Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Purple Noon / Plein soleil / France / 1960

The young Alain Delon is the centre of fascination here, his cold blue eyes and smooth pretty face giving us a far less sympathetic Tom Ripley than Matt Damon’s. Delon’s beauty is completely in tune with the callousness of his crimes and the sun-drenched blue of the sea (which Clement’s film dwells on far more than Minghella’s). It’s just a pity that the mores of the time couldn’t follow through the implications of the story and allow Tom to get away with it all — the rushed last minute sudden-revelation-of-the-crime-bringing-the-police-to-the-scene causes the film to collapse in on itself.

by Ian Johnston | Source: Miramax DVD
08 Oct 2006 10:32 AM | Comments (3)

Comments / 3 total / Submit Comment

1. leo / 8 October 2006 / 8:16 AM / URL

   Nonsense! The final shot of Delon, boyishly relishing his victory as he strolls toward his doom, with the score and the Mediterranean swooning in the background, is a nicely tart ending to all of the sunny murder and conniving that comes before it. I see this as less a reflection of the mores of the time than an ironic reversal of the film’s nasty energy back onto its instigator.

2. Conor / 8 October 2006 / 9:22 AM

   Interesting debate. Ian frames his argument by referring to the mores of the 1960s whereas Leo is relating to the boundaries of the film itself. The question, or so it seems to me, is wherre does the nasty energy of the film come from? The circumstances of its release, the imagery of the picture or somewhere else? Perhaps the distribution and circulation? Personally I tend to subscribe to the post-structuralist concept of discursive practices and institutional behavior patterns that mint and sanction these energies. Therefore, I blame Miramax. But I am curious as to how Leo and Ian see this film and its morlly deficient conception released on the world.

3. Ian / 9 October 2006 / 1:31 AM / URL

   A “tart” ending? My turn to say: Nonsense! For me, it has more of the opposite effect, where the disturbance that Delon’s character offers to the viewer is neutralised by the forces of normality. Yes, you can say it’s an “ironic reversal”, but only on the level of a common narrative convention of the day that so many crime movies ended with (Johnny Clay’s bags springing open on the airport tarmac etc). The ending is an inevitable failure of nerve, into which I don’t read any superior artistic intentions.