Ripley Under Ground | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Roger Spottiswoode |
Written by | W. Blake Herron Donald E. Westlake |
Based on | Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith |
Produced by | Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre Marco Mehlitz Michael Ohoven Stephen Ujlaki William Vince |
Starring | Barry Pepper Jacinda Barrett Tom Wilkinson Willem Dafoe Alan Cumming Claire Forlani Ian Hart |
Cinematography | Paul Sarossy |
Edited by | Michel Arcand |
Music by | Jeff Danna |
Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Countries | Germany France United Kingdom [1] |
Language | English |
Ripley Under Ground is a 2005 German-British-French crime thriller film directed by Roger Spottiswoode and based on the 1970 second novel in Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley series. It stars Barry Pepper as Ripley and features Willem Dafoe, Alan Cumming, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles.
Tom Ripley's friend Philip Derwatt, a successful young artist, is killed in a car accident. Ripley, along with Jeff Constant, Derwatt's gallerist; Bernard Sayles, another artist; and Cynthia, Derwatt's girlfriend, concoct a scheme in which Bernard forges more of Derwatt's paintings, making a great deal of money. They hide Derwatt's body in a freezer.
Ripley begins a relationship with Héloïse Plisson, who lives in a château near Paris, "Belle Ombre", with her father Antoine. Antoine investigates Ripley and disapproves of his shady past. Ripley gives Héloïse a tomato plant.
An art collector, Neil Murchison, complains that a painting he bought by "Derwatt" is a fake. Ripley forges a letter by Derwatt, but Murchison is unconvinced. Murchison travels to Belle Ombre to visit Derwatt, who is impersonated by Ripley. However, Murchison recognises Ripley. They fight, Murchison falls, hits his head, and dies. His toupee falls off and is grabbed by Héloïse's dogs. Ripley buries Murchison's body, leaves his belongings on a train, and rushes to clean up the blood before Héloïse and her father return.
A detective, John Webster, visits Belle Ombre. He obtains Ripley's fingerprints by subterfuge, in order to investigate him, but does not notice the dogs returning with the toupee, which Héloïse disposes of.
An increasingly unstable Bernard threatens to expose Ripley. Bernard tells Webster the location of Murchison's body, but Ripley has already moved it to underneath the tomato plant. Back in England, Bernard takes Webster to the cottage where Derwatt's body was kept in the freezer, but Ripley has already removed it to his car.
Bernard abducts Ripley at gunpoint. Ripley crashes the car, then places Derwatt's body in the driver's seat and sets the car on fire.
At Belle Ombre, Ripley and Héloïse are about to get married. Webster has the tomato plant dug up, searching for Murchison's body. Antoine's suspicions were aroused by Ripley's interest in gardening. However, Héloïse has already moved the body. At the wedding, Ripley gives Héloïse a ring he stole from Derwatt. Héloïse gives him a ring from Murchison's corpse. As they drive away to their honeymoon, Héloïse proposes murdering her father to inherit his estate.
The film was produced under the working titles "White On White" and "Ripley's Art", [2] [3] but it was released as Ripley Under Ground. It was produced during July and August 2003, [4] but was not released until two years later. The film was shown on the 2005 AFI Fest by American Film Institute. The film received a low-profile wide theatrical release on 6 November 2005, [5] as well as being shown at the AFI Fest film festival in Los Angeles. It was released on DVD on 24 July 2007 in the Netherlands. Box office figures are not available for the film.
Critical reviews have been scarce, owing to the smaller release. [6] Variety 's review was less than positive, saying: "Although it strives to push Patricia Highsmith's best-known bad man in a snarky direction, Ripley Under Ground is too fidgety and unsure to settle on a sustained tone and ends up in a no man's land between hysterical satire and sleek Euro thriller. As previous filmic Ripleys demonstrated, from Purple Noon and The American Friend to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ripley's Game , it's all in the casting, and the talented Mr. Barry Pepper is not capable of pulling off the demonically complicated and murderous con artist." [7]
The film is the least well known Ripley adaptation. [8]
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories throughout her career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene.
Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a New York Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the West End production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1991). His other Olivier-nominated roles were in The Conquest of the South Pole (1988), La Bête (1992), and Cabaret (1994). Cumming won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for reprising his role as the Emcee on Broadway in Cabaret (1998). His other performances on Broadway include Design for Living (2001), and Macbeth (2013).
William James "Willem" Dafoe is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Golden Globe Awards. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers. Dafoe was a founding member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group.
Ripley's Game (1974) is a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the third in her series about the con artist and murderer Tom Ripley.
The American Friend is a 1977 neo-noir film written and directed by Wim Wenders, adapted from the 1974 novel Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith. It stars Dennis Hopper as career-criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmermann, a terminally ill picture framer whom Ripley coaxes into becoming an assassin. The film uses an unusual "natural" language concept: Zimmermann speaks German with his family and his doctor, but English with Ripley and while visiting Paris.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Anthony Minghella, based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of the same name. Set in the 1950s, it stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, a con artist who is sent from New York City to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled playboy, to return home – however, after failing, Ripley takes extreme measures. Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Seymour Hoffman also appear in supporting roles.
Ripley Under Water is a 1991 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the last of five novels featuring Tom Ripley, "an intelligent, cultured gentleman who dabbles in art, music and, occasionally, murder".
Tom Ripley is a fictional character in the Ripley series of crime novels by American novelist Patricia Highsmith, as well as several film adaptations. He is a career criminal, con artist, and serial killer. The five novels in which he appears—The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley, and Ripley Under Water—were published between 1955 and 1991.
Ripley Under Ground is a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the second novel in her Ripliad series. It was published in June 1970.
Purple Noon is a 1960 crime thriller film starring Alain Delon, alongside Marie Laforêt and Maurice Ronet; Romy Schneider, Delon's girlfriend at the time, makes a brief cameo appearance in the film. The film follows Tom Ripley, a young American sent to Italy to convince wealthy playboy Philippe Greenleaf to return home. As Tom becomes obsessed with Philippe's luxurious lifestyle, he devises a plan that will allow him to take over Philippe's life.
Abel Ferrara is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known movies include the New York-set, gritty crime thrillers The Driller Killer (1979), Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996), chronicling violent crime in urban settings with spiritual overtones.
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The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretly inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.
The Boy Who Followed Ripley is a 1980 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the fourth in her series about career criminal Tom Ripley. In this book, Ripley continues living quietly on his French estate, Belle Ombre, only obliquely involved in criminal activity. His idyll is shaken when he meets a teenaged boy who is hiding from the police.
The Reckoning, also known as Morality Play, is a 2004 British-Spanish murder mystery drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Tom Hardy, Gina McKee, Brian Cox and Vincent Cassel. It was written by Mark Mills and based on the 1995 novel Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Filming was done on location in Spain, Wales, and England.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. The novel introduced the character of con man Tom Ripley, whom Highsmith wrote about in four subsequent books. Its numerous film and television adaptations include Purple Noon (1960), starring Alain Delon, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), starring Matt Damon, and the 2024 series Ripley, starring Andrew Scott.
Ripley's Game is a 2002 thriller film directed by Liliana Cavani. It is adapted from the 1974 novel Ripley's Game, the third in Patricia Highsmith's series about the murderous adventures of the anti-hero Tom Ripley. John Malkovich stars as Ripley, opposite Dougray Scott and Ray Winstone. The film grossed $6.2 million on a budget of $30 million, making it a box-office failure; although it received positive reviews. Highsmith's novel was previously adapted in 1977 as The American Friend by director Wim Wenders, starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz.
Body of Evidence is a 1993 erotic thriller film directed by Uli Edel, written by Brad Mirman, and starring Madonna and Willem Dafoe, with Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, and Jürgen Prochnow in supporting roles.
The Devil and Daniel Webster is a 1941 American supernatural film based on the 1938 play adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benét's 1936 short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster". The play by Benét was in turn based on the libretto created by Benét for an opera adaptation of his short story with composer Douglas Moore, a project he began writing in 1937. Benét and Dan Totheroh adapted the play into the film's screenplay.
Woodchipper Massacre is a 1988 American horror comedy Z movie written and directed by Jon McBride, who also directed Cannibal Campout, released that same year. The film was shot-on-video in Connecticut.