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Topic:
Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986)
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
5/13 12:41pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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For what it's worth, I though Hoffman's Freddie was something of a grotesque; sure, he stole the scenes he was in, but was there anything underneath that unpleasantness and contempt that suggested a layered character? The interest with Ripley was that you felt the character had such potential to take another direction and live a benign, happy life - he wasn't evil or nasty so much as immature and a fantasist. Watching him dig himself deeper and deeper into a rather horrible, self-centred lifestyle rather than face up to reality and responsibility, that was quite painful to watch.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/13 12:42pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Freddy has energy, which neither Dickie nor Ripley has.
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soitscometothis
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
5/13 12:44pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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So does the Energizer Bunny, but I wouldn't want to watch a film about him. 
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/13 12:49pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Your choice & privilege. I deal with sociopaths all the time in my current job, however, and they are all alike.
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Epicauthor
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
5/13 8:52pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Read. The. Book.
After you read the book, you realize that the movie took the story of Ripley, made it "sexier", and spit out what was left over. The book is brilliant. Patricia Highsmith's Ripley is not a "evil" psychopath (and so not gay). You root for him and want him to win in the end. It's a brilliant. Freddie's death is tragic (especially when you realize you understand why Tom had to kill him and you hope he gets away with it) and you actually like him.
TYhe movie can't hold a candle to the book.
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"I don't want a life. I want to make sure that the hotel runs like a hotel's supposed to."
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/13 8:55pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
- Date Edited:
5/13 8:55pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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I wonder what Hitchcock could have made of it. Less of a pretty travelogue, I suspect.
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/13 10:48pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Epicauthor posted:
Read. The. Book.
After you read the book, you realize that the movie took the story of Ripley, made it "sexier", and spit out what was left over. The book is brilliant. Patricia Highsmith's Ripley is not a "evil" psychopath (and so not gay). You root for him and want him to win in the end. It's a brilliant. Freddie's death is tragic (especially when you realize you understand why Tom had to kill him and you hope he gets away with it) and you actually like him.
TYhe movie can't hold a candle to the book.
I'd love to read the book, and I've no doubts you're correct that it's brilliant. But in defense of the film, I didn't find it "sexy" at all, so I don't understand this criticism. As to Ripley's not being "evil", the wikipedia entry on the differences between book and film seems to disagree with you:
While the Ripley character in the novel has some sympathetic qualities, he is primarily a sociopath with no qualms about committing cold-blooded murder whenever it suits him. As portrayed in Minghella's film, however, he is an almost tragic figure motivated by his own self-hatred and not completely immune to guilt.
Also according to wiki, Ripley was indeed homosexual and was considerably more overtly murderous:
The 1999 film portrays Ripley's fascination with Greenleaf as overtly sexual. While this is alluded to in the novel, the film expands upon Ripley's feelings of jealousy and inadequacy and creates greater tension between the characters.
The motivation for the murder of Greenleaf is treated quite differently, although the setting is identical. In the 1999 film, Ripley kills Greenleaf in a moment of rage after being mocked and rejected. In the novel and in Plein Soleil [the 1960 film version], the murder is premeditated, with Ripley planning each detail in advance and then carrying it out.
Nor did I notice any homoerotic overtones to Ripley's character until the bathing scene (in which Tom asks Dickie if he can "get in... not with you in it!"), which even then was understated and played like a passing fancy, which never fully developed beyond subtle hinting that Tom admired Dickie in a kind of puppy-love way. Again, I've no doubts that the book is wonderful, but the criticisms you've levelled at it, Epicauthor, seem to contradict what I know to be in the film itself, and what other sources say about the content of the novel.
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"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/13 11:02pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Plein Soleil, the other film based on the novel points out some differences. And hell, this is Wiki. How accurate is it likely to be? I suggest you read the book before you decide it's wrong.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/14 7:38am
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
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Next:
WILD THINGS (1998)
"In this twisty little Florida noir, Matt Dillon plays a high school guidance counselor dismissed for forcing himself upon two of his students — rich-bitch Kelly (Denise Richards) and rebel belle Suzie (Neve Campbell). But did he commit the dirty deeds, or is he being set up?
SEXIEST SCENE That sleazy motel ménage à trois, between Campbell, Richards, and Dillon — you remember it, don't you?"
Haven't seen this, but given Richards' thespian abilities, I recommend you watch any movie involving her with the sound off.
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/14 9:00am
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Things" (1998)
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Zaz posted:
Plein Soleil, the other film based on the novel points out some differences. And hell, this is Wiki. How accurate is it likely to be? I suggest you read the book before you decide it's wrong.
I knew someone was going to say that. The entry I've quoted in my above post is well-written and articulate; the authors are clearly not fabricating facts to support some imaginary position. I reject the suggestion that I should accept the opinion of a user here -- an opinion riddled with spelling and grammatical errors -- over opinions expressed in a peer-reviewed encyclopedic website.
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"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/14 9:54am
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Things" (1998)
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I suggest that you read the book, if you want to comment on what's in it and what isn't.
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/14 10:10am
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Things" (1998)
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I reject that suggestion based on the fact that there is an articulate, peer-reviewed summary available with no evident motivation for fraud.
-----signature-----
"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/14 11:20am
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Things" (1998)
- Date Edited:
5/14 11:43am (2 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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Fine. We all got that point. My point is, read the book, and you won't have to reject anything.
And let's move on.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/15 8:33pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Things" (1998)
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WILD ORCHID (1990)
"Zalman King — who went on to create Showtime's legendary soft-core series, The Red Shoe Diaries — directed this Rio de Janeiro-set schtupp-fest starring Mickey Rourke and Carré Otis, who plays, get this, a lawyer.
SEXIEST SCENE The one that people seemed to think involved real, honest-to-goodness shagging between the two leads — who did carry on a real-life relationship."
As soon as the camera focuses on Rourke, the lense looks dirty. Sleaze seems to ooze from him.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/16 7:48pm
Subject:
RE: Guilty As Charged: Super Sexy Thrillers: Now Disc. "Wild Orchid" (1990)
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THE LAST SEDUCTION (1994)
"Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) would do anything to get away with the sack of cash she's swiped from her dirtbag husband: including lying, stealing, cheating, and having angry, angry sex with Peter Berg.
SEXIEST SCENE When Bridget takes Berg's Mike Swale out behind a bar and, er, fences him...."
The plot doesn't hold up in retrospect, but Fiorentino is so galvanizing, you don't really notice.
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