The story is based on one of Highsmith's Ripley novels and remains faithful to the writer's regularly recurring motif: the meticulously crafted psychological framework of gradually drifting into criminality. (Highsmith's novels have been made into films by more than 40 directors, ranging from Hitchcock to Adrien Lyne.) A falsified medical test pushes the protagonist of the story, the terminally ill picture framer/restorer Jonathan Zimmermann, into a gangster war, and then into murder. However, The American Friend is a much more complicated motion picture than this. From several points of view. Cinematographer Robby Müller, who collaborated with Wenders on several of his works, tells micro-stories within the film with his close-ups that sometimes turn into an attractive whole. And the little world revealed by the camera is populated by furnishings and props that refer to filmmaking and the art of creating images itself. Infusing the film with its unique fragrance is Americanness, from Ripley's car and hat to the soundtrack, in which one of the theme songs from Easy Rider suddenly pops up. Anyone looking for an action movie will be disappointed. The gut-wrenching tensions of The American Friend are produced internally — both inside the characters and within the viewers.

In German, with Hungarian subtitles.
The discussions before and after the screening will be conducted in Hungarian.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest