1977
Director:
Wim Wenders
Screenplay:
Wim Wenders based on the novel "Ripley's Game" by P. Highsmith
Director
of Photography:
Robby Müller
Editor:
Peter Przygodda
Music:
Jürgen Knieper
Production
Design:
Heidi Lüdi
Cast:
Bruno Ganz
Dennis Hopper
Lisa Kreuzer
Gérard Blain
Guest
Cast
Appearances:
Nicholas Ray
Samuel Fuller
Peter Lilienthal
Daniel Schmid
Jean Eustache
Sandy Whitelaw
Lou Castel
Festivals/Awards:
1977 German Critics Prize
1978 German Film Prize in Gold for Director und Editor
1978 German Film Prize in Silver for Production
Producer:
Wim Wenders
Production:
Road Movies Filmproduktion/Berlin Wim Wenders Produktion Les
Films du Losange/Paris
Length:
126 min.
Format:
35mm Colour
Original Title:
Der Americkanische Freund
Original
Language:
German/English |
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Today
a cult film, The American Friend is based on the novel "Ripley's
Game" by Patricia Highsmith and won the German Critics
Prize in 1977. Frame maker Jonathan (Bruno Ganz) believes he
is dying from a blood disease.
Jonathan's
American friend, displaced cowboy Ripley (Dennis Hopper), decides
to use his illness to his advantage.
Ripley
introduces him to a gangster who proposes to the dying man that
he should become a professional mob assassin, assuring a large
legacy for his wife and children. Since he is facing death anyway,
what has he to lose?
Ripley
had originally intended to allow Jonathan to do the dirty work
that he didn't feel like doing, but has second thoughts when
he becomes friends with the doomed man.
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