Stars: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Nicholas Ray, Samuel Fuller, Lisa Kreuzer, Peter Lilienthal

Director: Wim Wenders

Summary: An adaptation of the novel 'Ripley's Game' by Pat Highsmith, which tells of Zimmerman, who is apparently dying of an incurable disease. In order to leave his own family with an inheritance he is coerced into a murder or two, but his task leads to a shady world of narcotics, death and disillusionment. German dialogue.

Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz), a German art-restorer, 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 cunning American gangster Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper) 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

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A thriller that's nearly devoid of thrills? That's not a complaint--it's what makes The American Friendone 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, emphasising a richly colourful 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 either Matt Damon's portrayal of the same character in The Talented Mr Ripleyor John Malkovich's in the 2003 version of Ripley's Game). The plotting is vague to the point of irrelevance; Wenders prefers to maintain the aura of mystery rather than generating any conventional suspense and expresses his affection for American movies by casting favourite directors Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller in pivotal supporting roles. The result is an intoxicating example of cinematic cross-pollination. --Jeff Shannon

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	German
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary By Writer And Director Wim Wenders And Dennis Hopper, Deleted Scenes With Commentary By Wim Wenders, Theatrical Trailer, Biographies
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1977
Release Date:	June 23, 2003
Runtime:	126 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A B W W D 07
Keywords:	American, Friend, Subtitled, General, Wide, Screen, German, Drama, Amerikanische, Freund
Genre:	Drama