High and Low: From Pulp to Poetry
Screening Dates
  • May 31, 2019 6:30
  • June 2, 2019 8:50
  • June 5, 2019 6:30

French veteran Réne Clément (Forbidden Games) directs this intoxicating cocktail of sunny Mediterranean hedonism and chilling noir suspense, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s vicious 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, and featuring a young Alain Delon in the role that made him a star. Delon plays icy, envious Tom Ripley, who’s sent to rescue Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), son of a wealthy industrialist, from a life of la dolce vita dissolution. Instead, Tom starts coveting Philippe’s life of luxury, and plots to assume his identity. Marie Laforêt is Marge, Philippe’s girlfriend. Clément’s deliciously decadent film has glorious colour cinematography by Henri Decaë, known for his work with Chabrol, Melville, and Malle, and a score by frequent Fellini collaborator Nino Rota. The film’s gay subtext was daring for its day. Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, a 1999 adaptation, starred Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow.