Ripley's Game
by Liliana Cavani
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dougray Scott, John Malkovich, Lena Headey, Ray WinstoneDirector: Liliana Cavani
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
Published: 2004-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-30
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Ripley's Game
Movie Review: Fascinating story, brilliantly acted
Summary: 5 Stars
I went to see The Talented Mr. Ripley, on the strength of its cast, knowing nothing of Ms. Highsmith's novels. I was captivated by the story in all of its surprising twists and turns. I found, somewhat to my alarm, that I was rooting for the criminal, and greatly relieved when he got away with murder. Hmmm.
So, several years later, when I saw a DVD with the name Ripley on it, and John Malkevich's face, I assumed that it was about the same character. I thought to myself, that Malkovich, who plays "strange" so well, would be a perfect Ripley. I picked it up along with five others and, again, when it came time to choose, found myself almost going against my better impulses by chosing this film. I told myself it was sick and evil and I shouldn't indulge in such rot. And, I watched it, captivated as before by this amazing man!
It was interested to see how Tom Ripley had developed in the years since we saw him (as Matt Damon). He had outgrown his youthful insecurities and was deeply entrenched in his life as amoral lover of the good things in life. Any qualms about his life style seemed to have long since been quenched. The opening scene, in Berlin, (which is scarey enough) shows Ripley in great form, the discriminating art dealer, who doesn't hesitate to murder a fellow who has dared to handle his drawings. The switch from soft spoken aesthete to brutal killer is stunning. Then, he resumes his hyper cool persona, again outside, commenting to his business associate that the meeting was "interesting."
So, for anyone who missed the books or first film, the enigmatic character of Tom Ripley is well displayed. The story is fascinating, involving not only the complexity of Ripley's character, but that of his polar opposite, a poor picture framer with a loving wife and child. Jonathan, the framer, invites Ripley over for a birthday party, at his modest but warm home with a group of friends. He makes the mistake of commenting to his friends, that Ripley, with all his money, has ostentatious bad taste and has completely ruined the heart and soul of the old villa he bought. dum de dum dum...Ripley, standing in the doorway has heard this. Poor Jonathan doesn't know that one thing you should never do to Tom Ripley is criticize his bad taste! He will live to regret this innocent statement..and die.
What I found so interesting about this story, is not just the obvious fascination with this cool character who has a habit of getting away with murder, but the relationship between these two men. Johnathan is the hard working, low paid artisan, who has a hard time making ends meet but he is rich in the sense of having a beautiful adoring wife and a precious son. He seems to be the kind of guy who always plays by the rules, does what he believes is good and right and gets the short end of the stick.
His wife has to work and submit herself to being lecherously ogled by her boss, and to make things as bad as possible, he has terminal leukemia.
It's almost as if these two opposites are drawn together, like the little black and white magnet dogs we used to play with as kids. Ripley, the bloodless winner, who gets everything he wants in life, by ignoring conventional morality. His home is huge, his fortune is assured, and he even has a beautiful woman of his own, a famous harpsichordist. At Jonathan's party, his wife tells Ripley that she wished she could do something creative, like R's lover. Ripley seems to like her and assures her that the sweater she has knitted is beautiful and that she is indeed creative.
As it has been shown in other Ripley novels, he has a way of absorbing the qualities of other people. First it was rich Dickie Greenleaf, who introduced the whole opulent lifestyle to him. Now, that he has thorougly mastered "rich" perhaps it's time for him to move up the evolutionary scale to something more humane. At least that's what I saw here.
In the first part of the film, Ripley is running true to form, by cleverly manipulating poor Jonathan into becoming a killer-for-hire. We see Jonathan, who at first is completely appalled by this offer, gradually weaken and give in. True, his motives are sterling -- to provide for his family after his death. But still...murder! It's so out of his character that he goes through lots of angst before and during the "job." Amazingly, he pulled it off very well. His conscience racks him, though, and he lies about the money to his wife, who occupies the same moral high ground as he does. He knows she would not go for this!
He thinks his trouble is over, with the money hidden under the kitchen sink, until the fellow who set up the deal, with Ripley's help, returns, to want another murder done. Jonathan refuses until he realizes that his wife and child will be killed if he doesn't go along with it.
At this point in the story, there is a shift and this is what I find most fascinating. Ripley, for some reason that he cannot explain, decides to put a stop to this and forbids the intermediary from involving Jonathan further. It's too late, though, and we see the poor guy, sweating as usual, with his angst ridden face, bording a train to Dusseldorf to strangle a member of the Russian mafia. Things get very exciting and dangerous and then....out of the men's room, appears our man Ripley to help out the suffering Jonathan. It's quite amazing and horrible and even funny.
From then on the two are buddies. We see them playing chess, which is quite symbolic, if you think about it. Ripley has taken a protective role towards Jonathan, and, knowing that the Russians will be coming to get him, prohibts Jonathan from coming to his home. Jonathan, though, for his part, perhaps to pay Ripley back for saving his life on the train, shows up anyway to help Ripley. It's the ultimate twist in this convoluted plot.
At one point, after the train murder, after Jonathan has spent 20 minutes vomiting, Ripley, cool as ever, politely reminds him that they have a plane to catch. J. asks R. why he has bothered to save his life and R. says he doesn't really know, but mumbles something about the fact that we are always being born.
In the final sequence, where J. and R. are sequestered in the villa, awaiting the Russians, J. complains that he can't stand waiting. R. lets drop one very telling statement--that as a child, once he waited and waited for his parents to return from a boat trip. Then, in his impassive bloodless way, he says, "They drowned." Oh boy! No wonder this poor guy has built a shell of defensiveness over his heart. And no wonder the sight of a man who goes to such lengths, sweating all the way, to provide for his wife and son, is what begins to open his own heart again.
You have to sort of hunt for this, though. The director, in true Ripleyesque style does not dwell on it....but, wow! Think about it.
I do like happy endings and I was glad that I watched this film. I recommend it for anyone, especially those willing to look a little under the surface.
Did I mention that Malkevich was perfect? He was astounding....both in the bloodless scenes and in the final few where he becomes a little more human. Watch the facial expressions, listen to the voice. It's an amazing performance. Cheers to the director, too, who handles the whole thing perfectly, establishing just the right tone between horrific and human and even humorous.
Summary of Ripley's Game
Mr. Ripley emerges from retirement to preside over one last deadly game, but can he persuade an innocent man to commit murder?The slippery protagonist of The Talented Mr. Ripley returns in another deadly guise in Ripley's Game, a well-appointed star vehicle. The star this time is John Malkovich, whose older Tom Ripley has settled into an Italian villa and a life of aesthetic contemplation (a little like Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal). A former partner (Ray Winstone) drags an innocent frame-maker (Dougray Scott), dying of leukemia, into the role of unexpected hit man. Ripley, for his own enigmatic reasons, helps. Liliana Cavani, of The Night Porter notoriety, directed this handsome if nebulous film (which has no connection to the Matt Damon picture, other than a Patricia Highsmith source novel). Malkovich exudes his usual oily disenchantment with the world; Lena Headey, like the location footage, is gorgeous. The same novel was adapted in very different style by Wim Wenders for his brilliant 1977 film, The American Friend, with Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz. --Robert Horton
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