#793: WENDERS, Wim: The American Friend (1977)
WENDERS, Wim (Germany)
Based on the novel Ripley’s Game by Patricia Highsmith.
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by author Francine Prose.
Commentary
From 2002 featuring Wenders and actor Hopper.
With Wenders.
The American Friend [1977]
Spine #793
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Wim Wenders pays loving homage to rough-and-tumble Hollywood film noir with The American Friend, a loose adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game. Dennis Hopper oozes quirky menace as an amoral American art dealer who entangles a terminally ill German everyman, played by Bruno Ganz, in a seedy criminal underworld as revenge for a personal slight — but when the two become embroiled in an ever-deepening murder plot, they form an unlikely bond. Filmed on location in Hamburg and Paris, with some scenes shot in grimy, late-seventies New York City, Wender's international breakout is a stripped-down crime story that mixes West German and American film flavors, and it features cameos by filmmakers Jean Eustache, Samuel Fuller, and Nicholas Ray.
126 minutes
Color
Color
5.1 Surround
in English, French, and German
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2016
Director/Writers
Based on the novel Ripley’s Game by Patricia Highsmith.
Screenplay by Wim Wenders.
Wenders was 32 when he directed The American Friend.
Other Wenders films in the Collection:
#814: Alice In The Cities (1974)
#815: Wrong Move (1975)
#816: Kings Of The Road (1976)
#501: Paris, Texas (1984)
#490: Wings Of Desire (1987)
#1007: Until The End Of The World (1991)
#866: Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
#644: Pina (2011)
#1226: Perfect Days (2023)
The Film
Other Wenders films in the Collection:
#814: Alice In The Cities (1974)
#815: Wrong Move (1975)
#816: Kings Of The Road (1976)
#501: Paris, Texas (1984)
#490: Wings Of Desire (1987)
#1007: Until The End Of The World (1991)
#866: Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
#644: Pina (2011)
#1226: Perfect Days (2023)
The Film
Wenders takes a slightly uncontrollable ride over one of Patricia Highsmith’s five “Tom Ripley” novels, casting Dennis Hopper as Ripley (his first choice — John Cassavetes — turned it down).
Alain Delon he’s not (see Purple Noon [1960] {Spine #637}); but somehow Hopper makes it work, perhaps because Bruno Ganz is so good as Jonathan Zimmermann, his friend and foil.
Wenders casts seven different directors as actors in the film — mostly bad guys:
- Hopper
- Gérard Blain (Raoul Minot)
- Nicholas Ray (Pogash/Derwatt)
- Samuel Fuller (The American)
- Peter Lilienthal (Marcangelo)
- Jean Eustache (Friendly man/puts a bandage on Ripley’s head in the café)
- Daniel Scmid (Igraham)
Wenders is certainly a collaborative creator: his regular DP — Robby Müller — is brilliant and innovative, and his composer Jürgen Knieper keeps things taut at all the right times.
It's no Purple Noon, but still satisfying …
Film Rating (0-60):
54
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by author Francine Prose.
“Images and scenes stay with us, layering over our memories of the Highsmith novel, forming a unique pentimento. Wenders wrote, ‘her novels are really all about truth, in a more existential way than just right or wrong. They are about little lies that lead to big disasters. As I am really obsessed with the idea of truth and beauty being identical notions, you can imagine I was attracted by Highsmith’s own preoccupations.’ Like Highsmith, Wenders has always been preoccupied with nationality, with the differences between Americans and Europeans, and with the effects of place. But above all, truth and beauty are what he has gone for and achieved in this stylish thriller, really and truly noir in its power to make us feel that we are watching something epic and spiritual play out in a very dark way, on a fast European train.”
Commentary
From 2002 featuring Wenders and actor Hopper.
- A mutual admiration society.
- Ganz and Hopper got into a fistfight. After that, they got along fine.
- Patricia Highsmith gave him the rights to the unpublished Ripley’s Game after the persistent Wenders tried and failed to get the rights to other already published work.
- Highsmith saw a final cut in a screening room and disliked Wender’s portrayal of Tom Ripley. She later saw it with an audience and completely changed her mind.
- Wenders first multi-language film; the three cities — Hamburg, Paris, and New York — all bleed together as one.
- Ripley tells Zimmermann that he’s going to bring The Beatles back to Hamburg.
With Wenders.
Details about the shooting; about his relationship with Fuller, etc.
Interview 2
With actor Ganz.
Interview 2
With actor Ganz.
Ganz talks honestly about the initial hostility between him and Hopper, and how this was his first film not adapted from the theatre. He seems very comfortable in his own bones.
Deleted scenes
With audio commentary by Wenders.
35 minutes of deleted scenes and short cuts. The main thing lost is Marianne (Lisa Kreuzer)’s job dubbing films.
Trailer
An excellent trailer — gives no plot points away, you only see slivers of action. Would whet your appetite to see the film.
Extras Rating (0-40):
Deleted scenes
With audio commentary by Wenders.
35 minutes of deleted scenes and short cuts. The main thing lost is Marianne (Lisa Kreuzer)’s job dubbing films.
Trailer
An excellent trailer — gives no plot points away, you only see slivers of action. Would whet your appetite to see the film.
Extras Rating (0-40):
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