The movie is very surreal in its hyperrealistic visuals. It is impressive work for sure: all black-and-white, with unexpected camera angles, ultra-wide shots and changing tempo.
And the soundtrack creates tension out of the most mundane things.
What is interesting to me is that Ripley isn’t portrayed as extremely cunning. He is very greedy, often does stupid things, and killing for him, at least from my view, is more of an impulse than something planned. The only reason he can get away with what he does is that the other characters all have their own vices: the vacuous “artists,” the greedy mafioso, the lazy receptionists.
There are some interesting motifs: everyone’s obsession with the expensive pen, stairs, and of course, Caravaggio.
