Electra Landslide In Blue And The American Friend Comparison

James William Guercio’s Electra Glide In Blue & Wim Wenders’ The American Friend are two films that were released in the 1970’s. These films are representations of The American New Wave of cinema, also known as post-classical Hollywood. While it is clear these two films have their differences, they also have many similarities. Both come out of the same era but seem to have very different influences, which include Classic Hollywood as well as The French New Wave. Both films follow the New American Wave in terms of straying away from typical classic Hollywood norms that many were used to, when seeing a film.
Electra Glide in Blue & The American Friend were both created in the same time period. This was a post World War America with the rise

in counter culture as well as the rise in popular music. This was a time when Hollywood was facing financial difficulties but was trying to focus on film as both an art as well as a business. There were issues with financing films at times, which made production difficult but it was also a time when films were raking in tons of money, making it the supposed “golden era” in film for Hollywood. Filmmakers were taking huge risks relating to language and sexuality and ignoring classic Hollywood norms.
Electra Glide in Blue is essentially a western film that replaces horses with a motorcycle. The film is about highway police officer, John Wintergreen, patrolling the highways of Arizona. He’s a very bored police officer whose days are spent ticketing drivers. John aspires to be a detective where he can be “paid to think”’ but immediately regrets it as soon as he becomes one. Guercio’s claims he created Electra Glide in Blue to respond to the film Easy Rider. Easy Rider was a film that was very anti-cop and authority most likely due to the counter culture events that took place at this time.
The American Friend was released a few years after Electra Glide in Blue in the later 1970’s.

The American Friend is about an American expat, Tom Ripley, in Hamburg, Germany trying to make a living through an artwork forgery scheme. At one of the auctions he bids at, he meets a picture framer, Jonathan Zimmerman, who suffers from terminal disease. Jonathan works very hard to leave money behind for his family after his inevitable death, which Ripley uses against him. Zimmerman and Ripley form a bond in the event they are going to kill a French Gangster for a large sum of money. Zimmerman is convinced his condition is much more serious after test results are falsified thanks to which lead to his agreement to help commit the murder.
The Electra Glide in Blue’s score is influenced by Guercio’s band Chicago which has much more of a composed score throughout the film. During the scene of the motorcycle chase there are clear signs of a composed soundtrack with a 60-piece orchestra. The American Friend has more of a popular music feel to it thanks to Wim Wender’s love for American pop music and American influence in film. In one scene, the main character Tom Ripley is quoting Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee”. The selection in music is just one example of the differences between the two

films
In terms of cinematography throughout both films it is clear they are part of the experimental phase in Hollywood. It is obvious that Electra Glide in Blue resembles many John Ford Western classics. The cinematography offers a beautiful landscape of Arizona’s Monument Valley and long beautiful shots of the winding highway. This film also values the use of long shots taken as opposed to the montage style. This theme is also carried throughout the end by having one of the longest single-take tracking shots in the history of film. This style of cinematography is very synonymous to The New French Wave.
Similar to Electra Glide in Blue, The American Friend also rejects the montage in favor of longer shots and less editing. Italian Neorealism is expressed through ideological movement favoring the sequence shot over manipulated editing. Elements of the New German Cinema are certainly embedded into The American Friend and the way Germans viewed Americans. Wim Wenders was very fond of American pop music as well as movies, which are why you hear popular music throughout the film, unlike the Electra Glide in Blue, which went towards the more classical music route. Wim Wenders also liked to cast American actors which is how Dennis Hopper received the part as Tom Ripley.
Like previously stated, The American New Wave is a cinematic era in which Hollywood seeks to break away from traditional norms, which appear, commonly in film.

One of those norms was turning a hero to antihero. An antihero is a central character who lacks heroic characteristics but is still the central character to the plot. Electra Glide In Blue and The American Friend steer toward The American New Wave in terms of the antihero. In terms of Electra Glide in Blue, John Wintergreen is can be viewed as both an antihero and hero. His antihero qualities can be assessed through out the film’s dialogue. For example, during the scene where Wintergreen, a Vietnam vet pulls over another vet chooses to not help him out of a ticket. He insists he is going to do what someone did for him—nothing. He is also very antiestablishment and believes many cops have fascist qualities. His hero qualities can be seen through John his very likeable characteristics such as integrity. John sympathizes with the hippies throughout the film and hates his job. In the case of The American Friend, the main character, Tom Ripley is a true antihero. He is involved in an artwork forgery scheme that helps Jonathan Zimmerman believe he is sicker than he actually is in order for him to commit a murder. Antiheroes were certainly an element of cinema that was seen as a trend in the 1960’s and 70’s. We even see many antiheroes in today’s

cinema.
In terms of plot, the two movies have their differences. Like previously stated, Electra Glide in Blue is very reminiscent of John Ford’s classic western films. The landscape plays an enormous role and the plots are very similar. This is where you see influence from Classic Hollywood cinema imbedded into films of the 1970’s. On the other hand, The American Friend is influenced by The French New Wave. It is very European in terms of setting. This film also seeks to reinstall the dignity and sacredness of everyday life. When it comes to directing the films, James William Guercio truly represents Alfred Hitchcock’s style of being a very hands on director and very careful with all the details.
All-in-all both James William Guercio’s Electra Glide in Blue & Wim Wenders’ The American Friend have many commonalities. They stem from the same era of The American New Wave of film in the 1970’s. However, their different influences are very apparent throughout the films. In some aspects you see influence from Classic Hollywood cinema as well as the French New Wave. Both have created the new style of the American New Wave which elements still influence Hollywood today.