637 Purple Noon

[Jeff]

Purple Noon



Alain Delon was at his most impossibly beautiful when Purple Noon (Plein soleil) was released and made him an instant star. This ripe, colorful adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s vicious novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by the versatile René Clément, stars Delon as Tom Ripley, a duplicitous American charmer in Rome on a mission to bring his privileged, devil-may-care acquaintance Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) back to the United States; what initially seems to be a carefree tale of friendship soon morphs into a thrilling saga of seduction, identity theft, and murder. Featuring gorgeous on-location photography in coastal Italy, Purple Noon is crafted with a light touch that allows it to be suspenseful and erotic at once, while giving Delon the role of a lifetime.

- New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New video interview with René Clément scholar Denitza Bantcheva
- Archival interviews with actor Alain Delon and novelist Patricia Highsmith, on whose book The Talented Mr. Ripley the film was based
- Original English-language trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a reprinted interview with Clément

[Tommaso]

Gee, this is the first time I heard this film being referred to as "Purple noon", so I had to read the description to find out that it is indeed "Plein soleil". A very fine addition to the collection.

[domino harvey]

It's the American title, for whatever reason!

[Tommaso]

You're right, but for instance the UK title "Blazing Sun" is at least a close translation of the original and would have identified the film a little bit better to international audiences, who might be a little at a loss with the American one. I mean, CC didn't translate a certain Melville film as "The terrible children", either.

[bamwc2]

It was obvious that this would be here at some point ever since this showed up on Hulu, but I would have thought that it'd have had a bit more in the way of supplements. Oh well, hopefully the interviews will shed some light on this wonderful film!

[knives]

I think it has to do with what it's commonly referred to in he US. I've never seen the Melville title translated. Any one have strong opinions one way or the other on this? Clement usually does nothing for me, but I like the source material and Delon should be perfect for the lead.

[Matt]

It's a classic of a sort, less as an adaptation of the Highsmith story than a celebration of Delon's beauty and the beauty of the Mediterranean coast. You can almost think of it as an inverse companion piece to Le Samourai in that sense. The more recent Minghella film is much more faithful to the book and much more boring for it. Delon's Ripley is just blithely amoral, luxuriating in his stolen life.

I'm looking forward to seeing this in a Blu-worthy restoration. I've only ever seen it looking faded and dirty on video and in one grotesquely crackled 35mm print.

[knives]

That sounds like a pursuit worth throwing away the source material on.

[Jack Phillips]

It's a classic of a sort, less as an adaptation of the Highsmith story than a celebration of Delon's beauty and the beauty of the Mediterranean coast. You can almost think of it as an inverse companion piece to Le Samourai in that sense. The more recent Minghella film is much more faithful to the book and much more boring for it. Delon's Ripley is just blithely amoral, luxuriating in his stolen life.

Yes, for a while. But as things begin unravelling the tone of the picture changes markedly. The second half of the film is all about plugging the widening fissures in his facade and staying ahead of the police. If the vicarious enjoyment of mounting anxiety is your thing, this is the picture for it.

[Mr Sheldrake]

I just finished watching it on Hulu, for the first time in many years. The big star for me is Henri Decae's sun drenched cinematography. I read the source novel not that long ago and was surprised that Purple Noon jettisons the first third, at least, of the novel. So much of Ripley's fascinating character is lost, the void filled by Delon's movie star charisma.

But I'm a fan of the Minghella version, I think it creates a Ripley much closer to Highsmith's vision, and for me at least has stood up to multiple viewings, even after I read the novel.

[Sloper]

It's a classic of a sort, less as an adaptation of the Highsmith story than a celebration of Delon's beauty and the beauty of the Mediterranean coast. You can almost think of it as an inverse companion piece to Le Samourai in that sense. The more recent Minghella film is much more faithful to the book and much more boring for it. Delon's Ripley is just blithely amoral, luxuriating in his stolen life.

It's a while since I read the novel, or saw this film, but I'm pretty sure this version is much more literally faithful to the novel - certainly the blithely amoral version of Ripley is. Minghella's film is, by contrast, a very free adaptation, and much better I think. Highsmith's character is compelling when you can hear what he's thinking from moment to moment, and this is what makes the novel's climax so unbearably tense. But without being allowed into his head, and without additions such as the ones Minghella made, we're left with a rather blank sociopath, and the story (I think) becomes less interesting. Still, I remember some scenes

SpoilerShow

especially the murder of Dickie, and the immediate aftermath of this

working brilliantly.

