Talented Mr. Ripley Soundtrack CD

Original score composed by Gabriel Yared.
Producers include: Graham Walker, Anthony Minghella, Guy Barker, Gabriel Yared, John Martyn.
Includes liner notes by Anthony Minghella.
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY was nominated for the 1999 Academy Awards For Best Original Score.
Personnel: Alan Jenkins (programming).
Recording information: Lansdowne Recording Studios, Lo.
Director/screenwriter Anthony Minghella is a meticulous craftsman, known for his vigorous attention to every element of a production. In the case of The Talented Mr. Ripley, his 1999 adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith potboiler, he lent particular focus to the film's music. In the novel, the gregarious American expatriate Dickie Greenleaf (played in the movie by Jude Law) was a painter. But Minghella made him a jazz enthusiast instead, contrasting Dickie's tastes with the classical inclinations of the enigmatic title character Tom Ripley (Matt Damon). The result is a film that gains much of its texture from its carefully chosen musical selections. The soundtrack opens with a pair of jazz numbers taken from two of the most fascinating scenes in the movie. In the first, Dickie takes Tom to an Italian jazz club, and both end up on stage exuberantly singing "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano." The song, performed on the CD by Damon, Law, Italian singer Fiorello and the Guy Barker International Quartet, establishes Ripley's captivation with his friend's hedonistic lifestyle. The second scene accomplishes the reverse: Dickie is captivated by the depth and sensitivity Ripley expresses in his evocative rendition of the Rodgers and Hart tune "My Funny Valentine." Again, Damon does his own singing on the soundtrack. The rest of the album intersperses several jazz tracks (including performances by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie) with excerpts from Gabriel Yared's Oscar nominated score. Yared's work here lacks the originality and scope of his breakthrough score for The English Patient, but it captures perfectly both the sunlit Italian glamour and the muscle-tensing intrigue that characterize the film. Yared also wrote the music for the quietly disturbing Sinead O'Connor ballad, "Lullaby for Cain," that is played over the opening credits. The song, which features lyrics by Minghella himself, sets an appropriately ominous tone that effectively foreshadows the gruesome direction the film will eventually take. It is a solid contribution to a soundtrack album that is as carefully and thoughtfully constructed as the movie itself. ~ Evan Cater
The soundtrack to director Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel is as unpredictable and (occasionally) disturbing as the film itself. Roughly half of it is an original score by composer Gabriel Yared, which ranges from Stravinsky-esque orchestral neo-classicism to a sinister music box tune sung by Sinnead O'Connor. Oldies include vintage cuts by bop-meisters Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as new performances of bop standards by Brit jazzman Guy Barker (his rendition of "Moanin," the Jazz Messengers' '50s hit is particularly good). Meanwhile, avant-folkie John Martyn turns "You Don't Know What Love Is" into the darkest of blues dirges, and RIPLEY star Matt Damon wins the Chet Baker soundalike contest with his thoroughly credible rendition of "My Funny Valentine."

Music By: Gabriel Yared

Entertainment Weekly (1/7/00, pp.65-6) - "...the rare soundtrack that both complements the movie and captures its mood on CD....RIPLEY's music oozes the bland elegance of an upscale shopping mall....the music nicely matches the Italian vistas and cool Vespas..." - Rating: B