RIPLEY

Big fan! I’ve seen all 8 episodes twice now and I can happily say this series is Elite! Everything on show is top and I’m just so happy this exists! The talented mr Ripley is one of my favourite films out there, it has some of the best writing in a movie I think I’ve seen and it’s incredibly stylish with a cast that rocks! So I was originally skeptical when it heard this was being made as to me that 99 version is just so iconic BUT on a whole I think this series gives me more than what the film gives me as from the get go it immediately differentiates itself from the film plus the long format really benefits it! The 99 film is honestly gorgeous to look at and I almost couldn’t imagine sucking the colour out of that story but the black and white noir aesthetic is just so well done by Robert elswit ( a true industry heavy weight) when you shoot in black and white you gotta really work with contrast and shade, here they do it pretty bloody well! The contrast of beauty and horror is excellently shown throughout!  I actually got some catch me if you can vibes in this with like a sub sexual obsession story too which I think just plays out so well! The homoeroticness is left vague which I throughly loved, you got themes of class and luxury , envy and just idolising someone and everything they represent too.  I just really credit it for going for something different cause I think this is great! It’s so deserving of its right to exists and the way it tells its story is the reason I just couldn’t stop pressing play to the next episode.  I think structurally it really comes alive after episode 3 and just from this point on its gets better and better! The pacing is slow but I don’t think it really matters too much as I think it’s a deliberate decision to back it up with Ripley as a character, cause what makes Ripley a compelling character is the fact he’s very smart and I love watching smart people even if his craft is scamming people and I just think this all comes down to highsmiths writing of Ripley the character himself, I’m almost routing for him to succeed in a way in this but I shouldn’t be as he’s not a very nice character and also a murderer but he’s just so interesting to watch, that’s why it’s very squeamish and awkward too because I’m like I shouldn’t be liking this but it’s all credit to the character that was created!  What I really like about the series is we are given all the details and given access to all the info too! I pretty much know all that has happened and all the truths but I’m so focused and watching great minds tryna figure out what actually happened and it’s just all throughly entertaining! Just so fun on a whole.  Performance wise Andrew Scott is him! Just so interesting to watch and in this version you almost become obsessed with Ripley and not dickie which I really liked that flip.  Dakota fanning is great too! And just the inspector as well, fantastic especially in the later episodes.  Also camera work is really effective! They stick the camera in one place in certain scenes and just never move it, this is just genius! It’s decisive and clear throughout the 8 episodes and that Camera knows when it wants to show you something and when it dosent! Really had a great time with this! I’d actually really love Netflix to carry on this story with Andrew Scott as there are 5 other books to do but this right here goes straight up there for one of the best Netflix originals to date! Stunning bit of work  Bravo