Wim Wenders’ 1977 film Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend) is loosely based on the Patricia Highsmith novel Ripley’s Game, the third of her novels to feature the sociopathic character of Tom Ripley. The novel was adapted several years ago with John Malkovich in the title role, but the Wenders film stars German actor Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmerman and Dennis Hopper as Ripley.
This is perhaps one of the most inaccessible films I’ve ever seen. The film is almost all mood and atmosphere. After all, that was a primary effect of German New Wave Cinema of the 70s and 80s, of which Wenders (along with Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder) was a key director. It’s filled with opaque dialogue and lines that, upon reflection, probably served as inspiration for American independent film makers such as Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley. The most interesting lines are spoken by Ripley: “I like this room. It's got a good feel to it. It's quiet and peaceful;” and “This river reminds me of another river.” As read by Hopper, lines like these are sinister and forbidding.
A single viewing is probably not sufficient for following the story carefully. What you will get is a great sense of location as the action switches between Hamburg, Paris and New York. There’s Hamburg with its overcast skies and shipyards in the background, a setting as dreary as the subject matter of the film. New York is identified by the World Trade Towers looming in conspicuous solitude in the background as Ripley walks down the West Side Highway. And the Paris depicted is hardly the romantic postcard vision the movies normally provide. Wenders’ Paris is one in which organized crime bosses plan murder and doctors are complicit in medical deception. It’s got elements of film noir combined with a Hitchcockian thriller, which should come as no surprise as Highsmith also wrote the novel Strangers on a Train, most famously adapted by Hitchcock.
Still I’ve not said a word on the plot. This is because large sections have been left out, often making it quite difficult to follow what’s happening and why. Ripley is a con man of an art dealer selling the paintings of a supposedly dead artist at auction in Germany, then taking part of his earnings back to the artist (played by director Nicholas Ray) in his New York loft. Jonathan is a framer working in Hamburg. He gives Ripley a cold reception upon their introduction at an auction one day. Ripley learns that Jonathan suffers from a rare and fatal blood disorder and provides that information to a French gangster, Minot, who arranges for Jonathan to have an examination in Paris. As you might guess (and it’s revealed later), the examination is a sham and the results are contrived to lead Jonathan to believe his condition has worsened and death is imminent. Minot offers him enough money for his wife and son to live decent lives after he’s gone if he assassinates two people. Jonathan somewhat reluctantly agrees.
The connection between Minot and the gangsters he wants killed is never established, nor is there any moral wrestling going on in Jonathan’s mind. We’re left asking if an ordinary man could really so quickly turn from mild-mannered framer to cold-blooded murderer. Ripley eventually fills the title role by coming to Jonathan’s aid in an extended and tense sequence on a train for the second assassination.
One of the best bits of dialogue comes in an exchange between Jonathan and Ripley which may or may not reveal the true nature of their “friendship”:
Jonathan: Why did you spread this rumor that I am with one foot in the grave?
Ripley: Remember that day we were introduced at the auction? You said, "I've heard of you." You said that in a very nasty way.
Jonathan: That was all?
Ripley: Isn't that enough?
And there the conversation ends. No further explanation provided, just ambiguous, simply stated and done.
Hopper truly gives one of the most interesting performances of his career. It’s so low-key as to be almost non-existent, yet the legacy of his roles, including those that came long after The American Friend, enriches this one. Being so well-known for playing characters just this side of sane, you can’t help but see his characterization of Tom Ripley as holding back an insanity that is just on the brink of exploding forth.
This is not the Wenders film or the New Wave German Cinema film for the uninitiated. For the novice I would highly recommend Wenders’ two masterpieces, Paris, Texas and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), before moving onto this difficult and flawed gem.
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