“Now that’s The Music Talking”: Musical Narratology, Fetishistic Emblems And Authentic Self-Representation in Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr Ripley

Abstract

One of the many ways in which Anthony Minghella explores emotions and character motivations is by employing music as a significant subtextual and diegetic tool that creates a paralinguistic vision of personal spaces and attractions. The Talented Mr Ripley is the story of a young man who is driven by his belief that it is ‘better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody’ (Minghella 140), and whose tragic desire to authenticate his life by impersonating others ultimately leaves him ‘alone, in a nightmare of his own making’ (Minghella 142). A closeted homosexual, Ripley (Matt Damon) is drawn to two men in the film, both of whom are intrinsically associated with music.