Film Review: The American Friend (1977)

Now, on the second part of our Ripley adaptation duology, we have The American Friend, based on the third novel Ripley’s Game (and apparently some bits of the second, Ripley Underground, too). I’ll say right off the bat that I liked this film more than the last one. While it’s still not a top tenner for me, I thought that the tension felt more palpable and that there was more to get invested in. Our old friend Wim Wenders did a good job with this one, but before I get more into things, I’ll explain the plot.

In this story, Ripley is involved in an art forgery scam, putting up fake paintings for auction and then bidding on them to raise the prices. At one of these auctions, he meets a frame maker named Jonathan, who refuses to shake Ripley’s hand and only replies with an “I’ve heard of you.” Jonathan is living a mostly good life with a wife, son, and steady business, but unbeknownst to his family, he’s actually suffering from a potentially fatal disease (described as a “blood issue”). Ripley uses this fact to his advantage when Minot, a gangster buddy of his, asks him to take out one of Minot’s rivals. Ripley instead suggests Jonathan as a candidate and starts spreading rumors around that Jon’s condition is worse than it actually is. Thus, when Jon gets the offer, which involves a hearty sum that he could leave behind for his family, he begrudgingly accepts (after a period of consideration). He heads off to Paris, first to get a test from a different doctor (which Minot fudges the results on to keep him going with the hit), and then the inevitable shooting, which plays out relatively well, all things considered. Ripley also manages to strike up something of a friendship with Jonathan, though not revealing his underhanded scheme at first. Minot ends up contacting Jon again to take out another rival, which Ripley disapproves of when he hears about it, but Jon takes on the job anyway. Jon finds his target on a train and tries to do the deed, but the man’s bodyguard intervenes. Ripley shows up, and through a series of hijinks and close calls, they manage to dispose of both men without attracting attention. Later on, the two meet up at a café and Ripley confesses to getting Jon involved in all this. Jon is a bit put off by this, but seems to still accept Ripley as a friend, even offering to give him half the money for the hit, though Ripley refuses. Though things seem okay at the moment, Jon’s troubles are far from over. Not only is his wife starting to suspect what he’s been up to, but now the other mobsters have sent out hitmen on him as revenge (they’ve already bombed Minot’s apartment). How will Jon get out of this whole game? That’ll be for you to see. Now, let’s discuss my thoughts.

As I said in the beginning, I liked The American Friend more than Purple Noon. That film left me with a feeling of not being invested in anyone or anything that was going on, nor ever feeling any real sense of tension either. This one, on the other hand, gave us Jonathan, whose situation was far more relatable and sympathetic. His storyline isn’t super original, it’s the classic “man in a dire situation gets involved in crime to help his family” scenario, but they still generally did a good job with executing this idea. You do feel Jon’s conflict and turmoil about the whole ordeal, and you want to see him make it out okay, or at least not go down losing everything. I also think Ripley works much better in this storyline, since he’s not the main character this time around. That way, his sort of “twisted and intelligent but also petty and not quite as smart as he thinks he is” concept is able to aid the story rather than having to be the focal point of it all. Dennis Hopper plays him this time around, and definitely has a different take than Alain Delon (the actor from the last film), playing up the pettier and more psychotic sides of ol’ Tom, but I think this take works. Thinking from Jon’s perspective, it makes him feel more like the kind of guy that you don’t trust at first, but then kind of grow a liking for even with the red flags (mostly because he’s willing to make up for what he’s put you through), but later you come back around to realizing that this guy is way too toxic to be around and you need to get out while you can. In addition to the story and characters, I have to compliment the atmosphere. Wenders manages to create a tense and uncertain vibe throughout the film that helps to put you in Jon’s mindset. You feel just as conflicted, anxious, and guilty as he does, and you also get this sense of being trapped in a situation that’s being molded by things beyond yourself (or, in this case, other people). This helps to keep the thriller nature of the story going, while giving off an almost ethereal feel at times that allows this film to stand out against others of its type. Now, I will admit, I still wouldn’t call this film a favorite. I’m not sure how to articulate it exactly, but it might be just one of those things where the film has more elements that help the investment, but it still doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of really clicking with me. It might be a pacing thing, it did feel like there was downtime that lulled the experience for me (not that a thriller has to be “go, go, go” all the time, but it just didn’t seem to quite have enough to fully keep me going through these bits). So, yeah, that’s about what I thought about The American Friend. An interesting aspect of this film I want to mention before we wrap up is that it’s multilingual. Different characters speak either German, French, or English depending on their background or who they’re speaking with. Wenders would use this same sort of idea later on in Wings of Desire, and Jonathan’s actor (Bruno Ganz) would end up playing Damiel in that film. I just thought that was an interesting recurring filmography note, both in style and choice of actor.

So, yeah, I enjoyed The American Friend more than Purple Noon, but it’s not really something I would jump to see again. However, I still recommend you see this too. I think Wenders did a more interesting job with this film in comparison, and I think it would be cool for you all to see how two different directors interpret a series. I’m not sure what my next installment will be at the moment, but in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy a Patricia Highsmith duology with Purple Noon and The American Friend.