Film 360
Essay 3
Instructor: Todd Decker
Summer Sun
04.21.2025
Tracing Relationships Through Song: Compiled Music in The Talented Mr. Ripley
“Hey, you like Jazz. Oh! this is the best, Baker, Rollins…”
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), directed by Anthony Minghella, tells the story of a
young underachiever named Tom Ripley, who is sent to Italy to persuade Dickie Greenleaf, a
rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, to return to New York. As a series of events unfolds, Tom
Ripley accidentally kills Dickie and ends up impersonating him for a period of time. The second
half of the film follows Tom’s efforts to maintain his lies, using his particular talents: “forging
signatures, telling lies, impersonating practically anyone.” In addition to the central figures of
Tom Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf, other characters such as Dickie’s girlfriend Marge Sherwood,
his secret Italian lover Silvana, and Tom’s ambiguous acquaintances Meredith and Peter also
help drive the plot forward. The story develops largely through the shifting relationships among
these characters. This paper will dig deeper into the evolution of these relationships through
specifically on the role of compiled music tracks—particularly compiled jazz pieces.
At the very beginning of the movie [00:18:50], Tom Ripley tries to get the attention of
Dickie Greenleaf, an absolute jazz lover, by “accidentally” dropping a few jazz albums on the
ground. The three albums he intentionally drops—Charlie Parker’s Bird (1988), Chet Baker’s
Chet Baker Sings (1954), and Sonny Rollins Quartet’s Tenor Madness (1956)—successfully
catch Dickie’s interest. Unsurprisingly, the elements of these albums are later reflected in the
film: for instance, Dickie’s sailboat is named Bird after Charlie Parker’s album. Moreover,
compiled tracks from these artists are featured throughout the movie, including “My Funny
Valentine” from Chet Baker Sings, “Tenor Madness” and “Pent-Up House” by Sonny Rollins,
and “Ko-Ko” by Charlie Parker. In addition to these musicians, the film also incorporates
compiled tracks from other 1950s iconic jazz players, such as Miles Davis’s “Nature Boy” and
“Four,” and Dizzy Gillespie’s “The Champ.” Each compiled jazz track is intentionally placed at
specific scenes for a narrative purpose, often to reveal the relationships between characters.
This paper will focus on four compiled jazz tracks that reflect key character relationships
on screen: “My Funny Valentine”—the love triangle between Dickie, Tom, Marge, and Silvana;
“Nature Boy” and “May I?”—the ambiguous relationship between Dickie and Tom; and “You
Don’t Know What Love Is”—the ending track that comments on Tom’s relationships with Peter
and Dickie.
My Funny Valentine — Dickie, Tom, Marge, Silvana
“Each day is Valentine’s Day”
Spanning from [00:26:50] to [00:29:10], “My Funny Valentine,” performed by Tom
Ripley (Matt Damon), begins its pre-lap over the scene of Dickie and Marge kissing on the
sailboat, setting the tone for a romantic montage involving three characters who are all
romantically connected to Dickie on some level: his girlfriend Marge, his secret lover Silvana,
and his friend Tom Ripley. The romantic swing rhythm and lyrics like “you make me smile with
my heart” could be interpreted as applying to each of the three characters’ relationships with
Dickie.
For Marge, Dickie played “My Funny Valentine” for her the first day they met, and she is
visibly smiling with genuine affection while joking with him during the montage. For Silvana, at
[28:08], the lyric “you make me smile” matches her interaction with Dickie, shown through a
close-up of her smiling at him. For Tom, the montage highlights several intimate moments with
Dickie, such as the scooter scene and the diegetic scene of Tom and Dickie playing “My Funny
Valentine” together at the jazz bar. Beyond showcasing individual relationships, the montage
subtly reveals tensions between Marge, Silvana, and Tom when Dickie is absent, hinting at the
complex love triangle (or even quadrangle) forming among the four characters. Thus, “My
Funny Valentine” becomes significant for all three characters’ emotional ties to Dickie.
