[Quick Summary: Though paid to bring Dickie Greenleaf back from Italy, Tom Ripley becomes obsessed with his life, willing to kill several times for it.]
It's not that Ripley wants to be Dickie, and might also be in love with him. It's that he lurks, trying to exist by taking from Dickie, i.e., a parasite and super-creepy.
The clever, uncomfortable, odd thing about this script is how it makes you empathize with Ripley, a killer and manipulator.
It's very good at helping us feel what it's like being an outsider like Ripley.
In the scene below:
- Marge acknowledges everyone's feeling about Dickie, which mirrors Ripley's.
- Note that the other characters have more physical movement than Ripley, but we're remain focused on his reactions because he's the unpredictable one.
EXT. THE OCEAN, ABOARD THE BIRD. DAY
The boat is drifting. Freddie and Dickie and Marge are swimming, then Marge climbs back onto the boat, where Ripley is sitting alone, reading.
MARGE: You really should go in, it's marvelous.
RIPLEY: I'm fine.
She approaches him, conscious of his isolation. She's in a red bikini, and she towels herself dry as they speak.
MARGE: Are you okay?
RIPLEY: Sure.
They watch Dickie and Freddie fooling around in the water.
MARGE: The thing with Dickie - it's like the sun shines on you and it's glorious, then he forgets you and it's very very cold.
RIPLEY: So I'm learning.
MARGE: He's not even aware of it. When you've got his attention you feel like you're the only person in the world. That's why everybody loves him. Other times...
There's a yell from Dickie as Freddie wrestles with him.
DICKIE (laughing and choking): He's drowning me!
MARGE: It's always the same whenever someone new comes into his life - Freddie, Fausto, Peter Smith-Kingsley - he's wonderful - did you meet him, he's a musician, ? - ...and especially you, of course...and that's only the boys.
They watch as Freddie pushes Dickie under the surface.
MARGE: Tell me, why is it when men play they always play at killing each other...? I'm sorry about Cortina by the way.
RIPLEY: What about Cortina?
MARGE: Didn't Dick say? - he talked to Freddie...apparently it's not going to work out - (Ripley's devastated, Marge notices, can't look at him) Freddie says there aren't enough rooms.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Characters do not need to be likeable or sympathetic (I agree with what the character is doing), but do need to be empathetic (I understand why they're acting this way).
Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)(draft dated 11/1/99)
by Anthony Minghella
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
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