The American Friend (1977)
"Der amerikanische Freund" (original title)

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

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Patricia Highsmith (novel), Wim Wenders

Stars:

Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer

6 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Hopper	...	Tom Ripley
Bruno Ganz	...	Jonathan Zimmermann
Lisa Kreuzer	...	Marianne Zimmermann
Gérard Blain	...	Raoul Minot
Nicholas Ray	...	Derwatt
Samuel Fuller	...	Der Amerikaner
Peter Lilienthal	...	Marcangelo
Daniel Schmid	...	Igraham
Sandy Whitelaw	...	Arzt in Paris
Jean Eustache	...	Freundlicher Mann
Lou Castel	...	Rodolphe
Andreas Dedecke	...	Daniel
David Blue	...	Allan Winter
Stefan Lennert	...	Auktionator
Rudolf Schündler	...	Gantner

Storyline

Tom Ripley has a sweet deal with an art forger. The forger creates the paintings; Tom sells them. But another criminal business associate wants Tom to go in for an even riskier enterprise: murder. Tom suggests his associate ask a local picture framer instead. That man has a fatal disease, or so it's rumored. More, he has a wife and kid that surely he wouldn't want to leave penniless. Let this picture framer be a hit man, and no one will suspect. The terminally ill craftsman may agree to the misdeed, and several more, but he'll end up needing Tom Ripley in a pinch.

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Plot Keywords:

leukemia | forgery | volkswagen beetle | assassination | neo noir | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller | Drama

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Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

German English French

Release Date:

24 June 1977 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The American Friend

Filming Locations:

Alter Elbtunnel, St. Pauli, Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Filmverlag der Autoren, Les Films du Losange

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scenes featuring Ripley's housekeeper were removed to suggest that he lives alone.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl"
The Kinks

User Reviews

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.