The American Friend

Hamburg. Having lived a shady life, American Tom Ripley is involved in an art fraud/forgery scheme, where his colleague, hiding out in the US, is producing new work purported as newly found works of deceased Derwatt, thus pushing up the price at auction in the supposed limited number of Derwatt pieces in existence. Jonathan Zimmermann, who owns and operates his own framing and art restoration business, has framed the latest Derwatt pieces in his wife, Marianne Zimmermann, working at the auction house. Jonathan is suffering from a blood disease, but something that happens makes him question if his physician, Dr. Gabriel, is being totally forthright in Gabriel telling him that his disease has long been unchanged and thus his life expectancy is unknown, as such that there is no indication that he is on his deathbed. It is that same situation that makes him believe that is why someone unknown to him, Frenchman Raoul Minot, approaches him to carry out one, maybe two, assassinations of criminals, the purported selling point to leave money for Marianne and their adolescent son Daniel following his "imminent" death. While he initially dismisses Raoul's deal, Jonathan begins to contemplate carrying out the assassination(s) if only he can confirm that his illness has indeed worsened to the point of he imminently dying. Beyond Jonathan trying to confirm his terminal diagnosis, what happens is affected by the actual source of the leak of Jonathan's medical history to Raoul, it being Tom who "owed" Raoul and who Jonathan only knows casually, and Marianne feeling that Jonathan in turn is hiding something from her.