The American Friend

Suspense author Patricia Highsmith's character of Tom Ripley has been played by several actors in several films, even in a French movie.  In this version, Dennis Hopper is Ripley, in Germany pretending to be an art expert and selling paintings of a dead artist that are in fact forgeries he had created. He befriends an artists' framer Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz) and uses the man's illness to convince him to commit some killings.

He dupes Zimmerman that his illness is terminal, and allows him to accept the hits for money to provide for his wife and son after he dies. At first Zimmerman is nervous, and although he becomes more bold, he still is depressed about his fate and botches his second hit, causing an innocent man to be killed. When suspicions arise over this last crime, he and Ripley wait in a country house for the men who will be coming after them.

Ripley in this story is more an architect manipulating others to do the dirty deeds, rather than doing the deeds himself, which doesn't happen until one of the killings have complications. Zimmerman takes more of the risks, as Ripley planned. Somehow he has been charmed by Ripley and it is not only about the money he is getting for the killings. The interaction between the two in the frame shop show how charming Hopper can be.

The scene at the country home I recall being more protracted and suspenseful in the book. In this film it happened very quickly and then the two parted ways with Zimmerman again taking all the risks and consequences and Ripley is unscathed.

Making Ripley a cowboyish character was out of place with what I expected should be an invisible persona that is meant to blend in. Ganz is very good as Zimmerman but I don't think Hopper was quite right for the part.  Since the movie is titled "The AMERICAN Friend" I assume they tried to play up this aspect for an American audience, as well as casting a classic American actor in the role.

Directed by Wim Wenders and based on Highsmith's book Ripley's Game (and another film was also made of that book starring John Malkovich).  Two other Tom Ripley movies are Purple Noon, starring Alain Delon, and The Incredible Mr. Ripley, with Matt Damon as the title character.  Other adaptations of the Ripley books for film and radio have starred Barry Pepper, Jonathan Kent and Ian Hart.