Nature Boy — Dickie, Tom
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”
Spanning from [00:31:20] to [00:32:45], “Nature Boy,” performed by the Miles Davis
Quintet, is used during the highly charged bath scene between Dickie and Tom. Although this
version is purely instrumental, the original song—written by Eden Ahbez and first performed by
Nat King Cole—has lyrics that deepen the emotional context. The scene is already sensual in
tone, and Miles Davis’s trumpet adds a layer of intimacy and seduction. The lyrical content of
the original version subtly mirrors the emotional tension between Dickie and Tom.
As the lyrics go, “A little shy and sad of eye,” we witness the ambiguous tension from
Tom’s side, especially through his longing, dreamy gaze in close-up shots. Throughout the
scene, Tom tests boundaries by suggesting they share a bath—his way of seeking greater
intimacy with Dickie, and perhaps hoping to receive that intimacy in return. This desire echoes
the famous line from the song: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved
in return.” Visually, the scene presents Dickie through Tom’s eyes, with close-ups of Dickie’s
hands and face, emphasizing Tom’s infatuation. Tom appears to be the “enchanted boy” in the
song—lost in fantasy, wandering emotionally far from reality, as in the lyric: “he wandered very
far, very far, over land and sea.” The bath scene thus serves as the film’s first clear hint of the
sexual tension between the two men. “Nature Boy” is a fitting musical choice, encapsulating
Tom’s desire for love and acceptance—and foreshadowing the later violence that stems from his
unreciprocated longing.
May I? — Dickie, Tom
“May I with your very kind permission.
Tell you that my one ambition is to share a love affair with you?”
Spanning from [00:37:30] to [00:38:00], “May I?,” performed by Bing Crosby, is used as
part of the score, beginning as a pre-lapped cue at the railway station and later becoming diegetic
as Tom sings along with it until Dickie interrupts him. This scene highlights Tom’s growing
affection for Dickie as he puts on Dickie’s clothes and dances in a fantasy. The lyrics themselves
could be a straightforward reflection of Tom’s feelings toward Dickie. In particular, Tom sings
the line, “May I be the only one to say that I really fell in love the day I first set eyes on you.”
From my point of view, Tom’s affection for Dickie is complex: it consists both of a
desire to become Dickie and a romantic attraction to him, with the desire to become Dickie
arguably playing a greater role overall. Although “May I?” is clearly a love song, expressing the
aspect of Tom that may long for a romantic affair with Dickie, the scene itself visually focuses
on Tom mimicking Dickie’s appearance. Thus, the combination of the musical and visual
elements presents Tom’s affection as both admiration and romantic longing.
You Don’t Know What Love Is — Tom, Peter, Dickie
“Until you’ve loved a love you’ve had to lost”
After the chilling final scene in which Tom Ripley kills his friend Peter—who is in love
with him—for the sake of preserving his false identity, the ending track “You Don’t Know What
Love Is,” performed by John Martyn and The Guy Barker Quintet, serves as the film’s closing
musical cue, the final compiled track we hear.
The lyrics themselves act as a form of irony or sarcasm directed at Tom: lines such as
“you have loved a love you had to lose,” “until you’ve kissed and had to pay the cost,” and “until
you’ve flipped your heart and you have lost” all resonate with Tom’s relationships. The “loved”
and “flipped heart” may refer to his feelings toward Dickie, while “a love had to lose” and “pay
the cost” could allude to Peter. The song provides a general summary of Tom’s complicated ties
with both characters, but also serves as a bitter commentary on his actions. Tom’s affection for
Dickie ultimately led to Dickie’s death, just as Peter’s affection for Tom ended in Peter’s death.
In the end, Tom truly does not know what love is—killing those who loved him purely for his
own self-preservation.
Through its carefully selected compiled jazz tracks, The Talented Mr. Ripley uses music
not merely as background atmosphere, but as a narrative tool to reveal the shifting relationships
between characters. Songs like “My Funny Valentine,” “Nature Boy,” “May I?,” and “You
Don’t Know What Love Is” highlight the complex emotional ties—romantic, platonic, and
manipulative—that develop among the characters. Each track complements the visual
storytelling, offering deeper insight into how these bonds form, evolve, and ultimately unravel.
In this way, the compiled music functions as an invisible narrator—one that both foreshadows
and reflects the relationships at the heart of the film.
