''Ripley Under Ground'' is a 2005 German-British-French

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

film directed by

Roger Spottiswoode John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and Television program, television. Early life He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spotti ...

and based on the 1970 second novel in

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character T ...

Tom Ripley Tom Ripley is a fictional character in the ''Ripley'' series of crime novels by American novelist Patricia Highsmith, as well as several film adaptations. He is a psychopathic career criminal, con artist, and serial killer. The five novels in ...

series. It stars Barry Pepper as Ripley and features

Willem Dafoe William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...

Alan Cumming Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish actor, writer and presenter. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He re ...

, and

Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (5 February 1948 – 30 December 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well ...

in supporting roles.

Plot summary

Tom Ripley's friend Philip Derwatt, a successful young artist, is killed in a car accident. Ripley, along with Jeff Constant, Derwatt's gallerist; Bernard Sayles, another artist; and Cynthia, Derwatt's girlfriend, concoct a scheme in which Bernard forges more of Derwatt's paintings, making a great deal of money. They hide Derwatt's body in a freezer. Ripley begins a relationship with Héloïse Plisson, who lives in a château near Paris, "Belle Ombre", with her father Antoine. Antoine investigates Ripley and disapproves of his shady past. Ripley gives Héloïse a tomato plant. An art collector, Neil Murchison, complains that a painting he bought by "Derwatt" is a fake. Ripley forges a letter by Derwatt, but Murchison is unconvinced. Murchison travels to Belle Ombre to visit Derwatt, who is impersonated by Ripley. However, Murchison recognises Ripley. They fight, Murchison falls, hits his head, and dies. His toupee falls off and is grabbed by Héloïse's dogs. Ripley buries Murchison's body, leaves his belongings on a train, and rushes to clean up the blood before Héloïse and her father return. A detective, John Webster, visits Belle Ombre. He obtains Ripley's fingerprints by subterfuge, in order to investigate him, but does not notice the dogs returning with the toupee, which Héloïse disposes of. An increasingly unstable Bernard threatens to expose Ripley. Bernard tells Webster the location of Murchison's body, but Ripley has already moved it to underneath the tomato plant. Back in England, Bernard takes Webster to the cottage where Derwatt's body was kept in the freezer, but Ripley has already removed it to his car. Bernard abducts Ripley at gunpoint. Ripley crashes the car, then places Derwatt's body in the driver's seat and sets the car on fire. At Belle Ombre, Ripley and Héloïse are about to get married. Webster has the tomato plant dug up, searching for Murchison's body. Antoine's suspicions were aroused by Ripley's interest in gardening. However, Héloïse has already moved the body. At the wedding, Ripley gives Héloïse a ring he stole from Derwatt. Héloïse gives him a ring from Murchison's corpse. As they drive away to their honeymoon, Héloïse proposes murdering her father to inherit his estate.

Cast

* Barry Pepper as

as Neil Murchison *

as Jeff Constant *

as John Webster * Jacinda Barrett as Héloïse Plisson *

Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born December 1971) is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film '' Mallrats'', and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic '' Basquiat''. In 1998, she achieved wide recogniti ...

as Cynthia *

Ian Hart Ian Davies (born 8 October 1964), better known by his stage name Ian Hart, is an English actor. His most notable roles have been in '' One Summer'' (1983), '' Backbeat'' (1994), '' Land and Freedom'' and '' Nothing Personal'' (1995), '' Michae ...

as Bernard Sayles *

Douglas Henshall Douglas James "Dougie" Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series ''Primeval (TV series), Primeval'' (2007–2011) and D ...

as Philip Derwatt *

François Marthouret François Marthouret (born 12 September 1943) is a French actor. He is best known for playing Paul Lescaut in the French police drama series ''Julie Lescaut ''Julie Lescaut'' is a French police television series created by Alexis Lecaye. It ...

as Antoine Plisson * Mika Simmons as Sandy

Release and reception

The film was produced under the working titles "White On White" and "Ripley's Art", but it was released as ''Ripley Under Ground''. It was produced during July and August 2003, but was not released until two years later. The film was shown on the 2005

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

on 6 November 2005. It was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on 24 July 2007 in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Box office figures are not available for the film. Critical reviews have been scarce, owing to the smaller release. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'''s review was less than positive, saying: "Although it strives to push

's best-known bad man in a snarky direction, ''Ripley Under Ground'' is too fidgety and unsure to settle on a sustained tone and ends up in a no man's land between hysterical satire and sleek Euro thriller. As previous filmic Ripleys demonstrated, from ''

Purple Noon ''Purple Noon'' (; ; also known as ''Full Sun'', ''Blazing Sun'', ''Lust for Evil'', and ''Talented Mr. Ripley'') is a 1960 crime thriller film starring Alain Delon (in his first major role), alongside Marie Laforêt and Maurice Ronet; Romy Schn ...

'' and ''

The American Friend ''The American Friend'' () is a 1977 neo-noir film written and directed by Wim Wenders, adapted from the 1974 novel '' Ripley's Game'' by Patricia Highsmith. It stars Dennis Hopper as career-criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmerman ...

'' to ''

The Talented Mr. Ripley ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' is a 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. The novel introduced the character of con man Tom Ripley, whom Highsmith wrote about in four subsequent books. Its numerous film and television adaptation ...

'' and '' Ripley's Game'', it's all in the casting, and the talented Mr. Barry Pepper is not capable of pulling off the demonically complicated and murderous con artist." The film is the least well known Ripley adaptation.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley Under Ground (Film) 2005 films 2005 crime thriller films American crime thriller films British crime thriller films English-language French films English-language German films Films directed by Roger Spottiswoode Films based on crime novels Tom Ripley films Films about fictional painters Films about art forgery Films about con artists Films set in England Films set in France Films scored by Jeff Danna French crime thriller films German crime thriller films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films 2000s French films 2000s German films English-language crime thriller films Films about psychopaths and sociopaths