Ripley's Game
Encyclopedia
Ripley's Game is a psychological thriller
by Patricia Highsmith
, the third in her "Ripliad" series.
y man in his early thirties. He lives in Villeperce, France
, with his French
wife, Heloise. Tom spends his days living comfortably in his house, Belle Ombre, until an associate, an American criminal named Reeves Minot, asks him if he can commit a murder
for him. Ripley — who "detest[s] murder, unless absolutely necessary" — turns down the offer of $96,000 for the two hits, and Reeves goes back to Hamburg
, Germany
.
The previous month, Ripley had gone to a party in Fontainebleau
, where the host Jonathan Trevanny, a poor British
picture framer suffering from leukemia
, insulted him. As revenge, Ripley suggests to Minot that he might try to convince Trevanny to commit the two murders. To ensure that the plan will work, Ripley starts a rumor that Trevanny has only months to live, and suggests that Minot fabricate evidence
that Trevanny's leukemia has worsened. Trevanny, who fears his death will leave his wife and son penniless, accepts Reeves' offer of a visit to a German specialist in Hamburg. While in Hamburg, he is persuaded to commit the murder for money.
After carrying out the contract — a shooting on a crowded U-bahn
station — Trevanny insists that he is through as a hired gun. Minot invites Trevanny to Munich
, where he visits another doctor and receives another fabricated medical report. Minot persuades Trevanny to murder a Mafia
boss, this time on a train using a garrotte, but he also gives him the far less desirable option of using a gun. At first Trevanny is horrified by the idea, but he eventually gives in and finds himself on the train. He resolves to shoot the mafioso and commit suicide
before he can be caught, and he asks Minot to ensure that whatever happens to him the money shall go to his wife. Before Trevanny can go through with it, however, Ripley (who had started to feel guilty for getting Trevanny into the situation) shows up and executes the Mafia boss himself. He asks Trevanny not to let Minot know that he has "assisted" with the assassination.
Back in France, Ripley and Trevanny form a strange sort of bond; Ripley learns to take care of someone other than himself, while Trevanny learns to abandon his conscience and do whatever it takes to survive. Trevanny's wife Simone discovers a Swiss bank book with a large sum in Trevanny's name and starts to suspect that her husband is involved in something shady. She links the rumor about her husband's demise to Ripley and asks Trevanny to tell her how, exactly, he has been making so much money. Trevanny is unable to explain it to her and turns to Ripley to help him concoct a credible story. Ripley acknowledges his role in Trevanny's dilemma and promises to shepherd him through the ordeal.
Ripley learns from Minot that the Mafia in Hamburg appear to be suspicious of Minot's involvement with the murders. Minot goes on the run. Because he doesn't know of Ripley's role in the train murder, he phones him to say that the Mafia have bombed his house in Hamburg, and this is how the Mafia get Ripley's number. Ripley begins to fear Mafia revenge when he receives a couple of suspicious phone calls. After sending his wife and housekeeper away, Ripley asks Trevanny to help him deal with any Mafia reprisals at Belle Ombre.
When the two Mafia hitmen turn up at Belle Ombre, Ripley neutralizes them both after forcing one of them to phone his boss in Milan and say that Ripley is not the man they are after. Simone then shows up at the house demanding answers — and discovers the corpses and is sent away in a taxi. Ripley and Trevanny drive to a remote village to burn the corpses in their own car. A few days later Ripley visits Trevanny's house, where a quartet of Mafia gunmen appear. One of them opens fire on Ripley, but Trevanny falls in front of him and is mortally wounded; he dies in Simone's arms. Minot is thrown out of the Mafia car as they drive away; they had kidnapped and torture
d him into revealing Trevanny's name and address.
A few months later Ripley encounters Simone in Fontainebleau
, and she spits at him. He realizes by this action that Simone has accepted her husband's blood money, and in doing so has necessarily remained silent about her suspicions of Ripley's instigation of the entire affair.
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
by Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
, the third in her "Ripliad" series.
Plot summary
In the third Ripley novel, Tom Ripley is a wealthWealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
y man in his early thirties. He lives in Villeperce, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, with his French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
wife, Heloise. Tom spends his days living comfortably in his house, Belle Ombre, until an associate, an American criminal named Reeves Minot, asks him if he can commit a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
for him. Ripley — who "detest[s] murder, unless absolutely necessary" — turns down the offer of $96,000 for the two hits, and Reeves goes back to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The previous month, Ripley had gone to a party in Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, where the host Jonathan Trevanny, a poor British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
picture framer suffering from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, insulted him. As revenge, Ripley suggests to Minot that he might try to convince Trevanny to commit the two murders. To ensure that the plan will work, Ripley starts a rumor that Trevanny has only months to live, and suggests that Minot fabricate evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
that Trevanny's leukemia has worsened. Trevanny, who fears his death will leave his wife and son penniless, accepts Reeves' offer of a visit to a German specialist in Hamburg. While in Hamburg, he is persuaded to commit the murder for money.
