Dirda notes, "Fakery, though, suffuses every page of Ripley Under Ground. Tom pretends to be Derwatt. Murchison appears to catch a plane at Orly. An effigy of Bernard is found hanging by its neck. A supposedly dead man rises from his grave. Bernard is haunted by what seems a ghost. In this counterfeit world only the pragmatic Tom thrives, for he alone recognizes that there is no distinction that matters between what is real and what is only apparently real." Adaptations Film The 1977 film The American Friend, primarily based on Ripley's Game, also uses plot elements of Ripley Under Ground. The novel was filmed in 2005: Ripley Under Ground stars Barry Pepper as Ripley and features Willem Dafoe, Alan Cumming, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. The film was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Television Parts of the novel were adapted in "A Gift for Murder", a 1982 episode of The South Bank Show. Jonathan Kent plays Ripley, and Patricia Highsmith herself cameos. Radio The 2009 BBC Radio 4 adaptation stars Ian Hart as Ripley. References 1970 American novels Novels by Patricia Highsmith American novels adapted into films Novels set in France Novels about serial killers American novels adapted into television shows Heinemann (publisher) books