Patricia Highsmith Movies
Texas-born writer
Patricia Highsmith created some of the most enticing and enduring psychological thrillers of the 20th Century.
Naturally they’ve also made for gripping viewing, as a succession of lmmakers have found her novels fertile ground for cinematic storytelling.
While Wim Wenders’ much-loved neo-noir
The American Friend is sadly currently unavailable to Kiwi audiences and the less said about The Cry Of the Owl, Ripley Under Ground and Deep Water the better, there’s still a cadre of Highsmith adaptations well worth seeking out if you’ve become hooked on Net ix’s new eight-part Ripley. Stuff to Watch has picked out six of the best, letting you know where you can watch them right now.
Carol (2015, Net ix, Beama lm)
Todd Haynes’ sumptuous adaptation of Highsmith’s 1952 semiautobiographical novel The Price
Of Salt focuses on Manhattan ‘shopgirl’ Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), whose life is turned upside down after she locks eyes with the older, more re ned Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) across a crowded Christmas Sales oor at her department store Frankenberg’s.
Gorgeously shot and beautifully acted, Carol is a slow-burning character study built around two delightfully dynamic performances from the central duo.
Plein Soleil (1960, AroVision)
Also known as Purple Noon and Blazing Sun, French director Rene Clement’s
rst attempt at tackling Highsmith’s 1955 tale
The Talented Mr. Ripley is notable for a magni cent star-making turn from Alain Delon as the eponymous sociopath and deviating from the author’s original ending. “Tempering Hitchcockian intent with the experimentalism of the French New Wave, the result is as seductive as it is suspenseful: a bracing study of amorality,” wrote Total Film’s
Simon Kinnear.
Ripley’s Game (2002, YouTube, iTunes)
Alert viewers of the new series will note the appearance of John Malkovich, a sly bit of casting that nods to his delicious turn as an older version of Tom Ripley in Liliana Cavani’s cinematic version of Highsmith’s 1974 third Ripley novel. Also featuring Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone and a young Lena