Overview
The American Friend (1977)Postwar German Cinema
Wim Wenders pays loving homage to rough-and-tumble Hollywood film noir with The American Friend, a loose adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel Ripley’s Game. Dennis Hopper oozes quirky menace as an amoral American art dealer who entangles a terminally ill German everyman, played by Bruno Ganz, in a seedy criminal underworld as revenge for a personal slight—but when the two become embroiled in an ever-deepening murder plot, they form an unlikely bond.
Sponsored by the Meg and John P. Brogan Endowment for Classic Cinema. Co-presented by Nanovic Institute for European Studies.
