The Talented Mr. Ripley was the 1999 critically acclaimed film, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, directed by Anthony Minghella. It was nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jude Law). It was released on the 25th February 2000 (UK) and made £1,267,833 on the opening weekend (UK). The film was produced by Miramax International and distributed by Miramax films.
With a 15 age rating this film automatically excludes itself from a target audience of under 15, this film is classed as a drama, music and thriller according to IMDB. However it is predominately a thriller because of the sense of mystery and tension.The conventions of the thriller genre are moments of suspense, tension and excitement, therefor this will appeal to a younger audience predominately 16-25 year olds, as well as thriller fans, who get pleasure from being scared and enjoy having to think. However, a secondary target audience of this will be 50+ as the film is based in the 1950’s and has themes of art, music and high culture, which will appeal to an older, more sophisticated audience.
Miramaxs logo is the first thing seen in the opening, it is in it’s generic style has has not been adapted to fit the films themes, followed by this is the Paramount pictures animation. Almost instantaneously the film creates mystery and tension from the non-diegetic and haunting incidental music that layered over the opening; As well as the music, tension is created by the slow unveiling of a character from a black screen, it acts as a “big reveal” for the title character. Furthermore not only does it introduce the character the slow unveiling reveals his location which appears to be in a high end room connoting he is a man of power and luxury. The character has a serious and worried expression on his face, as if something bad has or is going to happen. The draws the viewer in as the slow revealing sides may reveal something bad, filling the viewer with dread and mystery.
Firstly the camera slowly pans around the character from a low angle giving the viewer a good view of him, connoting he is important in times to come within the film. The lighting in this scene is well worked as it shows the character firstly in a positive light, both figuratively and physically then as it rotates around becomes darker, this connotes the characters turn in attitude, mental state and motives throughout the film. The next part of the opening shows a party, where the misc-en-scene shows champagne, impressive landscaping and characters with a make up of sophistication, as their are dressed in suits and long dresses, connoting wealth and importance. There is also the ambient sound of the piano and the singer. Between the two parts of the opening there is a sound bridge of the piano playing, the piano connotes music which appeals to the secondary audience quickly in the film. As well as this there is a small voice over that gives a inkling to the narrative, the character says “If I could just go back. If I could rub everything out. Starting with myself. Starting with borrowing a jacket.” This effectively draws the reader in.
The opening credits are very present and outstanding within the first scene, they are conventional and similar to all other generic opening credit sequences. The most important being more present on screen and the others being on the side of the picture, not getting full attention of the viewer. Starting with institutions, followed by cast in star order and finally the title of the film. which appears unconventionally as the word “Talented” is emphasised more the other words, this connotes the uniqueness of the charter and that the apparent protagonist is not the archetype we would expect. The word is furthermore enlarged connoting that his talents may overshadow his identity. The text is slow moving, and is written in a typewriter like font, this connotes an older style and the time when this film was based. The slow animation set’s the tone for the film as it links in to the incidental music that creates a slow and haunting theme.
The final shot is an establishing shot, a extreme long shot that shows an apartment roof over New York, this connotes high levels of wealth. There is a close up shot of the hands of piano, this is used to emphasise the “Talent” of the protagonist, there is a medium shot that shows two people one sitting down at a piano and one standing next to it. At 1:53 there is a subtle matching action shot of Mr Greenleaf looking at Mr Ripley and him being unaware. This shows that Mr Greenleaf has spotted something about Mr Ripley and that this will set up for the narrative.
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