The American Friend |  | Director: Wim Wenders
Actors: Ismael Alonso, Gérard Blain, Lou Castel, Andreas Dedecke, Jean Eustache
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.94
as of 3/14/2010 17:34 EDT details
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Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 36278
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: German (Original Language), English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 125 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: ANBD12028D
UPC: 013131202892
EAN: 0013131202892
ASIN: B00006LPC6
Theatrical Release Date: 1977
Release Date: January 7, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Jonathan zimmermann a picture framer in hamburg is diagnosed with leukemia. Ripley an american art dealer dealing in forgeries uses this fact to arrange for a mob associate to associate to recruit zimmermann as a hit man. Zimmermann agrees & descends into a nightmare world of deceit and double dealing. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 04/07/2009 Starring: Dennis Hopper Lisa Kreuzer Run time: 125 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Wim Wenders
Amazon.com
A thriller that's nearly devoid of thrills? That's not a complaint--it's what makes The American Friend one of the most stylish (and, at the time, most expensive) films to emerge from the New German Cinema of the 1970s. Loosely adapting Patricia Highsmith's mystery novel Ripley's Game, director Wim Wenders shifted priority from plotting to character, emphasizing a richly colorful and atmospheric approach to locations in Hamburg, where a picture-framer (Bruno Ganz) is lured into an assassination scheme involving a mysterious Frenchman (Gerard Blain) and the titular American friend, Tom Ripley (played by Dennis Hopper, a far cry from Matt Damon's portrayal of the same character in The Talented Mr. Ripley). The plotting is vague to the point of irrelevance; Wenders prefers to maintain the aura of mystery, as opposed to generating any conventional suspense, and expresses his affection for American movies by casting favorite directors Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller in pivotal supporting roles. The result is an intoxicating example of cinematic cross-pollination. --Jeff Shannon
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
 Ganz is great but the film is dull January 18, 2010
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
The weakest of the films involving Tom Ripley (though I haven't seen Ripley Under Ground), Wim Wender's slow moving adaptation of Ripley's Game features an impressive performance by Bruno Ganz but Dennis Hopper is mediocre as Ripley himself and during several passages the film slows to a crawl; unless you're determined to see every Ripley film or love the director's work, you'd be better suited to watch the 2002 Ripley's Game instead.
2.5/4
 Better than the Book! March 10, 2009
Bobbin (Boston, MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I know people are divided on this question but in my opinion, I think a director should alter a novel's details how he sees fit. Sometimes it works (as it does with this film) and sometimes it doesn't. What really bothers me is when a director simply transplants the exact contents of a book to the screen, as in the Harry Potter films and numerous other adaptations of best-sellers. Gone with the Wind and Clockwork Orange have considerable alterations but that's what makes them great films without taking anything away from the source material. It takes a brave and talented director to actually improve on a great book, as is the case with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Judge The American Friend on it's own merits and leave the book on the shelf.
 Ex-patriot Dennis Hopper film? December 11, 2008
R. Bagula (Lakeside, Ca United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This film is at a line between humor or drama.
Some of the action and situations remind of films like "High Risk"
in which the criminals are just bad at what they are doing.
This film is really not Dennis Hopper's best acting,
but the German acting of Bruno Ganz really makes up for that.
The ending is a surprise, but may well be the best part of the film.
There are subway rides to a death, and train rides to a killing,
but the mob in this film is just comedy relief?
The story is about an honest man tricked
by bad people into doing what he doesn't really want to do.
The film might well be an allegory on the Bush administration?
"I like to make money and I travel a lot." Tom Ripley also enjoys now and then corrupting a good man December 5, 2008
C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're thinking about a man who just wants to lead the good life, it's hard to beat that charming sociopath, Tom Ripley. Conscience is just a vestigial organ in Ripley's psychological anatomy. He enjoys the things money can buy. Just don't get between Ripley and what he wants, or underestimate his sense of due respect. His appreciation of amusing irony can cut your life short, or make it unpleasant, or both.
Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend), a German film by Wim Wenders based on Patricia Highsmith's Ripley's Game, gives us a couple of ironic pleasures of our own. First, if you're into the enjoyment of corrupting a good man by turning him into an assassin, the story is hard to beat. Second, we're able to compare this same story brought to the film by two interesting directors and to observe differences in approach and style. This version by Wenders came out in 1977 and featured Dennis Hopper as Ripley. Ripley's Game, directed by Liliana Cavani, came out in 2002 and featured John Malkovich as Ripley. Both films have merit. Both, unfortunately, sank almost without a trace. Seems a lot of people just don't have a taste for irony or the corruption of the innocent.
Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz) is a happily married man who is a picture framer. He briefly meets Tom Ripley at an auction but refuses to shake his hand. Ripley's reputation has preceded him. Jonathan has a serious blood disease and then learns he has little time left. He desperately wants to make sure his wife and young son, both of whom he loves deeply, are provided for when he dies. (Dougray Scott plays the same character, renamed Jonathan Trevanny, in Ripley's Game.) Then Zimmermann gets an offer for a great deal of money. All he has to do is murder a bad guy or two. One way or another, Tom Ripley is involved,
And things go wrong. The worst is that Jonathan and Tom develop a kind of friendship that should be morally repugnant if you're a good guy like Jonathan. For all us good guys in the audience, however, the situation is so well set up that all that follows is fascinating, creepy and unnervingly satisfying. Don't count on happy endings.
Both versions of Highsmith's novels are well worth seeing. I'd give the edge to Ripley's Game for two reasons. Wenders approaches the story, in my view, too deliberately and auteurishly. Cavani gets us going more efficiently and keeps up the pace. Since both directors wrote their own screenplays, I think Cavani simply came up with a better-crafted movie. Part of that impression is due to the actor who plays Ripley. Ripley's style, his amusement, his lack of a moral code is central, and John Malkovich is better at this kind of cool approach than Dennis Hopper. Plus, I'll admit, I've never much cared for Hopper's acting or his voice. Bruno Ganz and Dougray Scott are first rate. Ganz was and is one of Germany's most acclaimed actors. Nearly 26 years after The American Friend, Ganz starred as Adolph Hitler in Downfall (Der Untergang). It was a mesmerizing performance. One of Scott's best roles was Tom Jericho in Enigma.
This comparison business comes down to the happy chore, if you're interested, of watching both movies, enjoying them, and observing the differences, especially in the portrayals of Tom Ripley. While Ripley's Game is definitely John Malkovich's movie, The American Friend comes very close to being Bruno Ganz's. You won't be disappointed in either movie; you'll just probably enjoy one a little more than the other.
Wenders also slips in some inside jokes, something that, for me, is akin to condescension. The idea that a clever few are enjoying the thrill of knowing something not available to most is juvenile. Among the pleasures for the insiders is Wenders casting in small parts as crooks a number of directors. You may or may not enjoy seeing Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller on their last legs.
Both the video and audio on the DVD seemed muddy to me. There are several extras, including a commentary track featuring Wenders and Hopper. A good deal of the film is in English, but the subtitles when used are easy to read.
Gripping, non-stop tension July 14, 2008
Michael LaRocca (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
The tension is so palpable here that it's a character in and of itself.
Tom Ripley, as played by Dennis Hopper, feels truer to his EASY RIDER role than the character in the novel upon which the movie is based, as some critics have said. I say "feels truer" because I haven't seen the first or read the second, but I believe those critics.
But that doesn't matter. Not at all. This movie is about Jonathan Zimmerman, as played by Bruno Ganz. Every time he's on the screen, which is most of the time, you're just gripped in both your mind and your gut and you can't turn away, reach down for a drink of water, hit pause and go to the bathroom, or anything.
I'm one of those weird animals who's just as comfortable with Hollywood crap as I am with literary classics. My wife's non-American and anti-Hollywood. We were both equally blown away by this film.
And by the way, the plot isn't predictable. Don't even think that. But it does organically unfold from the characters, so it's true. Gotta love it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
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