that once brought inconvenience to the two major Italian art masters... This excuse is so pure and pure. The same as crystal.
When he was playing the piano at Peter's house, Tom finally couldn't help but confessed to himself vaguely. He said that he hoped to erase everything from the past and start from scratch. I'm sure he hoped that the drunken fans of Napoli had never appeared in his life. At that time, he hoped that he only had this person in front of him who was willing to laugh and play a happy song for himself to dispel the sadness. It's a pity that Peter didn't understand what Tom was talking about. He didn't know that he was sitting in front of him as a murderer. Peter's love was simple. He liked Tom's talent and his sensitive heart.
The decisive scene appeared on the boat. At that time, Peter had a concert in Athens. Tom accompanied him. The two sang the song of the Venetian boatman on the ship's side. Tom told Peter that he had no other regrets and needed to go. Change. You have to pay attention to this shot-Tom is wearing a black jacket with a suit collar, but Peter is wearing a woolen coat with a hood and horn buttons. Then Peter said that the weather was so cold and wanted to go back to the cabin. Tom was immersed in joy and decided to stay by himself to watch the sunset.
Then the camera turned, only Tom was left on the side of the ship, and then he ran into Meredith—you look at Tom’s clothes again, do you see if he has become wearing a woolen coat with a hat?
That's right, he kissed Meredith in Peter's coat, and I wanted to choke Matt Damon to death.
You can keep reading. Peter is flipping through the music in the cabin, he saw the kiss, and he kept his eyes down and bit his lip slightly since then. Tom argued that he was to reject Meredith (in fact, he really used Meredith's feelings to preserve his own composition mostly), Peter said lightly: I don't know that way, but I'm from a distance... I can't hear the half sentence clearly, I don't know if it is this sentence. Generally speaking, I don't think so (you are rejecting her), but I was far away at the time.
Then Tom collapsed. I'm afraid he can't deceive Peter face to face, let alone use their feelings to deceive like others, so he can only kill. Of course Peter didn't understand that it was completely different reasons that made Tom unable to tolerate his and Meredith coexisting on this ship.
Then there is the murder at the end of the film, damn Tom, you are so distorted to ask Peter to tell you some soft love words while killing you... Matt Damon, I want to strangle you...
Peter's death is only a voice, he said Three sentences "Tom is crushing me", the first sentence is ambiguous play, the second sentence seems dull and a little confused, I suspect that the hidden scene here is Tom kissing him, of course there are more cruel ones. Guess... Stop talking. The third sentence broke. Tom killed him by strangling his neck. Peter didn't struggle much. He probably didn't know what was going on. He only groaned behind. Tom strangled Peter as he burst into tears. In that shot, he didn't wear a jacket, only close-fitting clothes.
Then Tom came out, curled up alone in the corner of the room in the cold.
One last notice, Tom's clothes.
He put on the black woolen coat with a hood and horn buttons again.
In fact, it was when he came to Venice alone. Peter smiled and waved to him on the pier. Among the flying pigeons, he took him through the pier square at the time of the day... the jacket worn by the musicians at that time .
There is nothing else to say. I noticed that when Tom finally came out with that coat, it was the third time I watched this paragraph, but I just wanted to choke him, and the conversation was over.
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