I also have an annoying habit of remembering the scene where Delon gets badly sunburnt, and then spending several minutes wondering whether this was actually a scene from Knife in the Water. It wasn't.

And I first heard of this film as 'Purple Noon', for what it's worth. Silly title, but 'Plein Soleil' is hard to pronounce and impossible to translate elegantly.

[Matt]

I suppose I meant that Minghella's version is more faithful to the plot of the novel than Clement's. In terms of character, so much of the book is omniscient narration of Ripley's thoughts and is, as sloper mentions, impossible to translate cinematically. I think that Clement's film gets some of the character right, and Minghella's does, too. I don't think Delon's Ripley panics in the way that Damon's Ripley does; even as the walls are closing in on him, he seems aloof as if it's all a game, as if what happens to him is happening to someone else (believing in the power of his stolen identity a little too much, perhaps).

Of course, it's been a few years since I've seen either. My impressions may be all wrong.

[Mr Sheldrake]

The big plot difference is in the ending.......

SpoilerShow

Damon's Ripley may get nervous (I can't recall if he does in the novel) but he ultimately proves himself far too clever for the authorities, whereas Delon in his apparent complacency does not. Highsmith's did not like this commercial compromise, she was making a point that a person can lead a whole lifetime of amorality without serious consequences, if they're clever enough.

[Sloper]

SpoilerShow

Yes, although Highsmith does hint on the final page of the novel that Ripley may be haunted, if not by guilt, at least by the terror of being found out. But the last line - Ripley's instruction to the taxi driver - is beautifully amoral. In this sense, Minghella's film subverts Highsmith's intentions even more than Clément's. The ending to Plein Soleil is one of those arbitrary twists of fate, memorably gruesome but 'tacked on'; Minghella's Ripley, though sympathetic to the end, eventually finds himself in a hell of his own making, and this ending is in a way quite 'moralistic'.

Matt's definitely right about Delon's Ripley being much more cool and collected than Highsmith's (or Damon's), and in that regard it's significant that we don't see his reaction to the twist at the end - he's simply called away from his new lifestyle, oblivious to the fact that it's about to come crashing down, and when he passes out of the frame it's as if he just ceases to exist. It's hard to imagine him being brought to justice, or being particularly fazed by his capture. At least, that's how I remember the ending.

[Rsdio]

Having never seen this I went Googling and found the five-disc Delon set from Optimum which I had no idea existed. I'm sure the Criterion will end up comfortably being the one to get for this particular film but does anyone know if the box set is any good? If so I may well take that as the path of least resistance rather than going through the usual importing thing.

[domino harvey]

I have it. Un Flic is fantastic, L'Eclisse and now Plein Soleil are Criterion titles, Treatment de Choc is... peculiar (but features Delon in the buff, for those who care), and Flic Story is negligible

[Rsdio]

Thanks domino, how about the transfers? I love my Optimum Bunuel box but I know they can be pretty variable.

[rohmerin]

Is there a Region B European release?
I hate Un flic, it's by far, worst Melville. Delon is a stone and both him and Deneuve together is a huge missing opportunity. Oportunidad perdida, in my language. I don't know if in English is said that.
Traitement de shock is a great thriller, it remembers me Ira Levin's stories.

If somebody want to see Delon's bite (cock in French) all his pictures in my blog

I love both versions of Mr Ripley.

[Fred Holywell]

No sign that the English dub, offered on the Miramax, is included here. The French track is, of course, the way to go, but the dub's interesting, if mainly an historical curiosity.

[Moe Dickstein]

I would think that since CC is only licensed for North America they should use the title most familiar here, why would the UK title be relevant?

I hope they'd include the dub when it exists. Always interesting to compare, like the TV soundtrack for Hopscotch.

[jindianajonz]

FYI, the link for this thread on the Index of Criterion Titles is broken

[MichaelB]

For the record, the US title comes from Shelley's poem 'Stanzas Written in Dejection Near Naples' - whose title suggests why it was plundered for this particular film.

[Minkin]

Bluray.com

[colinr0380]

DVD Beaver

[Gregory]

Delon's determined chill aside, there's much to enjoy: a narrative stitched together with old school expertise; vivid marine camerawork by Henri Decaë; a startling rinky-dink piano score by Nino Rota.

Pfffft, for one thing, the Rota score is gorgeous and features a variety of instrumental voices, themes, and moods. It's one of the main reasons I bought this.