Wim Wenders

The American Friend

The American Friend

Wim Wenders pays loving homage to rough-and-tumble Hollywood film noir with The American Friend, a loose adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Ripley’s Game. Dennis Hopper oozes quirky menace as an amoral American art dealer who entangles a terminally ill German everyman, played by Bruno Ganz, in a seedy criminal underworld as revenge for a personal slight—but when the two become embroiled in an ever-deepening murder plot, they form an unlikely bond. Filmed on location in Hamburg and Paris, with some scenes shot in grimy, late-seventies New York City, Wenders’s international breakout is a stripped-down crime story that mixes West German and American film flavors, and it features cameos by filmmakers Jean Eustache, Samuel Fuller, and Nicholas Ray.

Film Info

  • Germany
  • 1977
  • 126 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • English, French, German
  • Spine #793

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, commissioned by the Wim Wenders Stiftung | A Foundation and supervised by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 2002 featuring Wenders and actor Dennis Hopper
  • New interview with Wenders
  • New interview with actor Bruno Ganz
  • Deleted scenes with audio commentary by Wenders
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by author Francine Prose

    New cover by Michael Boland


Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, commissioned by the Wim Wenders Stiftung | A Foundation and supervised by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 2002 featuring Wenders and actor Dennis Hopper
  • New interview with Wenders
  • New interview with actor Bruno Ganz
  • Deleted scenes with audio commentary by Wenders
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by author Francine Prose

    New cover by Michael Boland


The American Friend
Cast
Dennis Hopper
Tom Ripley
Bruno Ganz
Jonathan Zimmermann
Gérard Blain
Raoul Minot
Nicholas Ray
Pogash/Derwatt
Samuel Fuller
The American
Daniel Schmid
Igraham
Jean Eustache
Friendly man
Lisa Kreuzer
Marianne Zimmermann
Peter Lilienthal
Marcangelo
Sandy Whitelaw
Doctor
Lou Cassel
Rodolphe
Credits
Director
Wim Wenders
Screenplay by
Wim Wenders
Based upon the novel Ripley’s Game by
Patricia Highsmith
Produced by
Wim Wenders
Director of photography
Robby Müller
Editor
Peter Przygodda
Music by
Jürgen Knieper
Produced by
Renée Gundelach
Production design
Heidi Lüdi
Production design
Toni Lüdi
Special effects by
Theo Nischwitz
Songs
The Kinks

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