Alice In The Cities a.k.a Alice In Den Städten (Wim Wenders)
05-04-08, 02:15 AM
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Alice In The Cities a.k.a Alice In Den Städten (Wim Wenders)
Axiom Films are set to release Wim Wenders' early work Alice In The Cities a.k.a Alice In Den Städten (1974) on May 26th in the Kingdom.
Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94
Wim Wenders, West Germany, 1974, 110 mins
Wenders is in his element with this film, one of his numerous road-movies (others include Kings of the Road, Paris-Texas and Until the End of the World), and perhaps his best. A reticent German photographer (Vogler) bored with his work wanders around the east coast of America. He encounters a nine-year-old girl (Rottlander) and they both search for her grandmother.
Most of the themes which are elaborated in Wenders later work are to be found here in a more latent and subtle form. Issues of loneliness, alienation, exile, borders and cinema itself, are all subordinate to this bitterly humorous encounter between the adult and the child. Watch out for a very funny sequence where the photographer tries desperately to refresh the girl's memory about her grandmother's hometown. From instances such as these, Wenders extracts a warmth that seems to have been lost by most contemporary directors and certainly Wenders himself whose latest attempts are nothing but pure complacency.
The minimalist atmosphere of Alice in the Cities is due to the low budget with which Wenders had to work. But as is usually the case with directors, their best work comes from periods of financial restrain where the director has to utilize all of his resources to the best result. Alice in the Cities confirms this fact and the viewer's emotional charge is released in a stunning final sequence on a journey with no end...
Wenders is in his element with this film, one of his numerous road-movies (others include Kings of the Road, Paris-Texas and Until the End of the World), and perhaps his best. A reticent German photographer (Vogler) bored with his work wanders around the east coast of America. He encounters a nine-year-old girl (Rottlander) and they both search for her grandmother.
Most of the themes which are elaborated in Wenders later work are to be found here in a more latent and subtle form. Issues of loneliness, alienation, exile, borders and cinema itself, are all subordinate to this bitterly humorous encounter between the adult and the child. Watch out for a very funny sequence where the photographer tries desperately to refresh the girl's memory about her grandmother's hometown. From instances such as these, Wenders extracts a warmth that seems to have been lost by most contemporary directors and certainly Wenders himself whose latest attempts are nothing but pure complacency.
The minimalist atmosphere of Alice in the Cities is due to the low budget with which Wenders had to work. But as is usually the case with directors, their best work comes from periods of financial restrain where the director has to utilize all of his resources to the best result. Alice in the Cities confirms this fact and the viewer's emotional charge is released in a stunning final sequence on a journey with no end...
Pro-B
