I have read all the Ripley books and loved them. Always when seeing a film based on a book you have made up a picture of how it should be. The American Friend is very loosely based on the third book Ripley's game. Knowing that, I tried to take it just as a film on it's own, inspired by the book rather than based on it. I found it worked because even if this isn't at all as I imagined it when reading the book, I really liked this film. They have taken parts of the book and managed to turn it to a great, interesting and I think pretty different kind of thriller than the usual once. The American Friend is not better than the book but I wouldn't call it much weaker either, rather calling it different. Dennis Hopper is quite a lot different than Tom Ripley in the books and really great as the character they decided to make in this. He manages brilliantly to create the kind of character that one doesn't really know what to think of. He is mysterious, seams cold but then suddenly shows and emotional side that makes me think is it fake and what is he going to do. However Ripley is not the character which the main focus is on in this film, he is the mysterious background person. The lead is Bruno Ganz as Jonathan, which is also the character which one gets the real relation to. Ganz is great in make the right feel of the character, as viewer I feel really strong for what he is going through. As the main focus of the story he is the one I think you should strongest relate and be interested to follow. He succeeds brilliant in giving the film the real depth that it impresses with. The style of it also is something that not only works great but at least for me gives somewhat of a special feel. With many book adaptations the real interest for me resides in wanting to see how a story I already know looks like physically. Where sometimes I'm just irritated in the changes from the source material. In The American Friend I'm just focusing on what twists it itself will take. This is I shall state once again because they have brilliantly created something of it's own. The suspense scenes work great, to the level of being kind of frightening on and psychological level. Even if the suspense stuff is great I feel it is the character psychological weight that make this so gripping, the emotional depth is so impressive. It is a thriller but not the average kind. Sad rather than frightening, emotionally tough rather than suspenseful. The American Friend both amazingly impressive and interestingly different. 8/10
Review of The American Friend
