1. History: Shackles? opportunity?
Wim Wenders, the youngest of the four great "New German Films", as Carter Geist said: "Wenders is neither as mysterious as Herzog, nor as lawless. Spind, Schrondorf, and von Trotta value politics so much." Benefit from the spirit of "New Sensibility" that was popular in the 1960s. Wenders' images are often mixed with strong introspective qualities and negative atmosphere. On the other hand, inheriting the literary and artistic characteristics of German classical "educational novels", the protagonists in Wenders' films often travel to appreciate life in order to get the corresponding education, thereby changing the status quo. Wenders transplanted the American road movie genre he was obsessed with to Europe, creating a road movie full of humanistic spirit and philosophical charm. His images present a realm of otherworldliness in the rambling, and modern people's wandering rootless and lost and lonely state are embodied as a state of searching or escaping on the road.
Video and music are the two most important parts of Wenders' movies. Some people say that in Wenders films, "light and shadow are actors", he is obsessed with expressing the mood of the characters and advancing the development of the story with quiet and empty shots, and the beautiful and moving rock music is always let the film convey A moving effect. The music here is not just a supplement, but the focus of the narrative. "Million Dollar Hotel" is even adapted from the music of the U2 band. Therefore, even in some unsuccessful films of Wenders, images and music can still bring extraordinary sensory pleasure to people.
In terms of artistic style, Wenders has some similarities with Yasujiro Ozu, who is praised as an idol, mainly in that they share a common preference for indirect storytelling, and they like to shoot objects and landscapes that seem to have nothing to do with the plot on the surface. Camera to advance the story. They are also obsessed with the natural transformation of time and space, and like to express the state of the character through their actions rather than words, especially the state of loneliness and loneliness. Since Wenders saw Ozu's film in 1973, his image style has gradually taken shape. Ozu has allowed him to find a way of narrating stories that is different from that of Hollywood, but this does not mean that Wenders can transcend the way of filming in Hollywood. In fact, Wenders has always been in a kind of rejection of Hollywood and American culture. Contradictory state, this trouble continues to this day.
As a new generation of Germans born after the war, they are inevitably caught in the shackles of the defeated country. Their innate sense of inferiority makes them feel very disappointed. It is shown in Wenders’ early movies, which is filled with a kind of inferiority complex. Negative and helpless breath. From the first feature film "Goalkeeper's Anxiety on Penalties" to "American Friend" in 1977, this kind of trouble has been lingering. The movies of this period more or less carry a certain autobiographical sense of Wenders. The lonely, sad, and wandering male protagonist in the film also coincides with some projections of Wenders himself. Most of these people can't bear to look back at the past, have a certain self-masochistic tendency in their behavior, and lack inevitable connection before and after their actions.
At the beginning of "Goalkeeper's Anxiety on Penalties", goalkeeper Bullock did not make any obstacles, allowing the football to shoot from his side. Then he wandered aimlessly in the streets, hooked up with the film conductor Gloria, and after a spring supper with her, he killed him and fled. In a village on the border, waiting for the police to hunt down. At the end of the film, Bullock points out the goalkeeper’s anxiety: “The goalkeeper tries to determine which corner of the goal the kicker will kick the ball to. If he has played against the kicker in previous games, he will know which direction the opponent usually kicks. The kicker may also expect the goalkeeper to think so. Therefore, the goalkeeper will only think, maybe he will kick to another corner today. But if the kicker still does what the goalkeeper thinks, how about kicking the ball to the usual corner? Okay?" This is exactly the confusion of Wenders's generation, indulging in all kinds of thoughts and constraints, eager to get the perfect answer and relief, but the end is backfired. Every thought is like a rope that binds oneself, and finally leaves oneself alone. So they took the pain that shouldn’t belong to them to the previous generation and the original tradition in Germany. This is where Rob's accusation of his father in "The King of the Road", although Rob only pointed out his father’s arbitrariness and The damage caused by Rob's mother, but it is obvious that this kind of parental system is exactly what the Nazi era advocated.
