Bruno Ganz Archive

The American Friend, Blu-ray (1977/2016)

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 12, 2016 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

One of the best films by German director William Wenders. The American Friend, Blu-ray (1977/2016) Director: William Wenders Cast: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer Studio: Wm. Wenders Foundation/Janus Films/The Criterion Collection 793 [1/12/16] (Distr. by Orange Media) Video: 1.66:1 for 16×9 screen, 1080p HD color Audio: German, English & French DTS-HD MA 5.1 Subtitles: English Dubbed: French & German Extras: 2002 commentary track by Wenders & Hopper, New Wenders interview, New Ganz interview, Deleted scenes with commentary by Wenders, Theatrical trailer, Illustrated booklet with essary by author Francine Prose Length: 126 min. Rating: ****1/2 Wenders says in his interview that he wanted to make films of various books by Patricia Highsmith (who died in 1995) but they were all already optioned. Several of her novels have resulted in films, beginning with Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. Finally she gave him a new one and this is it. Wenders substantially altered the book, which is the third in the Tom Ripley series. Hopper plays Ripley and is The American Friend, and Bruno Ganz plays a naive Hamburg picture framer. (Ganz is not German but Swiss.) They are two exceptionally different protagonists. In the extras Wenders explains that at the start […]