The Talented Mr. Ripley

it is beauty itself, the film is filled with such musical longing and sadness, a peculiarly Italian quality... (the imminence of the tragic, and the hopeless of redemption in a world fueled by vengeance and power), and not only that, Jude Law gives a picture perfect performance of the ennui of the wealthy American youths who find that their fathers are as callous to their interests as the edges of razorblades or even more gently, the fingertips of guitarplayers. there is something about the film that is alone in its depth and sorrow, not as stupidly configured as a post-historical novel by Faulkner, but made of the very stuff of suffering, of the madness of the people, of the animality of desire and the insanity of Satanic imitative cults a la Crawley which breaks down all distinctions and creates an orgiastic anarchy... we are after all, defensive creatures, fueled by vanity, 93 octane, not by mere desire but by envy and sheer animosity.

And of the angels or the stars which have perchance fallen, stellar eyes lost in the lilting, moonlit gazing of the sky, scattered or lost, shades of diamonds which sparkle so lustfully made, and of the beauty of those who live to be loved, adored, seen, recognized and retain a refined distance, yes the film rings true of the absolute disdain of Americans, of our contemptuousness, our love of power, our Fascist gaze, almost godlike in its sheer reality.