"The American Soldier"
1970
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Fassbinder's homage to Hollywood gangster films is updated for the seventies. Murder is still for sale, but crime is organized by the state, not by the mob. Ricky--hired first by the U.S. to fight in Vietnam, and now by the German police--follows orders to kill: kill soldiers, kill strangers, kill even his girlfriend. Although Ricky wears a soft fedora (as well as a white double-breasted suit), it is Fassbinder who tips his hat, with secondary characters named Walsh and Fuller. Stars Karl Scheydt, Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta and Kurt Raab. German with English subtitles. 80 minutes.