The American Friend - Plot

Plot

Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper) is a wealthy American living comfortably in Hamburg, Germany. He is involved in an artwork forgery scheme, in which he appears at auctions to bid on forged paintings produced by an accomplice, artificially driving up the price. At one of these auctions, he is introduced to Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz), a picture framer who is dying of a rare and unspecified blood disease. Jonathan refuses to shake Tom's hand when introduced, coldly saying, "I've heard of you" before walking away.

Tom is approached by an associate, a French criminal named Raoul Minot (Gérard Blain), who asks Tom if he can commit the murder of a rival gangster. Tom turns him down: "Listen. I know rock musicians. I know lawyers. I know art dealers, pimps, politicians. But murder? I don't want to be involved. Period." Minot presses Tom for an alternate solution, as he claims Tom owes him for something. Tom's idea is to spread rumors about Jonathan's illness taking a turn for the worse to make him think he has little to lose, and then for Minot to approach him with the offer to commit an assassination for a great deal of money that he can put away for his wife and son after he dies.

Jonathan initially turns Minot down, but becomes greatly distressed by the thought that he may not have long to live. He agrees to come to France to get a second medical opinion on his illness, arranged by Minot, and Minot arranges to have the results altered to make it look as if Jonathan is more ill than he actually is and hasn't long to live. The report upsets Jonathan even more, and in his grief, he agrees to commit the murder, a shooting in a subway station. Tom visits Jonathan in his shop before and after the shooting to get a picture framed, without Jonathan knowing Tom's involvement in the scheme, and the two begin to form a bond.

Minot visits Tom again, telling of his satisfaction with Jonathan's performance. Tom, who has become somewhat attached to Jonathan, is appalled when Minot says he plans to use Jonathan for another murder of a rival gangster, this time on a moving train using a garrote. Jonathan agrees to the second murder but is not convinced he'll survive the ordeal, telling Minot to make sure his wife gets the money regardless of what happens to him. Before he can go through with it, however, Tom appears on the train and executes the target himself, along with a bodyguard.

Back home, Tom and Jonathan meet and Tom confesses to getting Jonathan involved in the murder scheme for insulting him at the artwork auction, but he declines Jonathan's offer to keep the money for the second hit. When Jonathan asks Tom what he wants for helping on the train, Tom says he wants nothing from Jonathan and adds, "I would like to be your friend, but friendship isn't possible." Tom advises Jonathan to tell Minot that he did the job on the train alone.

Tom is later contacted by Jonathan, who is distressed by a couple of problems. First, his wife is becoming increasingly suspicious – she does not believe the cover stories he has been telling her about his trips and the money he has been receiving, and she believes Tom is somehow involved and corrupting him. Second, he has been receiving mysterious phone calls and believes the Mafia is trying to find them. Minot visits Jonathan with news that his flat was recently bombed. Tom picks up Jonathan and they drive to his mansion, where they wait for assassins to appear.

The gunmen are ambushed and killed by Tom and Jonathan. Tom piles their bodies into the ambulance in which they arrived, and plans for he and Jonathan to drive a great distance before disposing of the bodies. Jonathan's wife appears as they are making their plans – she confronts Jonathan and tells him that he was deceived by the altered medical reports. Tom approaches her and explains that she and her husband can settle matters later, but for now, they need to dispose of the bodies.

They drive to the sea, Tom in the ambulance and Mrs. Zimmermann driving her husband in their car, and Tom douses the ambulance with gasoline and sets fire to it on the beach, yelling in triumph over his enemies as he does so. Watching him, Jonathan ushers his wife into the car and drives away, abandoning Tom on the beach. As he drives away, he tells his wife that one day she'll have to explain everything to their son. He loses consciousness and dies on the side of the road. Tom is seen sitting by the dock on the beach, smiling and saying, "We made it anyway, Jonathan. Be careful."