Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.
Dennis Hopper Bruno Ganz Lisa Kreuzer Gérard Blain Nicholas Ray Samuel Fuller Peter Lilienthal Daniel Schmid Sandy Whitelaw Jean Eustache Lou Castel Andreas Dedecke David Blue Rudolf Schündler Gerty Molzen Heinz Joachim Klein Satya De La Manitou Axel Schiessler Adolf Hansen Rosemarie Heinikel Stefan Lennert Heinrich Marmann Enzo Robutti Wim Wenders
El amigo americano, L'ami américain, Wim Wenders: Amerika's Vriend in LA, 미국인 친구, 미국 친구, Den amerikanske vennen, SCAN: Draugas iš Amerikos, Med døden som innsats, Amerikkalainen ystävä, L'amico americano, L'Ami américain, Американский друг, O Amigo Americano, Ένας Αμερικάνος Φίλος, 美国朋友, Az amerikai barát, Den amerikanske ven, Американският приятел, Den amerikanske vännen, Amerikalı Arkadaşım, Amerykański przyjaciel, アメリカの友人, ამერიკელი მეგობარი, Draugas iš Amerikos, ידיד אמריקאי
France
Cannes Film Festival
USA
New York Film Festival
India
The India Tour
Denmark15
FinlandK-16
Sweden15
USANR
Germany16
France
UK
JapanG
France
Netherlands16
France
Netherlands16
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
India
Japan
Netherlands
Sweden
UK
USA
believe it or not but bruno ganz and dennis hopper are gay in this movie, and no, I will not elaborate on that.
An American sociopath teaches a thoughtful European how to rock in the underworld is a premise that could've very easily been turned into an exciting paperback thriller but is instead rendered here by Wenders in a sense of style that emphasizes a much slower, sicker existential feeling of corruption. Brutal ending, and Ganz and Hopper are incredible.
The "art" of killing. Stupendous suspense and merging of cinematic styles, and that's the thing that takes me to my main point of the film.
The most interesting debate surrounding this film is the influence of "American" values to the rest of the world through both real fictionalized media. What first caught my attention, not before, but halfway through the running time, is that the original German title, which English translation remained loyal, makes reference to the foreign, "American" influence, even if the real moral protagonist is Bruno Ganz, and not Dennis Hopper. Even under screentime criteria, this holds to be true. Nevertheless, the main name to be credited is that of Hopper's. It's not that most of the film…
It’s so important to have that one friend who you can really be your worst self with.
loved it so much more a second time around. I think the first time I was just like okay......this plot has things....happening. and this time that wasn’t so much of a concern, because the atmosphere and feeling took precedence.
and this is sort of weird but feels like the journey I wish L’Argent took me on?
but anyway this is all wrapped in a look and the feel that’s just unmatched to me.
also perfect score. love love love this score!
I love the way Wim Wenders handles violence in this film. It's so clumsy and strange looking that it becomes at once absurdly comical and also horrifying. It highlights how meaningless and weird the act of hurting another person is.
Also there's a scene where Dennis Hopper lays on a pool table taking selfies with a Polaroid and crying that feels eerily prescient.
Tom Ripley takes his Purple Noon self to Germany, and befriends a talented art picture framer. However, all is not what it appears. The art picture framer fella, Mr Zimmermann, has a dire medical condition, and doesn't have long to live. He needs to go all Heisenberg, and make some fast cash to leave for his wife and child. So, what happens when a sinister underworld baddie makes Mr Zimmermann an offer he can't refuse? Well, there's no such thing as easy money, right? The American Friend is another tale in the life of Tom Ripley. This time he's played by Dennis Hopper, under the directorial supervision of Wim Wenders, and damn, this film looks fuckin' beautiful.
Dennis Hopper looks…
Wim Wenders' neo-noir, The American Friend is an existential play disguised as a thriller. This film is just dripping with mood, tone and atmosphere. Shot with perfection by Robby Müller, it's one of the most visually pleasing movies I've ever seen. I wanted to live inside the palette of this film. Bruno Ganz gives a really beautiful performance, tinged with melancholy and Dennis Hopper as Tom Ripley was wonderfully peculiar.
Those train & subway sequences were so great.
Dennis Hopper in a cowboy hat is best Dennis Hopper.
say what you will, but what other movie has bruno ganz psychotically singing “drive my car” by the beatles
Much like a baby or dim child, I really liked this movie for its use of the color red
Wenders' play on Patricia Highsmith reminded me a lot of Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player in its defiance of genre convention: The emphasis on atmosphere over conventional plotting and payoffs, Zimmerman's comic ineptitude as a hitman, the unexpected texture in the relationship between Zimmerman and Ripley, the loaded soundtrack, the cameos by Nicholas Ray, Sam Fuller and Jean Eustache, etc. Gets a little too loosey-goosey in the final half hour or so, but one of those movies you want to live in.
