Der amerikanische Freund (1977)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Patricia Highsmith (novel) and
Wim Wenders (writer)

Release Date:

24 June 1977 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller | Drama

Plot:

Tom Ripley, who deals in forged art, suggests a picture framer he knows would make a good hit man.

Plot Keywords:

Leukemia | Forgery | Cult Favorite | Auction | Terminal Illness

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Dennis Hopper	...	Tom Ripley
Bruno Ganz	...	Jonathan Zimmermann
Lisa Kreuzer	...	Marianne Zimmermann
Gérard Blain	...	Raoul Minot
Nicholas Ray	...	Derwatt
Samuel Fuller	...	The American Mobster
Peter Lilienthal	...	Marcangelo
Daniel Schmid	...	Ingraham
Jean Eustache	...	Friendly Man
Rudolf Schündler	...	Gantner
Sandy Whitelaw	...	Doctor in Paris
Lou Castel	...	Rodolphe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ismael Alonso	...	Ignatius
David Blue	...	Allan Winter
Andreas Dedecke	...	Daniel
Satya De La Manitou	...	Angie
Adolf Hansen	...	Schaffner
Rosemarie Heinikel	...	Mona
Heinz Joachim Klein	...	Dr. Gabriel
Stefan Lennert	...	Auctioneer
Heinrich Marmann	...	Man on Train
Gerty Molzen	...	Old Lady
Enzo Robutti	...	Falling man
Klaus Schichan
Axel Schiessler	...	Lippo
Wim Wenders	...	Figure Wrapped in Plaster Bandages in Ambulance

Also Known As:

L'ami américain (France)
The American Friend (USA)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

West Germany | France

Language:

German | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | France:-12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Alter Elbtunnel, St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany

Company:

Filmverlag der Autoren

Trivia:

Seven movie directors are in the cast of this film, all of them (by design) playing criminals.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Derwatt: Who is it?
Tom Ripley: It's Ripley.
Derwatt: The door is open.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Barcelona (1994)

Soundtrack:

Too Much on My Mind

Film noir and meditation are a bad combo

Wim Wenders is one of my favorite filmmakers, and like Scorsese and Tavernier, he is a world-class cinephile, as much in love with watching movies as he is making them. The problem with 'The American Friend,' I think, is similar to the problem of most contemporary films noir, which is, it's made with the knowledge it's a film noir. But it fails for a different reason than, say, 'L.A. Confidential.' The latter film is simply a big-budget period reconstruction of film noir, like something from the candy sampler box of film genres. It has no life of its own and is sort of like the model they show you when you're shopping around for a home in a new development; the furniture's well-chosen and neatly in place, but no one lives there. Other contemporary noirs, like Altman's 'The Long Goodbye,' approach the genre from a revisionist angle, and 'The American Friend' does it from the wrong angle, from a cinephile's angle.

The movie feels studied, like an academic exercise. It has no edge, no spontaneity. One can appreciate the movie, its cheeky comment on the art world, its humanism, without really enjoying it, and that's the trouble.

I've seen the movie twice and while its bold primary colors were appealing, and its meditative pace pleasurable to an extent, I found it a bit of a chore. It's interesting to see noir slowed down to a crawl, and Nicholas Ray is a delight, and surely, some sequences are involving, but the whole affair is lacking. Wenders' intensity has always been augmented by a certain lightness of touch, and that's what made the noir elements of 'Until the End of the World' a lot of fun. 'The American Friend' is too austere, though. Too muted. I thought 'Purple Noon,' René Clément's 1960 adaptation of the other Patricia Highsmith novel, was too muted the first time I watched it, but on subsequent viewings thought it to be engaging, almost musically so. Metaphysical heaviness for once bogs down a Wenders film rather than enhancing it.