Andrew Scott is reprising the role of a con artist first created in by Patricia Highsmith in her 1955 novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley”.
I have seen the version with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow made back in 1999.
But this version, with Andrew Scott, is shot in black and white. The first episode is a little difficult to consume, as we are used to being exposed to multifaceted invasion of colour and sound in both cinema and on our home screens. And, it is set in New York. We are no longer used to New York in black and white. The ambience does bear a resemblance to “Mad Men”, thanks to an extreme attention to detail in costume and daily use of gadgets (type writers, wrist watches, fountain pens, business cards, smoking… etc.).
Once Ripley travels to Europe, to Italy, thanks to the b&w rawness, our minds travel back in memories to classical films, to other masterpieces that were also black and white, that were also shot in Italy.
Apart from the story itself, which is craftily written, apart from Scott’s acting, who is able to wear double or triple layers of another man’s personality, who is able to modify his walk, accent, pronunciation depending on who he pretends to be at a given moment, this is a pure feast for the eyes. It is a travel in time, back to the decades, where life was different, simpler, where people read, took long walks, travelled by train, by ship, communicated by post or rarely a phone call. Back to the times, when there were fewer people in Europe and when actually, it was possible to meet someone in the street, someone you knew from elsewhere, as the world was smaller.
It has been weeks, since I watched it. And the images of this version of “Ripley” come back to me on a daily basis. Venice, in black and white, the lighting, the contrast, the wardrobe, the attention to detail on so many levels.
It is a slow watch, and yet, you do want to binge it… Unexplainable. Recommended!
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