Synopsis
Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Frederic ForrestHammett
- Peter BoyleJimmy Ryan
- Marilu HennerKit Conger / Sue Alabama
- Roy KinnearEnglish Eddie Hagedorn
- Lydia LeiCrystal Ling
- Elisha Cook Jr.Eli the Taxi Driver
- David Patrick KellyThe Punk
- R. G. ArmstrongLt. O'Mara
- Richard BradfordDetective Bradford
- Jack NanceGary Salt
Recommandations
- 90
Time Out
Wenders' first American movie is no conventional biopic, but a stunningly achieved fiction about the art and mystique of creating fiction. - 80
TV Guide Magazine
Like The American Friend, Wenders's previous meditation on American genres, Hammett is less concerned with its storyline than it is with focusing on an American myth. As such it is not to be missed. - 75
The A.V. Club
At a certain point, Hammett gets unreasonably convoluted, but since its hero seems just as hopelessly confused by what develops, it's easy to just soak in the rich atmosphere, courtesy of Coppola's ace production designer Dean Tavoularis and a terrific John Barry score. - 70
The Guardian
It's a stylish, entertaining movie, starring Frederic Forrest (a dead ringer for Hammett, bar the height) as a drinking, smoking, coughing and typewriter-bashing writer lured back into detection by an old Pinkerton associate (Peter Boyle) and stumbling into the plot of The Maltese Falcon. - 70
IGN
A movie that takes a while to get going, but once everything starts to come together you end up having a good time. If you're into detective films or are just looking for something atmospheric, then Hammett is a safe bet for a quiet night of mystery and intrigue. - 60
The New York Times
Hammett, the first major American movie by Wim Wenders, isn't quite the mess one might expect, considering the length of time it's been in production and the number of people who seem to have contributed to it. It's not ever boring, but heaven only knows what it's supposed to be about or why it was made. One answer would serve both questions. - 50
Variety
Over polished by too many script rewrites, perhaps emasculated by massive footage scraps and belated re-shoots, project emerges a rather suffocating film taking place in a rickety Chinatown. - 38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The picture is an inventory of film noir effects and attitudes, but Wenders has nothing new to say about the style, about the period, about Hammett or about the creative process. The Hammett case can be closed: a case of massive esthetic masturbation. [18 Sep 1982]
