Differences between the movie and book (for those interested)
After many years of seeing the film, I decided to finally read the book. Thought some people might be curious about differences/similarities between the two, so here they are.
SPOILERS....obviously.
DIFFERENCES
1. The character of Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett) is absent from the book
2. The character of Peter Smith-Kingsley is a very minor figure in the book and is not killed at the end, nor is there the hint of a relationship with Ripley
3. No Silvana in the book! In the film, she is the woman who kills herself after Dickie gets her pregnant.
4. In the film, Ripley kills Dickie on the spur of the moment, when he is humiliated and insulted by Dickie. In the book, Ripley makes a clear plan to kill Dickie on the boat, before even setting foot on the boat.
5. In the film, Marge and Dickie are lovers from the start. In the book, their relationship does not evolve into a romantic one until just before Dickie is killed.
6. In the book, Ripley is shown as being a scam artist from the very beginning. Before he leaves for Italy, he admits to having tried to steal tax payments in the mail. In the film, none of this is dealt with or hinted at.
7. Marge does not express much suspicion of Ripley in the book and even ultimately agrees with his theory that Dickie killed himself. When Marge finds Dickie's rings in the book, she believes this means Dickie killed himself. In the film, Marge clearly states she believes Ripley is lying. In the book, Marge does have an active dislike and jealousy of Ripley from the start (but she never suspects him of murder). Marge believes Ripley is trying to hog Dickie to himself and exclude her, in the book.
8. At the start of the film, Ripley is shown living alone. In the book, he is living with a roommate who isn't often around.
9. Very surprisingly, NO MENTION OF JAZZ in the book. None! Of course, it plays a prominent feature in the film.
10. Ripley meets Inspector Roverini as BOTH himself and as Dickie, in a disguise, in the book. This is the most unbelievable part of the book, to suggest that Roverini would not recognize Ripley. In the film, Ripley only meets Roverini as one person, "Dickie".
SIMILARITIES
1. Freddie Miles is killed by Ripley in the film and book
2. Ripley (obviously) gets away free at the end of both film and book
3. Ripley inherits Dickie's money in both versions (although Ripley forges Dickie's fake will after his death in the book, while Dickie's father decides on his own to give the money to Ripley in the film).
4. Dickie's father's arrival in Italy and his bringing a detective are pretty much the same.
5. The Cortina skiing trip is mentioned in both book and film.
I'll add more as I think of them! Basically, Ripley is depicted as a very devious and calculating criminal in the book, from the start. In the film, that's shown as a progression. Minghella made Ripley a lot more likeable in the film. Personally, as an overall "experience", I prefer the film over the book. The book is a bit dry and the movie opens up a lot of themes from the book and expands on them. There's a lushness to the film that's missing in the book, in my opinion. The film has a clear sense of tragedy, while the book is more of a subtle, harsh look into Ripley's mind, with no sense of sentimentality or romance. Minghella did an amazing job to make the film it's own entity.
"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"