A would-be murderer persuades a neighbour to aid his diabolical plot by convincing his unsuspecting friend he is suffering from a fatal disease and therefore has nothing to lose. Wim Wenders' drama, starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz.

Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.