The American Friend - Wim Wenders

(aka "L'ami américain" or "The American Friend")

directed by Wim Wenders
West Germany / France 1977

Superb adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game, with Hopper as her amiably cynical hero, asked to find a non-professional for a killing or two, and - in echo of Strangers on a Train - drawing an innocent family man (Ganz) into the game by persuading him that the blood disease he is suffering from is not merely incurable but terminal. Good Highsmith, it's even better Wenders, with Ripley, an American expatriate in Germany, first seen keeping a rendezvous with a dead man, then confiding his disorientation to a tape recorder ('There is nothing to fear but fear itself... I know less and less about who I am or who anybody else is'). Ripley, in other words, becomes the quintessential Wenders hero, the loner travelling through alien lands in quest of himself, of friendship, of some meaning to life. Emerging enviously from his solitude to wonder at the radiating warmth of Ganz' family circle, he is irresistibly attracted; but he is also condemned by his own self-disgust to approach only someone on whom he can already smell the scent of death, and by destroying whom he can complete his drive to self-destruction.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 1, 1977

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DVD Comparison:

Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Anchor Bay (USA) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Pavel Borodin and Gregory Meshman for the Screen Caps!

(Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (USA) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay (UK) Region 2 - PAL	Anchor Bay (USA) Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	2:00:32 (4% PAL speedup)	2:05:36
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.84 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.26 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay (UK)
Bitrate: Anchor Bay (USA)
Audio	German (Stereo), German (Dolby Digital 5.1)	German (Dolby Digital 2.0), German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	English, none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay (UK) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary from Wim Wenders and Dennis Hopper • Deleted scenes with commentary from Wim Wenders (34:37) • Theatrical Trailer • Talent Biographies DVD Release Date: June 23, 2003 Keep case Chapters 26	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay (USA) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary from Wim Wenders and Dennis Hopper • Deleted scenes with commentary from Wim Wenders • Theatrical Trailer • Talent Biographies DVD Release Date: January 7, 2003 Keep case Chapters 27

Comments

These two releases are almost identical. Image qualities are very close. I'm not sure, but maybe the UK image is just slightly sharper anf the US image is slightly more greenish. But the difference is so minimal that I would not consider it if choosing which DVD to buy.

Both DVDs have identical sound and special features. I find US menus slightly nicer, but again it means nothing.

- Pavel Borodin

DVD Menus

(Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (USA) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Anchor Bay (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. Anchor Bay (USA) - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

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Report Card:

Image:	tie
Sound:	tie
Extras:	tie
Menu:	tie

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Anchor Bay (UK)

Region 2 - PAL

Anchor Bay (USA)
Region 0 - NTSC

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