The American

Adaptation of Henry James' novel in which a young American, Christopher Newman, who has made himself a fortune in his home country, travels in Europe at the end of the 19th century.

In Paris he falls in love with a beautiful young widow, Claire de Cintré, and decides to make her his wife, but the young woman's mother Madame de Bellegarde does not approve of Newman. He is just a brash upstart with no title whatsoever. Yet, Newman does not intend to give up the fight.

Just like the novel the film reveals James' fascinating contrast between the decadence, the moral corruption and the complex social codes of the old world and the naivety, simplicity and openness of the new world.