Until the End of the World

[Johann]

Just wanted to post about one of my favorite films,
Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World. I rented it again last night.

It's shot by Robby Muller (one of the best cameramen in the business), and it's a long, strange film that deserves recognition.

It's set in the future, although the "future" was 1999. And 1999 didn't really live up to the vision...

A woman is driving on a european road when her windshield is hit by a flying liquor bottle, thrown from a car driven by two bank robbers. They robbed a bank in Nice, and when they find out she's OK they ask her to be the middle man for 30%. Weird?
Yep. She's gotta drive the money to Paris and ends up taking William Hurt along with her. Too much to tell, and I can't explain all of the minute things that go on. It's a fairly slow movie, so settle in for the evening- I had two other movies I wanted to watch but even though I've seen it before this movie saps all your attention.

Anyway, there is also a subplot involving Hurt's blind mother Edith (Jeanne Moreau from Jules and Jim) and his scientist father Henry (Max von Sydow) but we don't see them until late in the film.

Wender's shot all kinds of high definition video for the futuristic imagery that is peppered throughout, and the film reminds me a lot of Godard's Alphaville. No doubt it was an influence.

Basically, check it out!

[arsaib4]

Thanks for your post. I saw about half of this film couple of years ago, recently had a chance to see it again and I was surprised how vividly I remembered certain sequences from the previous viewing.

Fine performances from the entire cast and excellent work from Robby Muller (as you mentioned) bring the film to another level. The way Wenders uses images to communicate his message is certainly something JLG has done, even more so recently with his Histoire(s) du cinema series.

Until the End of the World is not gonna satisfy everyone. The film infact was a critical and commercial failure upon its release but has developed somewhat of a cult following in recent years. For me, Until the End of the World is a challenging but an ultimately satisfying film.

*Johann, have you ever seen the 280-minute version?

[Johann]

Whoa- 280min version? No, haven't seen it.
Tell me more. It doesn't surprise me. Wenders is known for shooting insane amounts of footage on his films.

This film is definitely not for everyone- it's lengthy, and you have to be in certain mindset to get into it. It's futuristic European fare that's a high quality alternative to regular movies.

Wenders is a director who needs more recognition. Knowledgable film people know him well (and perhaps because of U2/Bono more people have heard of him), but he's one of those skilled filmmakers working in a world all his own. I use the word hypnotic to describe his work- lolling, somewhat stately, poetically sparse.

arsaib4: what did you think of those futuristic cop bikes and the "this is your guy" computer Bear in "Until the End of the World"?
I love that stuff!

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Johann
Whoa- 280min version? No, haven't seen it.
Tell me more. It doesn't surprise me. Wenders is known for shooting insane amounts of footage on his films.

He certainly has a penchant for shooting longer films. I read about the 280-min version first on imdb and then found out that it was shown at Film Forum in NYC a few years ago. The film is still only available on vhs in the U.S which I think is about 160-mins long so there's a lot missing.

I just came across the 4 disc-DIRECTOR'S CUT-set released in Italy earlier this year by RHVS. The film itself is spread out on 3 DVD's, while the 4th disc covers the extras including a monologue and several interviews. The same set is also available at an American site for about $50 so it isn't cheap. Needless to say, it's Pal-Region 2, so a multi-system player is required. Do you have one?

http://www.xploitedcinema.com/dvds/dvds.asp?title=2727

Wenders is a director who needs more recognition. Knowledgable film people know him well (and perhaps because of U2/Bono more people have heard of him), but he's one of those skilled filmmakers working in a world all his own. I use the word hypnotic to describe his work- lolling, somewhat stately, poetically sparse.

Wenders isn't a conventional filmmaker by any means. His films are full of surreal touches (some you mentioned above for this film) that at times tend to displace his narrative, but to what extent depends on one's familiarity with his work. Still, there's no excuse for less than mediocre films like The End of Violence and The Million Dollar Hotel. His latest Land of Plenty (yep, it's set right here) will be released by IFC next year.

[Johann]

No, sadly I don't have a multi-region player. I should get one though- someone who loves movies as much as me should get with the program.
Anyone have recommendations for a good one?

Re: Wenders. He requires patient audiences. You're right on the money about
narrative displacement- it's easy to lose track of the story arc in his films because he lulls you along with what I'll call "filmic baking": the ingredients are all there, the story is heated slowly, but you don't know what you've got until running/cooking time is over.

Thanks a lot for the info on the Italian DVD set arsaib-that's the kind of info we need here!
I hope Criterion has thought about Until the End of the World. It's more worthy of the treatment than Slacker...

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
No, sadly I don't have a multi-region player. I should get one though- someone who loves movies as much as me should get with the program.
Anyone have recommendations for a good one?

Tons of so called region-free players. Trick is buying one that doesn't require tinkering (no need to "hack"), plays both major formats, and most importantly reproduces signals from a PAL disc on your NTSC TV set with accuracy. It's now very cheap to buy a good one. My recommendation below:
www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview2/malata.htm

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Johann
I hope Criterion has thought about Until the End of the World. It's more worthy of the treatment than Slacker...

...and a few other films I dare not mention! WB currenly holds the U.S distribution rights for this film.

Thanks a lot for the info on the Italian DVD set arsaib-that's the kind of info we need here!

You're Welcome, I try my best.

No, sadly I don't have a multi-region player. I should get one though- someone who loves movies as much as me should get with the program.

Damn right! The prices have certainly dropped drastically and many lower price models are available. However, one should still be wary of cheaper brands like Apex, Cyberhome etc. because not only they require you to physically break into the machine to upgrade the firmware, but they're also known to not display the picture in its proper aspect-ratio and thus the subtitles are also affected.

Philips 727 is the most popular one out there, and now it's getting harder to find, especially new. This is the one I own now. Not only it's reasonably priced but you can apply the "hack" in about 10 secs and it just needs to be applied once in the beginning and you'll be able to play any disc w/out any problems.

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Philips_DVD727_Standard_DVD/display_~full_specs

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?select=Philips+DVD+727