The Talented Mr. Donkey?
I watched The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) last night, and was quite impressed with the murder scene. The killing would make an excellent solution in Clue: Ripley, with an oar, in a small motorboat floating in an empty blue expanse of the Ligurian Sea.
The image of Ripley embracing Greenleaf's corpse as the boat drifts is arresting, and the whole business reminds me of the great history of "small boats" in American fiction: Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," The Old Man and the Sea, and that little boat you ride in Mario 3. I've also been led to re-interpret the significance of a beloved (though impermanent) Providence icon:
This ominous equine's calm frame (supported by even calmer seas) betrays some dark secret, I'm sure, just as calm seas usually betray some turmoil beneath.
Also, wanted to give a shout-out to the fantastic Purple Noon (1960), which is an adaptation of the same Ripley novel. Greenleaf's yacht is brilliant in Purple Noon - a kind of floating stage for many of the film's memorable scenes, including the murder. And it has an awesome Captain's wheel!
This begs the question: what is the greatest cinematic boat (broadly construed)? My nominees: the "Orca" from Jaws, the patrol boat from Apocalypse Now, and the amphibious train from Spirited Away:
The image of Ripley embracing Greenleaf's corpse as the boat drifts is arresting, and the whole business reminds me of the great history of "small boats" in American fiction: Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," The Old Man and the Sea, and that little boat you ride in Mario 3. I've also been led to re-interpret the significance of a beloved (though impermanent) Providence icon:
This ominous equine's calm frame (supported by even calmer seas) betrays some dark secret, I'm sure, just as calm seas usually betray some turmoil beneath.
Also, wanted to give a shout-out to the fantastic Purple Noon (1960), which is an adaptation of the same Ripley novel. Greenleaf's yacht is brilliant in Purple Noon - a kind of floating stage for many of the film's memorable scenes, including the murder. And it has an awesome Captain's wheel!
This begs the question: what is the greatest cinematic boat (broadly construed)? My nominees: the "Orca" from Jaws, the patrol boat from Apocalypse Now, and the amphibious train from Spirited Away:
posted by Allan Hazlett | 2:15 PM
4 Comments:
My nominees would include the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the eponymous Yellow Submarine, the Boot from Das Boot, and, cause I just love that movie, the H.M.S. Surprise from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. It's so cool how the names of boats get italicized.
Goodness--as I think about what my favorite ships are, I am quite ashamed that I don't have an immediate list that comes to mind.
Now that I think a little harder, however, I must nominate the following:
1. The ship that gets rammed in Ben-Hur
2. The ship that rams the ship that gets rammed in Ben Hur
3. The Pinta
4. The Wonkatania (the ship that goes through the freaky tunnel in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)
5. The S.S. Poseidon
6. the Pequod
and of course, 7. the ARGONOMICON!!! (is that how you spell the ship from Proteus?)
In addition, I would also like to name some of my least favorite ships.
1. The Mayflower
2. The Nina
3. The Love Boat
4. The Santa Maria
5. The Queen Mary II
Oh yes, the ARGAWARGAWAGAAA! Can I go back and change all of my answers to that one?
The Argonautica was the ship from Deep Rising. The ship from Proteus was an oil rig.
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