In "Forked Road", William used a more straightforward way to express his resentment against the previous generation. He said to the old man Lester with a Nazi background: "I dreamed that you were dead, a few hours before you waited for death. You will find yourself to the tomb under the road, until death takes you away, and a child will accompany you. This child will stand beside you, and the grave will be sealed by a big stone. In the whole dream, there is darkness all around, beside you. The child of you must stand there until you die. I am that child!" Here is a very clear location of the confrontation between the post-war generation and the older generation. They think that they are burdened with historical burdens that do not belong to them, and long for the older generation to die as soon as possible, so that they can get rid of the shadow as soon as possible. They can't wait to abandon their own history and culture and throw themselves into the embrace of the United States. As an occupying country, the United States has brought an unprecedented impact to Germany. In Wenders' films, Coca-Cola, gum, American records, and American movies can be seen everywhere. But this has further aggravated the confusion and sense of rootlessness of the Wenders generation. For them, the United States is both a flower and a poison. On the one hand, American culture allows them to find new ways to nourish and anaesthetize themselves, on the other hand, Americans put them into a deeper predicament because they feel used and abandoned at the same time.
This kind of love-hate mentality is most concentrated in "American Friends." Jonathan is a frame maker who suffers from a blood disease and may die at any time. It was Ripley, an American who claimed to be an art broker, who changed his destiny. Ripley first recommended Jonathan to his friend Mino: a gangster who wanted to find someone to murder his enemy. But Ripley immediately regretted his indiscretion and took the initiative to show his favor to Jonathan, but this did not prevent Jonathan from becoming corrupted in Minor's hands. Ripley's to Jonathan is like the American coins that sold Brock in "Goalkeeper's Anxiety on Penalties", which is critical and hurts especially deeply. But at the same time, it was Ripley that allowed Jonathan to walk out of a boring marriage and family and usher in a dangerous but exciting life. Wenders also expressed a concern that artists are manipulated by profiteers, and profiteers correspond to the United States. They determine the value of art. In "Million Dollar Hotel", there is a more straightforward statement: "The artist is only painting. Business talents are real artists.” This may be one reason why Wenders is so disappointed with Commercial America.
But this did not hinder Wenders' yearning for the United States and American culture. When Coppola's invitation was received, Wenders went to the United States to shoot a piece of "Hammett." Although "Hammett" looked unsatisfactory from all aspects, it cultivated Wenders's confidence and ability to tell stories, allowing him to get a certain degree of running-in with the Hollywood filming system, which contributed to the success of "Texas, Paris". Lay the foundation. Since then, Wenders began his filming career in the United States. Various constraints made him further realize that he is a European director and can only work very well in the United States. At this time, Wenders's image style continued to change, gradually moving from random to simple, becoming quiet and elegant. In 1986, Wenders returned to Germany and filmed the stunning work "Under the Sphere of Berlin". He began to move from resisting and deliberately forgetting German traditional history and culture to a comprehensive reflection. Wenders's work has entered a whole new realm.
Two: Journey: Set out with a heart of loss and hope. In
the desert of Texas, the sun is scorching, the eagle is staring at it, and the deep and long guitar sound brings out infinite desolation. The lonely man trudges on this inaccessible red land, almost stagnant In the air, a touch of sorrow and despair exudes. The beginning of "Texas, Paris" is amazing, this 1984 Cannes Palme d'Or film, let Wenders's name spread all over the world. The film's rich and thoughtful landscape shots, temperate and quiet philosophical sentiments, and tender family relationships, blend the essence of European humanities and American emotional drama, and are sincere and touching. The actor Travis escaped passively from the beginning, until he actively pursued it, from silent silence to the last lengthy confession: describing the failed marriage between him and his wife, and then turned and drove away. "Texas, Paris" is like a popular version of "The King of the Road", Travis and Bruno's roles are very similar. But in fact, the artistic achievements of this film are far inferior to those of Wenders's previous German films, especially the trilogy of highways: "Alice in the City", "Broken Road", "King of the Road", these films Together they form a wandering image.
