The 1960 thriller classic “Purple Noon” (Plein Soleil, 1960), whose admirers include directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski, comes to A Summer Night Festival in a restored print. We take a close look at the film in which Alain Delon brings to life Tom Ripley, one of the most unsettling characters in literary history.

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SUSPENSE THAT KEEPS YOU ON EDGE

Adapted from the novel by the queen of contemporary crime fiction Patricia Highsmith, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (published in Turkish as Yetenekli Bay Ripley by Can Yayınları), “Purple Noon” is a thriller classic that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats with its clever editing and a screenplay full of surprises.

A French-Italian co-production, the film bears the signature of French director René Clément, who also made such classics as “The Battle of the Rails” (1946), “Forbidden Games” (1952), “Gervaise” (1956) and “Paris Burning” (1966). Co-writing the screenplay with Paul Gégauff, known to us from “Les biches,” Clément masterfully brings the novel’s eerie atmosphere to the screen.

CRIME, JEALOUSY, BETRAYAL

The film, which also achieved cult status thanks to the seductive performance of Alain Delon, centers on Tom Ripley, an ambitious and cunning young man. Hired by a wealthy American family, Ripley is to persuade their dissolute son Dickie, who is living for the moment in Italy, to come home. Watching with envy the life of abundance led by this young man, whom he gets close to through intrigue, Ripley comes to want, with an obsessive desire, to become Dickie, and will not shrink from taking the next step to make it happen.

As Tom makes his way through a world full of lies, intrigue and danger, he takes the audience along on a suspense-filled journey. Revolving around themes such as crime, jealousy, betrayal and assumed identity, the film also offers a compelling character study that explores the effects of crime on the human psyche and how far a person is willing to go.

A 25-YEAR-OLD DELON

Alain Delon, one of the sex symbols of the ’60s and ’70s, was just 25 when he made the film, and his performance as Ripley gave him the first big breakthrough of his career. The depth he brought to one of the most unsettling characters in literary history also inspired the actors who would later play Ripley, such as Dennis Hopper, John Malkovich and Matt Damon.

HER FIRST FILM

Marie Laforêt, one of the popular French singers of the day, plays Marge Duval in the film that launched her screen career. At the height of her fame in the 1960s and remembered especially for songs such as “Ivan, Boris et moi”, “Mon amour, mon ami” and “Manchester et Liverpool,” Laforêt went on, thanks to the film’s success, to sustain a film career until the late ’90s.

A CRITICS’ FAVORITE

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Foreign Film Screenplay from the Mystery Writers of America in 1962, the film was also met with praise from critics. Roger Ebert, who gave “Purple Noon” three stars, commented that it was “a fascinating film that masterfully captures the suspense of Patricia Highsmith’s novel,” while Peter Travers said, “Astonishing both visually and narratively. While steadily building suspense, it also enchants with its beautiful Italian scenery.” James Berardinelli, who included it in his list of the 100 Best Films of All Time, gave the film four stars and praised René Clément for his “expert camerawork and sharp direction.”

Another point on which critics agreed was the masterful performance Alain Delon gave at such a young age. David Ansen of Newsweek described Delon as “charismatic and unsettling,” while Vincent Canby of The New York Times found the words “striking and magnetic” fitting for the actor.

‘DOLCE VITA’ SCENES OF ITALY

The film’s cinematography by Henri Decaë is also superb. Opening with sunny, ‘dolce vita’ scenes of Italy and evolving into claustrophobic, suspense-filled moments, the cinematography successfully carries the novel’s atmosphere onto the screen. The colors, lighting and shadows effectively heighten the emotional and suspenseful feel of the scenes. Add to all this the clever editing of César winner Françoise Javet, and “Purple Noon” becomes one of the unshakable classics of the thriller genre.

THE MUSIC OF NINO ROTA

Another element that makes “Purple Noon” unforgettable is, without a doubt, the score by Nino Rota, which heightens its emotional tone. Although we do not hear it as often as in Fellini’s films, Rota’s music, slipping in quietly and almost unnoticed, adds to the film’s eeriness.

THE RIPLEY ACTORS

After Delon, Ripley was played by four more actors. The third novel, “Ripley’s Game”, was adapted in 1977 as Wim Wenders’s neo-noir take “The American Friend”, and in 2022 it became the source for Liliana Cavani’s film “Ripley’s Game” (2022). Ripley is played by Dennis Hopper in the first and by John Malkovich in 2022.

In 1999, British director Anthony Minghella adapted the first novel in a film that invited comparison with “Purple Noon”: in “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, Ripley is played by Matt Damon, Dickie by Jude Law and Marge by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Based on the second novel and starring Barry Pepper as Ripley, the 2005 film “Ripley Under Ground” is, for now, cinema’s most recent Ripley adaptation.

Film critic Nandini Ramnath, in a piece written for scroll.in, compares the Ripley actors and writes, “While Damon and Hopper succeed in conveying Tom Ripley’s ruthlessness and ambition, Delon effortlessly captures his charm.”

“PURPLE NOON” FOR HIGHSMITH

As for Patricia Highsmith… her feelings about the film were mixed. While she considered Alain Delon “excellent” as Tom Ripley, she described the film overall as “very beautiful to the eye and interesting to the mind.”

THE RESTORED PRINT PREMIERES AT CANNES

The film was restored in 2012 at the Immagine Ritrovata laboratory with funding from StudioCanal, and the restored print was first screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival as a tribute to the career of Alain Delon, the festival’s Guest of Honor.

Still beloved by a devoted fan base today, the film appears on the lists of favorite films of directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Billy Wilder, Roman Polanski and Martin Scorsese. Polanski has said that in “Knife in the Water,” his first feature, made in 1962, he was influenced by “Purple Noon”, while Martin Scorsese provided financial support for the film’s restoration.

A SURPRISE FROM ROMY

And let us end with the film’s delightful surprise: the scene in which Romy Schneider makes a brief appearance.

On the evening of Sunday, August 7 at A Summer Night Festival, you can watch “Purple Noon” in its restored print; for details and tickets, follow the link here.