The Talented Mr Ripley Movie Analysis

In the juxtaposition of the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley and its movie adaptation, one can find distinct differences between the two art forms. The story follows a young man, Tom Ripley, as he goes to Europe with the intent of convincing Dickie Greenleaf to return to America at the request of Dickie’s father. Once in Europe, Tom struggles to constantly maintain Dickie’s favor, and fails to convince him to return home. He then murders Dickie, assumes his identity, and does everything he can to maintain his dual-existence. The film and the book give different perspectives on the story. The literary point of view gives the perspective of the story through varying voices, such as through the main character, the author, the director, a narrator,

If I could rub everything out. Starting with myself.”(Minghella, Talented Mr. Ripley). His internal monologue sets up the premise that the entire film is Tom looking back on the events that occurred surrounding Dickie Greenleaf. The action in the movie begins with Tom working hard by playing piano and acting as a bathroom attendant. When the story is told through Tom Ripley’s eyes, the audience pities him because he wants so badly for Dickie to like him that can’t see what he is doing is morally bad; this leads to the audience becoming desensitized as well due to the societal tendency to see the best in people. The audience assumes that he may be consciously unaware of the fact that he is in the wrong. That makes the audience pity him rather than feel the need to judge him. Contrarily, the 3rd person point of view that is present in the book lends itself to an unbiased judgement of Tom’s character; Tom is much easier to understand in the book because of the unedited inner monologues that occur throughout the book. For example, the novel is able to show that Tom “wanted to kill Dickie...Before, once or twice or three times, it had been an impulse caused by anger or disappointment, an impulse that vanished immediately and left him with a feeling of shame...he could become