Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999) is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith of the same name. It follows Tom Ripley, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere and thwarted himself in the life of the young socialite Dickie Greenleaf. However, Tom’s growing obsession with Dickie turns fatal as he ends up killing him when he refuses his advances. To hide Dickie;’s murder, Tom leaves a trail of murders from which he cannot absolve himself, whether legally or mentally.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Plot Synopsis:
From Chance Encounter to Obsession – Tom Ripley Infiltrates Dickie Greenleaf’s Life
In New York in 1958, Herbert Greenleaf, a shipping industry mogul, and Tom Ripley cross paths at a socialite party. Unaware of the fact that Tom is actually a replacement for the original piano player, Greenleaf, going by Tom’s blazer, assumes him to be his son’s classmate from Princeton. Tom, however, makes no attempt to rectify him. Tom has a knack for playing instruments. However, Tom is not a Princeton alumnus playing classical opera music for socialites, rather he has a plebian job of helping gentlemen groom themselves in the restroom of an opera house. Greenleaf asks Tom to leave for Italy and persuade his son, Dickie, to return home. In return, he is willing to pay Tom a thousand dollars. Greenleaf arranges for Tom to leave for Italy on a first-class ocean liner voyage. He meets American socialite Meredith Logue and introduces himself as Dickie Greenleaf.
In Mongibello, Tom spots Dickie frolicking about with his American girlfriend, Marge Sherwood. It does not take long for Tom to make a beeline towards them. Dickie strikes a chord with Tom and invites him over. Dickie learns that Tom has been sent to Italy by his father. He refuses to go back to New York, but Tom somehow manages to prolong his stay by drawing in one of Dickie’s obsessions: jazz. Tom, who has been stalking Dickie is aware of Dickie’s penchant for jazz. He purports himself to be a jazz aficionado to get closer to Dickie. Dickie, excited to have found a person to share his interest with, takes Tom to a jazz club in Naples. Tom discovers the multiple romantic and sexual entanglements that Dickie is in. Tom gets increasingly pulled into the life of the bon vivant and grows an obsession for him.
Will Ripley Secure His Place in Dickie’s World?
When he returns from Rome, Dickie is infuriated to discover Tom dressed in his clothes and dancing in his room. Tom, upset to find Dickie becoming closer to his friend, Freddie Miles, starts keeping to himself. Marge explains that Dickie has a pattern of making the person at the other end feel important before completely discarding them. Freddie grows wary of Tom as he spots him peeping while Dickie and Marge have sex in the boat. On the day of the Festival of Madonna, Silvana, a local woman, is found dead in the water. Tom tells Dickie that he is aware of the affair between him and Silvana. Dickie reveals that Silvana was pregnant and sought his help which he refused. Obsessed with Dickie, Tom offers to take the blame for him.
Noticing the trip has failed to bear any fruit, Herbert Greenleaf sends a letter to Ripley, letting him know that Ripley can consider him free from the duties that Greenleaf had placed on him. This means there will be no further financial assistance from Greenleaf. Ripley expects Dickie to write back to his father, asking him to extend his stay, but Dickie firmly tells him that it is not possible. When Ripley broaches the topic of the Venice trip that Dickie had promised earlier, Dickie suggests that they should move on and go apart. However, before they embark on their own ways, Dickie offers Ripley to accompany him to San Remo. In San Remo, Dickie directly confronts Ripley about his Princeton background and his affection for jazz.
How Does Ripley Cover His Tracks and Embrace a New Life?
They take a little boat to sail around, where Dickie says that he is going to marry Marge. Ripley is baffled at this, especially after having seen Dickie’s constant wayward romantic inclinations towards other women. Dickie reveals that he is relieved that Ripley is finally going away because he is a leech and an extremely boring individual. Unable to contain his disappointment and wrath, Ripley accuses Dickie of not being able to negotiate his feelings for Ripley, which he is willing to suppress. He accuses Dickie of being wayward. The altercation turns physical, and it ends in Ripley killing Dickie with the oar.
Ripley abandons Dickie’s body and runs away with his personal belongings. When the hotel receptionist mistakes him for Dickie, Ripley gets the idea of assuming Dickie’s identity after his death. Ripley types out a letter for Marge, pretending to be Dickey. The letter causes Marge to believe that Dickie has left her to settle in Rome. Marge asks Ripley to take her along when he leaves for Rome so that she can confront Dickie. Ripley leaves paper trails on behalf of Dickie and a series of correspondences between ‘Dickie’ and himself to lead the world on about Dickie’s whereabouts. Through forgery, he is able to draw on Dickie’s allowance on which he can live lavishly. In Rome, Ripley runs into Meredith once again, who still knows him to be Dickie. Ripley, as Dickie, tells Meredith that he has left Mongibello and Marge.
How Does Eugene Onegin Mirror Tom Ripley’s Descent?
Ripely and Meredith are at the opera watching Tchaikovsky’s lyric opera, “Eugene Onegin.” The inclusion of Eugene Onegin within the story of Ripley is particularly noteworthy for the paralleling trajectory of both the central figures. In the story of Eugene Onegin, Eugene is challenged by his best friend, Lensky, and is led on to a duel with him. This buildup takes place after Eugene develops a proximity with Lensky’s fiancé, Olga. Unable to withstand a more experienced Onegin, Lensky dies at the hands of his friend. Unable to come to terms with what has conspired, Eugene is battered with feelings of guilt and remorse.
In the film, the preparations for the duel and the men, Onegin and Lensky, taking their positions are seen from the audience’s perspective. The operatic score builds to a fever pitch, a crescendo mirroring Ripley’s internal turmoil. As the music reaches its peak, the camera pans toward Ripley, who abruptly excuses himself and disappears from his seat amidst the engrossed audience. The crescendo ends with the sound of a gunshot, following which we see Ripley shudder.
This point is particularly interesting due to the fact that despite the sound of the opera music and the gunshot belonging exclusively to the opera they transcend the boundary of opera. The sound of the opera and the visual of Ripley are fused together to reflect the inner trepidation of Ripley as he associates himself with Onegin. He is emotionally distraught as he makes a connection between Onegin’s murder of Lensky and his own killing of Dickie.
How is Ripley’s make-believe world threatened after the opera?
Ripley’s wet eyes are perhaps the first visible signs of his attempt at feeling guilty and his inability to reverse his course of action. It is a cathartic moment for Ripley, who might not have been able to process his emotions when the crime took place simply by virtue of being at the center of it. What transpires on the opera stage, for him, is a reiteration of his sin and, thus, a poetic chastisement.
When the opera ends, Ripley bumps into Peter Smith-Kingsley, who is with Marge. Shocked to find him here, Marge inquires him about Dickie. Ripley quickly switches back to his actual self but tries to evade Peter and Marge as he notices Meredith coming towards them. Ripley leaves hurriedly but promises the two that he will meet them the next morning. When Marge and Peter go inside the opera, Ripley sneaks Meredith out without telling her anything. He declines Meredith’s feelings towards him, and he hints that he is still in love with Marge. Before departing, Ripley promises to meet her, too, at the same time as Peter and Marge. Meredith and Marge meet. Both women have been called by the same person who is known by different identities.
What happens to Freddie?
Freddie turns up at Ripely’s apartment, looking for Dickie. From the moment Freddie enters his apartment, he is certain that something is amiss. The landlady has told Freddie that Dickie is in his room while Ripley claims he is out for dinner. Freddie is not convinced by Ripley’s narrative and has substantial reason to suspect him. However, he leaves.
As he prepares to leave, the housekeeper tells Freddie that Dickie is indeed in the apartment playing piano. Freddie tells her that it is only Tom. When the housekeeper spots Tom peeping, she waves at him and calls him Dickie. This convinces Freddie that he was, in fact, right about Tom’s ploy. He goes back to the apartment to confront Ripley, but Ripley bludgeons him to death. Ripley tactfully disposes of his body. The police arrive at Dickie’s place to inquire him about Freddie’s death. The next day, Marge finds Ripley and asks if Dickie has indeed killed Freddie.
The police bring up the instance of Dickie and Ripley’s stay at San Remo and say that Ripley has not been traced ever since, which Ripley refutes. Later, Ripley writes a suicide note pretending to be Dickie, who is morose at the string of deaths for which he holds himself responsible. Ripley runs away to Venice, where he encounters Peter.
How does Marge grow suspicious of Ripley?
Ripley and Peter grow a connection. Marge arrives and says that Dickie’s father has appointed a private detective as it is highly unlikely that Dickie has killed himself. In his apartment, Marge finds Dickie’s rings that Marge had given him. When Marge tries to leave, Ripley discloses Dickie’s philandering nature. Marge realizes that he is about to kill her. However, Tom drops his intentions when Peter arrives.
Alvin MacCarron believes that Dickie had killed Freddie before killing himself, and the police are certain of that. He reveals that Mr. Greenleaf is planning to transfer a portion of Dickie’s income from his trust to Ripley’s name. Certain of his son’s wayward nature, Greenleaf believes that Ripley has stretched himself to protect the honor of his dead friend, to which Herbert Greenleaf should remain ever obedient. This stands antithetical to Marge’s suspicions.
For Herbert, Dickie’s skeletons in the cupboard outnumber the possibility of him being at least innocent in Freddie’s murder. The father is so convinced of his son’s wayward nature that any possibility of Ripley being the criminal under the nose is thwarted, which works in Ripley’s favor. For them, it is far more convenient to die with a truth that incriminates their son for the murder than to let the police carry out the investigation, which might give way to the real killer, and in the process, some of his skeletons stand a chance to be rattled. Before Marge leaves, she claims that it was Ripley who had caused the disappearances and murders.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Movie Ending Explained:
Who gets killed in the end?
Finally, being absolved of the charges, Tom sets out for Greece with his lover, Peter, frolicking on a liner. However, Meredith, who is still under the impression that Ripley is Dickie calls him by that name. Meredith tells him that the whole world thinks Dickie is Freddie’s murderer. She asks him if he is traveling with Peter Smith-Kingsley, but he denies it. Back in the cabin, Peter coldly demands answers from Tom about his romantic liaison with Meredith.
Tom tells Peter that he has been lying about who he is because he has always thought that it would be better to be a fake somebody than to be a nobody. He asks Peter to tell him some nice things about Tom. As Peter starts listing them out, Tom strangles him. Tom realizes that with Meredith around, it would be difficult for him to keep out the secret from Peter about his identity as Dickie, especially when Meredith seems to be evading the script he has prepared to outrun his criminal life.
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