The American Friend (1977)

Original title

Der amerikanische Freund

Directed by

Wim Wenders

Genre

drama film, crime film, neo-noir

Country

Germany, France

Runtime

2h 07m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 445 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A terminally ill picture framer in Hamburg gets drawn into a criminal plot by an American con artist. He agrees to carry out a murder for hire in exchange for money and the promise of a medical treatment.

uneasybittersweetslow-burnintrospectivetensemelancholicatmosphericambiguous

What happens

The American Friend (German: Der amerikanische Freund) is a 1977 neo-noir film written and directed by Wim Wenders, adapted from the 1974 novel Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith. It stars Dennis Hopper as career-criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmermann, a terminally ill picture framer whom Ripley coaxes into becoming an assassin. The film uses an unusual "natural" language concept: Zimmermann speaks German with his family and his doctor, but English with Ripley and while visiting Paris. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Tatort: Das stille Geschäft (1977)
• Gaslicht (1977)
• The Serpent's Egg (1977)
• Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shériff (1977)
• Grete Minde (1977)
• The Night of Saint Germain des Pres (1977)
• Tatort: Das Mädchen von gegenüber (1977)
• Death of a Corrupt Man (1977)