The protagonists of the highway trilogy are all wandering men, and they are all played by Rudiger Fogler, showing a certain degree of continuity. Like Travis in "Texas, Paris", these men are more or less in crisis because of relationship problems. Philip in "Alice in the City" travels across the United States and when he returns to New York, he finds himself encountering a writing bottleneck. He could only take pictures and flip through it repeatedly, as if trying to retain or prove something. His ex-girlfriend Angela pointed out sharply: "You were like this a long time ago. That's why you always want to prove and prove your existence. This is why you are always taking pictures, and they prove that you see something. This is why you come here, so that someone will listen to you and listen to you telling stories to yourself!" These unwilling people in the current situation always try to find some comfort. The future is full of confusion. Therefore, the past becomes the best sustenance. After continuous purification and beautification, it eventually becomes a beautiful yearning for self-deception.
In "Texas, Paris" Travis mentioned a joke about his father: Travis's father likes to make people think that his wife is from Paris. When introducing his wife to others, he would first talk about Paris and wait until everyone believed it to be true before adding the state of Texas. But when the lie was repeated many times, Travis's father believed it himself. In fact, this person is Travis himself. The picture of Paris in Texas that Travis flipped through repeatedly represented the same meaning as the picture taken by Philip. Travis yearned for a good life in the past, but this actually only existed in his mind. When he saw Jane, he immediately returned to his nature, his jealousy remained, and he started drinking again. He found that as long as he was with Jane, these problems would still exist, and the tragedy would still happen again. The only thing he could do was to leave Jane and his son and let them be free.
The male protagonist in Wenders' movies often has a certain personality defect, which is mainly manifested as a state of renunciation of the crowd on the road. They may meet others during the journey, but they can't open their hearts all the time. They continued on the road to conceal their emptiness and helplessness. William's performance in "Forked Road" is especially worse. At the beginning of the film, he couldn't bear the boringness and emptiness of the status quo, waved his hand to break the glass on the window, causing blood to flow, and then under the persuasion of his mother, he went on the road to find his own life. Meaning and love, but in fact he has been avoiding these two things. William meets Tyrese, and flees because of fear of feelings with her. His journey becomes futile and meaningless. At the end of the film, William stood alone on the summit of Zug and delivered a monologue: "I told Tyrese that I don’t know much about Germany and I can’t write. But this is just an excuse. In fact, I just want to be alone and stay alone. I will not be disturbed in my indifferent and numb state..."
This is also the reason Bruno and Rob flee in "The King of the Road." Bruno and Rob met by chance, and then traveled with Bruno's truck through the forgotten towns on the border between East and West Germany. The other name of "The King of the Road" is "The Process of Time", which means tracing back time and memories. Bruno's return to his childhood home on a small island in the Rhine River illustrates this point. The film has a very strong realistic temperament, slow rhythm, charming rock music, unique scenery and empty shots, which together create a lonely and boring world, making Bruno and Rob even more boring. The black and white light and shadow, the rolling wheels, and the mottled shadows of the trees on the windshield accurately capture the loneliness of the two people. Some people say that the end of "The Forked Road" is the beginning of "The King of the Road". This is not unreasonable. In "The Forked Road", William re-embarked on the journey out of fear of love. This is the beginning of "The King of Roads".
Bruno said: "When you were having sex, did you ever feel that you were really with her? When I was in a woman, I felt nothing except loneliness." It can be seen how scared they are to communicate with others. Even if intimacy is like contact between the sexes, it still can't make them feel warm, so Bruno keeps wandering. From the fact that Rob has called his separated wife many times but failed to communicate successfully, it seems that he has also failed in handling the relationship between men and women.
