The American Friend | |
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![]() German film poster | |
German | Der amerikanische Freund |
Directed by | Wim Wenders |
Written by | Wim Wenders |
Based on | Ripley's Game 1974 novel by Patricia Highsmith |
Produced by | Wim Wenders |
Starring | Dennis Hopper Bruno Ganz Lisa Kreuzer Gérard Blain |
Cinematography | Robby Müller |
Edited by | Peter Przygodda |
Music by | Jürgen Knieper |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Filmverlag der Autoren |
Release dates | |
Running time | 127 minutes |
Countries | West Germany France |
Languages | German English |
Budget | 3 million DEM |
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.