A reliable indicator indeed.
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No. I am saying the artistic choices he made were incoherent, and not in an interesting way.
Possibly, but Zallian signed the work as writer/director.
Because the b&w/baroque style, and Andrew Scott as psychopath are very crtitique-able choices. Easy to comment on without too much effort.
But at least the narratives changes along with Bond. There was/is a realization, if only rudimentary, that the character needs to fit the narrative in some way.
I would not be surprised if that was Zallian’s exact pitch to Netflix: “Gonna give you an up-to-date, psychopathic Ripley, with baroque stylings. Keeping the plot, of course, for prestige sake.”
I look forward to his version of The War of the Roses, where Richard doesn’t die at Bosworth Field (allows for a second season).
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Netflix would be delighted.
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Elsewhere, I wrote at length about TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and how disappointing and off its creative decisions were. But the creme of British talent ensemble and its darling director made sure it swept award nominations and rave reviews like the best thing since sliced bread. Faithfulness to the spirit of the source material is not necessarily a requirement any longer, as long as resonance with contemporary concerns and preoccupations is present.
To some extent it’s understandable how the prism of more or less prevailing possessions is the main criterion to green lighting projects - although one would wish for greater courage and, ideally, a deeper understanding of some aspects of potential adaptation material. 
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Have to eat my hat here (again) - because even if one assumes that an interview will only reveal what it is supposed to, Zailian seems quite content with what he did.
And I bent over backwards to justify why the poor tortured writer/director must have been pressured by Netflix to do so. (Experiences with Netflix did influence my reasoning.)
So, apologies - and I will try to learn from this (I said “try”…).
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Not at all. Your post made me think about how Zallian must have taken current trends in mind as he decided to opt for b&w/baroque imagery. It just happens that in the case of Highsmith, her verbal style is closely linked to the narratives she tells. Her flat prose affords the reader access to Ripley and his mind, without getting caught up in literary flourishes. Hers is not a Gothic narrative, so, for me, going Gothic in terms of visuals requires a remaking of the narrative as well.
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Extra thought:
From the article: “Cunning cons and brutal murder ensue, all of them dramatized by the show with a suspenseful elegance and psychological complexity that does justice to its source material—and, in certain cases, adds new, incisive wrinkles to the oft-told tale.”
What new, incisive wrinkles are added? I guess that is what bugs me. Highsmith’s Ripley and his tale did not need anything added. The plain/flat prose allows the reader entry to Ripley’s mind in such a way that they are confronted with a mentality that may also be within their reach.
The baroque approach turns Ripley into an object lesson, served up for our perusal and delectation, but not for our identification.
Thanks SAF/Dustin for helping me figure this out.
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Why? Just why?
Next up: Equus: The Series, where Alan Strang doesn’t blind horses, and Martin Dysart finally consents to couples therapy with his wife.
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Being a fan of Steven Zailian I‘m thinking I should try another „Ripley“ episode…
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Have to say - what a load of rubbish Ripley is. Dreadful in every way. I’ve looked at Scott since Dublin theatre days and his range has always been poor in my humble opinion, he telegraphs too much and cannot just be… Everyone else is ACTING. I think that’s the point it feels to me like the ametuer dramatic society of a university have put on a play version of The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Why film the one that’s been filmed most often? Continuity? Do they see series two/ three/ four happening. There is an arrogance that permeates the production, we are IN B&W ! We are prestige TV.
Most disappointing thing I’ve seen in ages.
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Ripley (Netflix)
As I admitted before, I am not a Ripley connoisseur, nor have I read enough Highsmith to know whether writer/director Steven Zailian did or did not do justice to the text. It seems as if his attempt at doing another interpretation is aiming at something very different. His Ripley is older, a failure, a forger and con man who at the beginning is only one step away from being caught and therefore gladly takes on his “mission” to track down, well, another failure, only a rich one, dreaming his life away in Italy. This seems to be the main theme for Zailian: how we are actually all the same while money immediately divides us into classes, and as long as we have wealth and pretensions to be artists our lives are as difficult to reach as it is for Ripley to find his away up the many narrow and labyrinthine stairs in that Italian village at the coast.
After watching the trailer my gut reaction was: oh, that b/w cinematography just screams prestige, and casting Andrew Scott as Ripley is like casting Anthony Hopkins now as a psychopath. And that informed my bias towards the show. Its first episode seemed to confirm everything I prejudged.
Now that I watched that first episode again I discovered that - yes, it is all so deliberate and slow paced… but I actually enjoyed it, now with my expectations set aside. As another reviewer has said that this show seems like it was made in another time, and that is what I responded to the most. I started to like this expressionist lighting and the lack of any hectic, the extreme detail of the atmosphere which became almost tactile to me. And Scott, suddenly, was not the psychopath I was afraid he would play, but an underdog who tries to adapt to every situation because what else is there for him? At least in this first episode he, now, came across as… sympathetic. Likable. And that’s what Zailian might have wanted.
I know, I know. This is not the first time my second viewing has yielded an about face. I do make the mistake of having expectations clouding my judgment prematurely.
But right now, I am looking forward to watching the second episode. And while this may not be the Ripley as Highsmith intended, I think of this as another look at the material. In a way I was reminded of Joel Coen´s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which also featured very deliberate choices and an artful black & white photography. I did not expect it to be like it was - but on second thought I began to love it.
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Ripley, Episode 2
The pace picks up, Ripley insinuates himself into Dickie‘s life, and it is quite funny, in that dry Zailian way, how Dickie and Marge are revealed to be very poor artists. Ripley is not yet planning to kill, only to profit from Dickie and divide him from Marge.
In this episode I rather feel distanced from Ripley and think Dickie and Marge are quite sad souls, aimlessly wading through their spoilt lives.
And yes, Scott is becoming more Scott here. But it works for me.
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Well…
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Ripley, Episode 3
It’s getting better and better, I must say.
Summary
And this is the episode in which Ripley kills Dickie. What happens then is one of the funniest sequences Hitchcock never got to film but would have.
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The Husband Report:
When I came in last night, the television was on, and showing an extremely rich b&w image. Husband was out walking the dog.
I sat down and watched for a bit, and realized it was Ripley. Stately b&w image–characters moving with dignity.
He came back from the walk, and I asked him what he thought of it. He said it was okay. Not Ripley–too much psychopath, and not enough sociopath. He misses the Ripley charm. For him, Ripley is summarized by a line Matt Damon says: “I would rather be a fake somebody, than a real nobody.”
But he added that he is enjoying it for what it is, even if it is not the Ripley he knows and loves.
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Ripley, Episode 4
Evading, scheming, trying to be the other, slowly succeeding.
And the Caravaggio painting of David holding Goliath’s head, with the painter using his young and old face for both - well, the employment of details in the impeccably created atmosphere is either on the nose, if you feel like that, or deliberately fine tuned.
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Success is never an argument for quality. But it is interesting in itself how well „Ripley“ fared:
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