Rating 4.8/5.0
Where 5.0 is the best first film ever by any director
Wim Wenders made the poignant Paris, Texas. Its a 137 minute poem - it is slow, its moody and it is definitely one of the most thought provoking films I have seen. Since then, I have always been wary of watching a Wenders film - they are not entertainers in the conventional sense, they force you to think, to contemplate and they provoke sadness - his films stay with you as symbols, as a burden of what you can't fully comprehend.
The American Friend is a crime/psychological thriller adapted from Particia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game. The real suspense in the film is not what will happen but whether the viewer will ever be able to unravel the true reasons for the way the characters in the film behave and react to situations - it makes the viewer think about what drives the films character to do what they do - What are they thinking? Why are they changing? Is it compulsive behavior or does it have a deeper meaning? Wenders leaves hints through the film and its up to us to intepret it.
I watched three films in between jobs - The Next Three Days (2010), Army of Shadows (1969) and this one. The Next Three Days is a well made thriller anchored by Russell Crowe's controlled performance, Army of Shaodows is a WW II French Resistance film - it takes you back to the world where freedom was the only reason to live and to die for. Both of these are recommended viewing.
Imdb link here
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