After carrying out the contract — a shooting on a crowded U-bahn
U-Bahn
U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn is German for underground rapid transit or metro. Five systems take its name, with only four of them being metro systems:*Berlin U-Bahn*Hamburg U-Bahn*Munich U-Bahn*Nuremberg U-Bahn...
station — Trevanny insists that he is through as a hired gun. Minot invites Trevanny to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he visits another doctor and receives another fabricated medical report. Minot persuades Trevanny to murder a Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss, this time on a train using a garrotte, but he also gives him the far less desirable option of using a gun. At first Trevanny is horrified by the idea, but he eventually gives in and finds himself on the train. He resolves to shoot the mafioso and commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
before he can be caught, and he asks Minot to ensure that whatever happens to him the money shall go to his wife. Before Trevanny can go through with it, however, Ripley (who had started to feel guilty for getting Trevanny into the situation) shows up and executes the Mafia boss himself. He asks Trevanny not to let Minot know that he has "assisted" with the assassination.
Back in France, Ripley and Trevanny form a strange sort of bond; Ripley learns to take care of someone other than himself, while Trevanny learns to abandon his conscience and do whatever it takes to survive. Trevanny's wife Simone discovers a Swiss bank book with a large sum in Trevanny's name and starts to suspect that her husband is involved in something shady. She links the rumor about her husband's demise to Ripley and asks Trevanny to tell her how, exactly, he has been making so much money. Trevanny is unable to explain it to her and turns to Ripley to help him concoct a credible story. Ripley acknowledges his role in Trevanny's dilemma and promises to shepherd him through the ordeal.
Ripley learns from Minot that the Mafia in Hamburg appear to be suspicious of Minot's involvement with the murders. Minot goes on the run. Because he doesn't know of Ripley's role in the train murder, he phones him to say that the Mafia have bombed his house in Hamburg, and this is how the Mafia get Ripley's number. Ripley begins to fear Mafia revenge when he receives a couple of suspicious phone calls. After sending his wife and housekeeper away, Ripley asks Trevanny to help him deal with any Mafia reprisals at Belle Ombre.
When the two Mafia hitmen turn up at Belle Ombre, Ripley neutralizes them both after forcing one of them to phone his boss in Milan and say that Ripley is not the man they are after. Simone then shows up at the house demanding answers — and discovers the corpses and is sent away in a taxi. Ripley and Trevanny drive to a remote village to burn the corpses in their own car. A few days later Ripley visits Trevanny's house, where a quartet of Mafia gunmen appear. One of them opens fire on Ripley, but Trevanny falls in front of him and is mortally wounded; he dies in Simone's arms. Minot is thrown out of the Mafia car as they drive away; they had kidnapped and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d him into revealing Trevanny's name and address.
A few months later Ripley encounters Simone in Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, and she spits at him. He realizes by this action that Simone has accepted her husband's blood money, and in doing so has necessarily remained silent about her suspicions of Ripley's instigation of the entire affair.
Adaptations
- Ripley's Game was adapted in 1977 by Wim WendersWim WendersErnst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
as Der Amerikanische Freund, starring Dennis HopperDennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
as Ripley. It was also adapted under its original titleRipley's Game (film)Ripley's Game is a feature film based on the 1974 novel of the same name, the third in Patricia Highsmith's "Ripliad," a series of books chronicling the murderous adventures of con artist Tom Ripley...
in 2002 by director Liliana CavaniLiliana CavaniLiliana Cavani is an Italian film director and screenwriter. She belongs to a generation of Italian filmmakers that came into prominence in the 1970s and includes Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marco Bellochio. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature...
, with John MalkovichJohn MalkovichJohn Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
as Ripley.
- The 2009 BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
adaptation stars Ian HartIan HartIan Hart is an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:Hart, the grandson of Irish immigrants, was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He is one of three siblings and was brought up in a Roman Catholic family...
as Ripley, Helen LongworthHelen LongworthHelen Longworth is a British actor. She has appeared in many radio plays including playing Zofia in two series of On Mardle Fen, Susie Dean in The Good Companions and Marina in Pericles...
as Heloise, Tom Brooke as Trevanny, Paul Rider as Minot and Janice Acquah as Simone.
External links
- Two Faces of Ripley, filmbrain.com comparison of The American FriendThe American FriendThe American Friend is a 1977 film by Wim Wenders, loosely adapted from the novel Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith. The film is of the neo-noir genre, and features Dennis Hopper as career criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmermann, a terminally ill picture framer whom Ripley...
and Ripley's GameRipley's Game (film)Ripley's Game is a feature film based on the 1974 novel of the same name, the third in Patricia Highsmith's "Ripliad," a series of books chronicling the murderous adventures of con artist Tom Ripley... - Ripley's Game at Fact Behind Fiction