wim wenders - kings of the road - 1976
seen recently at BAM. second viewing (first time on VHS)
cinematography in this film by the great robby müller (covered elsewhere on this website) and martin schäfer, in which roger ebert compared to the photography of john ford films. stunning. i love the image of them filming into the moving truck, serious guys.
music by axel linstädt, member of the german krautrock band improved sound limited. gets very heavy.
i can't say i like the other two films in the trilogy much, but this is one of wenders' best films, and one of the great films from the new german cinema.
it is a truly cinematic experience to watch the two male characther's relationship to one another progress over this three hour film. teaming up after what i saw as the hanns zischler character's falling asleep at the wheel (but read was a light-hearted suicide attempt), and spending much of the beginning of the film not speaking, to finally being very close to one another in an uncommon way.
in fact, the rüdiger vogler character seems to pass on a relationship with the beautiful lisa kreuzer (memorable in wenders the american friend), to be reunited with his traveling mate. very touching.
living in a time and place where one must spend all of one's time working to pay expensive rents and groceries; seeing a film like this with two gentlemen and scholars vagabonding across germany makes one really displeased with the way the world is operating now.
2 comments:
Yes the world feels more and more like a straight jacket to ones spirit of freedom,especially nyc.Sad cause not that long ago it was a place to escape the confines of the modern grind and live a unmediated life.
I feel like in 20 years it will no longer even be coasting on the fumes of the bohemian enclave that it once was.Not sure where the escape/plan B will be for those wanting an alternative to the crass commercial culture that is so invasive here in the us and now around the world.Will the decayed cities of the rustbelt be
Gauguin's Tahiti for those wanting to escape the confines that are ever growing.Will Detroit have a second life and become the Berlin of the 90/00's?
Road movies always have the effect of making one question the trappings of stability and convenience...
yes i love road movies for that reason. his using the dune for a bathroom was a strong moment of the non trappings of convenience :) everyone in the audience seemed quite shocked
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