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THE PREMIERE MR. RIPLEY

This is a big week for Mr. Ripley, no doubt about that! Last Sunday saw the gala premiere of the film at the Village Theatre in Westwood Village in Los Angeles. Cate was on hand, with Julianna Margulies ("Paradise Road", "ER") as her "date", along with "more stars than there are in the heavens" (sorry MGM!)

We have assembled a great group of pictures from the evening, including many exclusive captures courtesy of our own extraordinary Lillie. Join the festivities at Ripley Premiere.

Bill Higgins of Variety offered the following recap:

At Sunday's preem of "The Talented Mr. Ripley," one British veteran of both glamour and fame said Anthony Minghella's tale of golden preppies in 1950s la dolce vita Italy reminded her of "Tony Richardson's in St. Tropez. He'd have these huge parties with the most beautiful people. But there was always something going on behind the scenes."

"Ripley" had a huge post-screening party at the Armand Hammer Museum with beautiful people and a jazz band playing in the courtyard. But there was more talk than intrigue behind the scenes. Minghella said he stressed two aspects in the filmmaking: not to judge the characters and "to invest in Italy." The helmer mentioned how one gorgeous seaside location is near Mount Etna and how he wanted the film, "to have this ravishing surface but the feeling that at any moment it could erupt."

As for the elements that could erupt, star Cate Blanchett said she was attracted to the film because Patricia Highsmith's novel "is so amoral. She writes with a scalpel. She's so caustic and cutting and unforgiving and sinister. Everything is sub-text."

And as the embodiment of sinister, star Matt Damon said defining his charming character was "a tightrope walk. Anthony's mantra was 'if Ripley loses the audience, the film folds.' "

Those on hand to see the film not fold but blossom were Paramount's Sherry Lansing, Jonathan Dolgen and Rob Friedman; Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, Mark Gill and Meryl Poster; stars Damon with Winona Ryder, Blanchett and Jude Law; plus 1,000 guests including Ben Affleck, Lawrence Bender, Scott Berg, Karl Austen, Albert Berger, John Burnham, Chris Fenton, Sid Ganis, Rob Lowe, Julianna Margulies, Kate Moss, Neal Moritz and Kevin Spacey. Two days previous, Cate did her part in support of the film, appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". In case you missed it, check out Cate on Leno to see more of Lillie's fine work. What is also remarkable are the feature length articles now appearing regarding "Ripley" in many esteemed publications, as well as on Fox :-).

What makes these notable so far are the thoughtfulness of the essays, the amount of column space devoted as well as the A-list writers making the observations.

First to Fox, Fox 411 offers up this interesting article, The Oscar-bound Mr. Ripley which examines not only the film, but, the differing interests of co-producers Miramax and Paramount.

The Los Angeles Times weighed in with a major piece this week entitled At One With The Stranger.

One of the most gifted writers on the subject of film remains David Thomson, whose Biographical Encyclopedia/Dictionary of Film remains one of the most respected film resource books ever written. He took a revealing look at "Ripley" this past week in the New York Times in a piece called Without Them, Mr. Ripley Would Be A Nobody.

And finally, Frank Rich of the New York Times constructed an amazing analysis not only of the film, but, of the larger social ramifications of the film and contemporary society. Check out this extraordinary essay at American Pseudo.

With the film premiering this Saturday in the States, this should certainly offer up some substantial reading material between now and then, or whenever the film comes to a theatre near you.

Aussie Cate Online © 1999 Lin, Dean, Lance
800x600 screen size recommended.

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