Found: Black & White And A Little Bit Noir.

This week’s Found is like one of those old riddles: “What’s black and white and…” — and in this case, it’s a little bit noir. You see, I intensely binge-watched Ripley, the recent TV series adaption based on the 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, on Netflix over the weekend, and I literally cannot get it out of my mind. It stars ‘Hot Priest’ Andrew Scott, Dakota Fanning, and Johnny Flynn, is filmed all over Italy and shot entirely in very dramatic black and white, which adds to the movie’s shadowy mood and edgy tension. And it’s so cinematically inspiring, I think you could pause any frame of the film and you’d have yourself a stunning still photograph.

The historic locations and interiors are so beautiful and have inspired me so much that I’ve written this post with the film as my muse. It’s quite different from the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley (which I randomly also just rewatched), but in a way in which each is equally worthy of a viewing. I’d start with the original film and end with the Netflix series Ripley. I’m not a film critic, but one of the things I love about the latter is how much more savvy this Marge is and how this Dickie Greenleaf appears to be much more naive than Jude Law’s earlier snarky version of Dickie. Both are both entertaining and wanderlust-provoking. I’m heading to Rome in late August this year (more on that soon), so I was especially enamored with those dreamy Italian locations. Note: Just after completing this post, I discovered there’s yet another adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s thriller, Plein Soleil (or Purple Noon), made in 1960, starring Alain Delon and which looks closer to 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley and well worth a watch, too — it’s currently streaming on The Criterion Channel, so you’re in luck.

Cinematic Black & White.

Like Ripley, I’ve always had a love affair with black-and-white film noir. In interiors, as well — the monochromatic tones add a vintage-modern touch to rooms that often feel pretty sophisticated but also quite effortlessly chic. It got me thinking about how Tom Ripley might decorate his lair in today’s world. I think possibly a well-curated blend of vintage pieces, contemporary natural wood furnishings, and lots of contrasty black and white — a look that inspires me endlessly because you almost never finish decorating and instead continue to add to the unplanned but intriguing mix.