By refusing to explain Ripley, this gets closer to Highsmith’s character than any other film version.
The American Friend (1977)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:16
Fresh:14
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.2/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Jonathan Zimmermann, a German picture-framer, is dying of a rare blood disease. Despite his illness, the happily married Jonathan does his best to live each day to the fullest with his wife and... Jonathan Zimmermann, a German picture-framer, is dying of a rare blood disease. Despite his illness, the happily married Jonathan does his best to live each day to the fullest with his wife and child. But when Tom Ripley, a cunning American gangster, learns of Jonathan's sickness, he convinces the dying man--deeply concerned about his family's financial future--to work as a hit man for a big payoff. Will Jonathan get in over his head by making a deal that could ruin what's left of his life? German director Wim Wenders delivers a sensitive, film-noirish tribute to the American gangster film, based on the novel RIPLEY'S GAME by Patricia Highsmith. [More]
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer, Gérard Blain
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer, Gérard Blain, Nicholas Ray, Samuel Fuller
Director: Wim Wenders
Director: Wim Wenders
Screenwriter: Wim Wenders
Composer: Jurgen Knieper
Reviews for The American Friend
Superb adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game, with Hopper as her amiably cynical hero.
A gripping Hitchockian thriller based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith.
Moody and intriguing, this is one of Wenders' most accessible films, effective as a Hitchockian thriller (Strangers on a Train), existential character study, and allegory about the corruptible yet irrevrsible impact of American pop culture on Germany.
There's something cheerfully perverse about filming a thriller and then tossing out the parts that would help it make sense, but Wim Wenders has a certain success with the method.
Enquanto Hopper cria um Tom Ripley inacreditavelmente ridículo, Ganz rouba o filme, que conta com uma direção irregular de Wenders.
One of those movies that offers a nice viewing experience, but it definitely plays better when you’re watching than when you sit down for analysis.
The mood and visuals of the film carry you away from nagging questions about the plot.
Gripping 1977 American thriller from Wim Wenders that turns back on itself with deadly European irony.
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