This film is based on the same source material as 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, and has the same basic story and many corresponding key events. Both focus on Tom Ripley, played here by Alain Delon, inserting himself into a social set of wealthy young people, whose lives he begins to callously destroy. Though I haven't seen the later film in some time, I remember it as being more cerebral, and having a bit of a depressive overlay, whereas this…

I've been meaning to see this film for decades, both because of its critical reputation, and because its dark, deadpan sense of humor seemed to anticipate and probably influence the styles of more recent filmmakers -- Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers particularly. It stars Bud Cort as a depressed, introverted young man who meets an exuberant iconoclastic old woman, played by Ruth Gordon, who shows him how to appreciate life. It's easy to see how that story and message…