by Stefano Di Maria
A while ago a colleague asked me when I would finally give a 4, if not a 5, to a series. Yes, these scores are a rarity when the average is around 3. Well, the time to assign a nice 5 has finally arrived: RIPLEY, serial version of the film The talent of Mister Ripley, he fully deserves it. This hasn’t happened since CHERNOBYL.
Co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in collaboration with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights, the Netflix Original show sees Steven Zaillian writing and directing. A name that is a guarantee: he won the Oscar for the screenplay of Schindler’s List.
Below is the official teaser.
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RIPLEY – The plot
The dramatic miniseries, a psychological thriller based on the famous book by Patricia Highsmith, has Tom Ripley as its protagonist: a conman trying to survive in New York in the early 1960s, hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy and try to convince his wandering son to return home.
By accepting the assignment, Tom enters a complex reality of deception, scams and murders orchestrated by him, ready to do anything to take the place of the man he was supposed to bring home.
RIPLEY – The review
Already entered in the top ten of Netflix, RIPLEY is destined to end up among the serial pearls of the platform, those destined to remain over time, which are not consumed in the fleeting moment to be forgotten immediately afterwards. However, we have doubts (but perhaps we will soon be proven wrong) that it can settle in first position: many are looking for fast-paced products, while here every sequence (or almost) is staid, sometimes exasperatingly slow. If you then add that the series is in black and white…
Instead RIPLEY is a small masterpiece. Perfect in everything. In those Fellini-esque atmospheres of THE SWEET LIFE. In the photography that crystallizes the Amalfi coast (especially Atrani), Naples and Venice without making you feel the lack of color. In the soundtracks of the Sixties, which refer to songs that have remained over time such as “Il cielo in una stanza” by Mina. In writing without smudgingand, which makes the difference compared to the film versions.
Andrew Scott, directed by a Steven Zaillian in a state of grace, is unparalleled in impersonating a disturbed man, even ready to kill to get his social revenge. Her black eyes, always impersonal, almost threatening, convey that emotional chill that Patricia Highsmith was equally perfect at conveying to her character. Scott is disturbing in every gesture, every word and facial expression. He entered Tom’s shoes in a disturbing and chilling way, especially in the third episode, when his disturbed psyche explodes to the extreme consequences and from that moment it will be an escalation. With her skill she manages to overshadow everyone: from Dakota Fanning, who plays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn, as Dickie Greenleaf, up to our Margherita Buy, who always gets applause.
RIPLEY asks only for an effort: Don’t be put off by the slow pacetrying instead to enter the sociopath mind of the protagonist, who over the course of eight episodes will not disappoint those who love psychological thrillers.
RATING: 4 out of 5
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