I saw The American Friend again for the first time in about
fifteen years. Before that I'd seen it five or six times. It
was my favourite movie for a while. I must say that this time
round I found it overlong and slow. My attention span has
shortened over the years, I think.
It's the story of an ordinary man who becomes a contract
killer. Picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman doesn't shake hands
when introduced to Tom Ripley, saying only, "I've heard of
you." Ripley takes it badly and gives Zimmerman's name to a
guy who wants someone killed by a killer unknown to anyone.
Zimmerman is persuaded to take on the job to provide for his
wife and child when he dies (perhaps very soon) of a blood
disease.
Some say it's unfaithful to the Highsmith novel (Ripley's
Game); some say Dennis Hopper is bizarrely miscast as Ripley.
Some say that it's a metaphor for (and I suppose criticism
of) the relationship between the U.S. and Germany. I tend to
think that the film is testimony to Wenders' love of American
movies. Hey, one critic even said "Wenders' discourse on
Hollywood is at once damning and reverential" <
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/wenders.html>.
The NYT called it "baroque"; Rene Ribic called it great
post-noir; someone else called it noir. I would say it is
noir. An innocent man is corrupted; his life is ruined and so
is that of his family.
The film is beautifully shot and visually very interesting
with its early Wenders postmodern references to film and
other means of communication, mainly the visual arts (but
also means of transportation), starting with the painter
(taken from another Highsmith novel) and the framer and going
on to the many moving picture gadgets: backlit train lamp,
vintage face-changing device and flick picture device, etc.
Many shots are actually framed by a window frame. (The film's
working title was The Frame.)
I read the book a while ago so I can't comment on departures
or even Ripley's character. I must say I prefer the kind of
strange Hopper to the really weird John Malkovitch who played
Ripley in Ripley's Game.
For a bunch of critics' remarks:
<
http://www.webyourphotos.info/books_and_more/book.php?info=B00006LPC6>
Karin
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