Country: USA
Year: 1982
Duration: 98'


San Francisco, 1928. Dashiel Hammett, who has tuberculosis, is an alcoholic and a diehard smoker, makes a living by writing detective stories. One day he receives a visit from a former colleague at the Pinkerton agency, the detective Jimmy Ryan, who asks for Hammett’s help in finding a Chinese girl who has disappeared. At first he is reluctant, but he eventually lets himself be involved in the matter; he soon finds himself on his own in his Chinatown investigation. Mixed up in an affair that includes city bigwigs and organized crime, he faces countless adventures but, just like in one of his novels, all he can do is get to the bottom of the story.

“Now that the film is finished, I can say that it is the product of a group effort that is much bigger and very different from any other film of mine. Even filming it electronically was a different experience. It’s hard to say what percentage of Hammett is mine and how much belongs to the others. It’s the American Studio System that’s different. But this is exactly why it was very interesting.”

Biography

film director

Wim Wenders

After high school enrolled first at the faculty of medicine, then at the faculty of philosophy. But he eventually abandoned his studies and moved to Paris, where he dedicated himself to painting. He unsuccessfully attempted to enroll at Paris’ Idhec, then moved back to Germany in 1967, where he studied at the new Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich and also wrote for various film magazines. Between 1967 and 1969 he made his first short films, which already presented the themes and forms of his future filmography, like his careful attention to images, his love of rock music and the theme of travel. In 1969 he made his graduating film, Summer in the City, which detailed and articulated the themes of his poetics. His first feature film, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971), brought him to the attention of international critique and in 1974 he began his “famous road trilogy,” which through the films Alice in the Cities (1974), False Movement (1975) and Kings of the Road (1976) further developed the theme of travel. By now a confirmed filmmaker, he shot The American Friend (1977) before moving to the United States to film the last days of Nicholas Ray in Lighting over Water (1980). In 1982 he won the Leone d’oro in Venice with The State of Things, which he shot in a working break during the complex production of the Hollywood film Hammett (1982), produced by Francis Coppola. In 1984 his film Paris, Texas, a new reflection on travel and America, won him the Palme d’or in Cannes. In 1987, after a side trip to Japan with Tokyo-Ga (1985), a documentary about Tokyo and Ozu, he returned to Europe and made Wings of Desire (1987). In 1991 he made Until the End of the World, a vast road movie that was distorted by distribution requirements (but whose director’s cut Wenders re-edited in 2004) and in 1993 Faraway, So Close!, a sequel to Wings of Desire that won the Jury’s Grand Prize in Cannes. In 1995, with his friend and maestro Michelangelo Antonioni, he filmed Beyond the Clouds, followed by Lisbon Story. After The End of Violence (1997), in 1998 he filmed his encounter with Ry Cooder and Cuban music, creating an extraordinarily successful documentary, Buena Vista Social Club. He returned to his beloved America for his next films: The Million Dollar Hotel (2001), whose subject was written by Bono, The Soul of a Man (2002), an episode of Martin Scorsese’s project The Blues, Land of Plenty (2004), a reflection on the post-9-11 period, and Don’t Come Knocking (2005), another collaboration with Sam Shepard, after Paris, Texas.

FILMOGRAFIA

Schauplätze (cm, 1967), Klappenfilm (cm, 1967), Victor I (cm, 1968), Same Player Shoots Again (1968), Silver City (cm, 1968), Polizeifilm (cm, 1968), Alabama (2000 Light Years) (cm, 1968), 3 Amerikanische LP’s (cm, 1969), Summer in the City (1970), Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (Prima del calcio di rigore, 1971), Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe (La lettera scarlatta, 1972), Alice in den Städten (Alice nelle città, 1974), «Ein Haus für uns» (ep. Aus der Familie der Panzerechsen; ep. Die Insel, cm, TV, 1974), Falsche Bewegung (Falso movimento, 1975), Im Lauf der Zeit (Nel corso del tempo, 1976), Der Amerikanische Freund (L’amico americano, 1977), Nick’s Film - Lightning Over Water (Nick’s Movie - Lampi sull’acqua, doc., 1980), Hammett (Hammett - Indagine a Chinatown, 1981), Der Stand der Dinge (Lo stato delle cose, 1982), Reverse Angle: NYC March ’82 (cm, doc., 1982), Chambre 666 - Cannes May ’82 (mm, doc., 1982), Paris, Texas (id., 1984), Tokyo-Ga (id., doc., 1985), Der Himmel über Berlin (Il cielo sopra Berlino, 1987), Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten (Appunti di viaggio su moda e città, doc., 1989), Bis ans Ende der Welt (Fino alla fine del mondo, 1991), Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring (Arisha, l’orso e l’anello di pietra, mm, 1992), In weiter Ferne, so nah! (Così lontano così vicino!, 1993), Lisbon Story (id., 1994), Al di là delle nuvole (1995), Lumière et compagnie (ep. Berlin, cm, 1995), Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky (I fratelli Skladanowsky, 1996), The End of Violence (Crimini invisibili, 1997), Willie Nelson at the Teatro (mm, doc., 1998), Buena Vista Social Club (id., 1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (id., 1999), Viel passiert. Der BAP Film (doc., 2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (ep. Twelve Miles to Trona, cm, 2002), The Soul of a Man (L’anima di un
uomo
, doc., 2003), Land of Plenty (La terra dell’abbondanza, 2004), Don’t Come Knocking (Non bussare alla mia porta, 2005), Invisibles (ep. Invisible Crimes, cm, 2006).

Videoclip

U2, Night and Day (1990), Talking Heads, Sax and Violins (1991), U2, Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (1993), Madredeus, Céu da Mouraria (1995), Madredeus, Alfama (1995), Willie Nelson, I Never Cared for You (1998), U2, The Ground Beneath Her Feet (2000), Die Toten Hosen, Warum werde ich nicht satt? (2000), Eels, Souljacker part I (2002), BAP, Schluss, Aus, Okay (2002), Idlewild, Live in a Hiding Place (2002).

Cast

& Credits

regia/director Wim Wenders
soggetto/story dal romanzo omonimo di/from the homonymous novel by Joe Gores, adattato da/adapted by Thomas Pope
sceneggiatura/screenplay Ross Thomas, Dennis O’Flaherty
fotografia/director of photography Joseph Biroc (prima sessione di riprese/
first shooting session), Philip Lathrop (seconda sessione/second session)
scenografia/set design Dean Tavoularis, Eugene Lee
costumi/costume design Ruth Morley
montaggio/film editor Barry Malkin
musica/music John Barry
suono/sound Andrew London
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters Frederic Forrest (Hammett), Peter Boyle (Jimmy Ryan), Marilu Henner (Kit Conger-Sue Alabama), Roy Kinnear (English Eddie Hagedorn), Elisha Cook (Eli), Lydia Lei (Crystal Ling), R.G. Armstrong (tenente/lieutenant O’Mara), Richard Bradford (detective Bradford), Michael Chow (Fong Wei Tau), Sylvia Sidney (Donaldina Cameron), Jack Nance (Gary Salt), Elmer L. Kline (Doc Fallon), Royal Dano (Pops), Samuel Fuller  (l’uomo nella sala da biliardio/man in the billiards room), Fox Harris (Frank), Jean François Ferreol (il marinaio francese/French sailor), Alison Hong (la ragazza cinese/Chinese girl)
produttore/producer Fred Roos, Ronald Colby, Don Guest
produzione/production Zoetrope Studios
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