Two American mystery thriller writers, Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith, continue to enthral not just readers but also filmmakers who have adapted their stories for film and television series. What set these two writers apart from others before them was that they dived deep into human psychology and crime. Their stories are simply not in the whodunit mould.
Patricia Highsmith, who is known for her work like Strangers on a Train, filmed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, returns again and again on the screen. Her four books on The Talented Mr Ripley are currently packaged into an eight-part series on Netflix.
Tom Ripley is an out-and-out con master, initially down and out in New York, resorting to small financial frauds. The older term for such men known to lie, kill, and cheat and yet not get caught was psychopath, until another description came along: sociopath. He is one who is suave and stylish and drinks wine and canapés in polite society with you and me. He is also an excellent conversationalist without giving anything away. But wait, he can also be up to several scams and crimes, including murder. He is the master of reinvention because he knows how to survive and well.
A scary thought, but such is his power and charm, especially over women.
In the Netflix series, Andrew Scott of Sherlock fame is Tom Ripley, while Dickie Greenleaf is played by Johnny Flynn. Dickie’s rich father, who lives in New York, has sent Tom to look for his estranged son, who spent time on an island in Italy, not bothering to return home. Dakota Fanning is Marge Sherwood, who is with Dickie, working on her book.
Shot in black and white, the series is very tightly knit, almost gothic, with long, languor paces almost matching the American droll of both New Yorkers. It captures the laid-back character of Dickie in a seaside town, with the vastness of the sea almost creeping into his spacious villa located next to it. Zaillian, who wrote the script for Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, is a brilliant scriptwriter known for the television series A Night Of. Little by little, the characteristics of the main characters are revealed, which many viewers may find a bit slow. But that is the unique charm of this series.
The Ripley story in the 1999 version by Antony Minghella of The English Patient fame had cast Matt Demon as Ripley and Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf. Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett featured as well. This film is available on Netflix, should you wish to compare the two. Comparisons are odious, but both Ripleys are up for comparison, and Minghella’s version shows more happy moments in the seaside town.
Steven Zaillian’s version sticks closer to the neo-noir of Highsmith, with a foreboding of something evil to come. We are first introduced to Tom, who is already established as doing small con jobs in New York; but his acceptance of the job to track down Mr Greenleaf’s vagabond son is the first step in the plot that involves deceit, fraud, and murder. It has a bit of love, but not too much of it.
Giving away spoilers for those who have not read Highsmith would not be fair, but suffice to say that after a long pause, a good series is back on Netflix. It is a good sign because OTT channels are gradually losing out as more and more films are releasing in theatres.