Movie Review: Purple Noon (Plein Soleil) Starring Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, and Marie Laforet, Directed by Rene Clement (1960)

 

Original poster for Purple Noon, 1960. (French title: Plein Soleil)

Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforet, and Alain Delon share a tense meal on boat the boat in Purple Noon.

Maurice Ronet warily eyes up Alain Delon in the opening scene of Purple Noon.

The 1960 movie Plein Soleil, English title Purple Noon, was the film that made French actor Alain Delon a star. (A literal translation of the title to English would be Full Sun.) Watching the movie 62 years after it was first released, it’s easy to see why the movie catapulted Delon to the upper ranks of French film stars. Based on the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, Purple Noon follows the amoral Ripley as he commits murder, and then goes on to assume the dead man’s identity.

Ripley has been sent on something of a fool’s errand: his assignment is to convince wealthy ne’er-do-well Philippe Greenleaf to return to San Francisco and assist his father in the family business. But Philippe (expertly played by Maurice Ronet) seems perfectly happy to hang out in Italy, buy a boat, and spend lots of money. The good news for Ripley is that Philippe allows Ripley to enjoy the good life with him and his girlfriend Marge (the stunning Marie Laforet, making her acting debut).

Ripley and Greenleaf have an odd relationship, to state the obvious. At the beginning of the film, we see them enjoying the pleasures of Rome. They sit in the back of a horse-drawn carriage, a beautiful blonde in-between them, and they alternate kissing her. In another scene, Ripley puts on Philippe’s clothes and starts impersonating Philippe in front of a mirror, touching his lips to his own reflection. It makes for quite the awkward scene when Philippe walks into the room. The homoerotic subtext between the two characters is so obvious that it hardly needs to be mentioned.

While on Greenleaf’s boat, Ripley stabs him and throws his body overboard. But rather than tell anyone that Greenleaf fell overboard and drowned, Ripley strings Marge along into thinking that Philippe is still alive. Ripley needs people to think that Greenleaf is still alive so that he can access Philippe’s money and live the life he feels he deserves. Needless to say, complications ensue.

Purple Noon was directed by Rene Clement, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The look and feel of the film are outstanding, and it looks as fresh as though it were filmed yesterday. I appreciated how whenever the characters are on the boat, it’s very clear they are really on a boat, whereas a Hollywood production from the same era might have been filmed in a water tank with crappy looking rear-projection special effects.

The wardrobe and costuming of Purple Noon are superb as well, and Delon and Ronet look very sharp in everything they wear, the very pictures of mid-century Mediterranean cool.

One of the biggest things that Purple Noon has going for it is Alain Delon’s remarkable handsomeness. Delon was strikingly photogenic, with high cheekbones, a thick head of dark, tousled hair, and piercing blue eyes. There are many people who would argue that Alain Delon is the most handsome man ever, and I’m not about to quibble with them. Delon was just 23 years old when Purple Noon was filmed. He had made a handful of movies, but in Purple Noon Delon is tasked with carrying the movie. He’s in nearly every scene, and the film would have collapsed under a less talented, less charismatic actor.

Delon is a naturalistic actor. He does not seem to be visibly acting, and he already knows that the camera will pick up on all of the little nuances of his expressions. Delon commands the attention of the audience, in no small part because of how good-looking he is. The quiet charisma that was Delon’s trademark as an actor is already in full blossom in Purple Noon. Delon has enough confidence in himself as an actor that he keeps our attention during the scene in the middle of the movie where he walks around an outdoor market. There’s no dialogue, Ripley is merely at the market by himself, as Marge writes a letter to Greenleaf. But the scene works, and it’s Delon’s cool confidence that draws us in.

Rene Clement originally wanted Delon for the role of Philippe Greenleaf, not Tom Ripley. But Delon persisted in wanting the role of Ripley, and he ultimately got his wish. Delon would have no doubt delivered an effective performance as Greenleaf, but he would be too obvious as Greenleaf—for someone so handsome to play a rich playboy would be too perfect, too on the nose. Whereas Maurice Ronet was perfect as Greenleaf—and he played a similar part opposite Delon again years later in the classic La Piscine. In La Piscine, Ronet plays the loud, gregarious playboy Harry, who drives a flashy Maserati—again, casting Delon in that part would have been too obvious.

Ronet gives an excellent performance as Greenleaf, drawing us in with his strong charisma and handsome looks, but he also shows us the hollow rot at Greenleaf’s core, and the callous way he treats both Ripley and Marge. And then there’s Marge. Poor Marge! You could make a fascinating version of this same story by focusing more on Marge’s point of view, rather than Ripley’s, and highlighting the emotional journey she goes on throughout the story. Marie Laforet is excellent as Marge, a performance all the more remarkable considering it was her film debut. Laforet turned 20 during the filming of Purple Noon, and like Delon, she has the confidence required to hold the audience’s attention.

At the end of Purple Noon, a thought struck me: Alain Delon would have made a fantastic Jay Gatsby. Delon’s characters are so often a little bit on the outside, never quite fully at ease, always striving for more. Delon would have brought a brooding intensity to Gatsby’s vision. And Maurice Ronet would have made a great Tom Buchanan.

Purple Noon was released in France on March 10, 1960, and in the United States on August 31, 1961. To watch it now is to see Alain Delon the actor, movie star, and icon of European cinema, blossom before your eyes.