In Wenders movies, women are often missing or out of subordination. Their image can only be called the ideal state in the minds of men. After not appearing or disappearing, they are the objects pursued by the male protagonist, such as Lisa in "Alice in the City". When they meet the male protagonist, they play the role of soothing and redemption, such as Jane in "Texas, Paris" and Du Lin in "Don't Come Knock on the Door". Wenders’ images thus organize one after another fairytale endings, allowing the lost hero to find a glimmer of life, and then continue to wander, or break through the monotonous cycle of repeated cycles and start a new life. From this point of view, Wenders is optimistic. At the end of "Alice in the City", Philip has undoubtedly been changed by Alice's frankness and accompanying travels, and others have begun to accept him; "The King of the Road" finally Bruno and Rob Parting ways, each facing the life they have been avoiding; in "Don't Knock on the Door", Howard finally gets the understanding of his children. Even if Travis turned and left at the end in "Texas, Paris", we can feel a kind of relief from his calm face.
Searching has always been an excuse for the protagonist in Wenders' movies to escape, but these people are actually extremely vague about what they are looking for. This is mainly manifested as aimless wandering, duplicity, and inexplicable behavior. The character defects of these people determine that they cannot get out of the predicament by themselves, and they need a simple or rational guide. The innocent and pure perspective of children has always been advocated by Wenders. At the end of "The King of the Road", Rob met a little boy and wrote down everything he saw. To the little boy, everything is as simple as that, and some are so natural. Adults may not be smart if they think too much, and the result is often nothing but the world. It is the innocence of children that infected Philip in "Alice in the City" and regained his confidence in writing; Travis in "Texas, Paris" also ignited his father's love because of his son Hunter , And embarked on the road to find a wife. Mother is also an important guide for these confused people. In "Forked Road", William embarks on a journey under the persuasion of his mother. In "Don't Knock on the Door," Howard's mother plays a more critical role. When Howard left the set, he only vaguely doubted and bored his past life. After escaping, where he should go next is extremely uncertain. Howard's mother allowed him to find his goal: to find his son and reunite the family. The gift God brought him was not only a son, but also a forgiving daughter. This pair of sons and daughters represent respectively Wenders's pity for Howard's reproach. Although "Don't Knock on the Door" is far less artistic than Wenders's previous works, and some people question his Hollywood ending, this is Wenders. He still tells the story of men who are lost, searched, and redeemed as always. process.
From this point of view, "Million Dollar Hotel" is like a resting spot on the way to wandering, a wanderer full of trauma is licking the wound, looking forward to continue on the road. Although the location of the film has not changed, people's hearts are still wandering, looking for belonging in panic. In the world of Tom, a psychopath, everyone has their own dark and madness. In this fragile love appears to be negligible, the lens slowly closer distance from buildings, all over the city from end to Tom jump jumping scene, the crowd is still dangerous, packed up, we are forced to continue wandering ......
III from Start at the beginning and end at the end, just like life itself
Wenders has a unique yearning and complex for early movies, especially Hollywood movies. His works can often be seen imitating and paying tribute to John Ford, Hitchcock, Sam Fuller, Anthony Mann, and Nicholas Rey. From the short films shot in the early film school, to "Goalkeeper's Anxiety on Penalties" and "Alice in the City", Wenders developed a quiet and meticulous image style with a certain documentary temperament. The incompatibility and limitations brought by the shooting of ancient costume films such as "The Scarlet Letter" strengthened Wenders's shooting of random road films that approximate the development of time. At this time, Ozu Yasujiro's films allowed him to find some kind of evidence and support. in accordance with. Since then, wings above the clouds, clusters of buildings, winding roads, rolling wheels, and profound scenery have become the hallmarks of Wenders' movies.
In terms of narration, the early Wenders films showed a clear anti-story tendency. In 1982, he wrote: "I totally reject stories, because in my opinion they have nothing but lies. And the biggest lie is that the story always shows that there is no in fact, there is a consistent beginning and end. Sex and continuity, and reality is not like this at all. However, our need for lies is so greedy that it is meaningless for us to fight with fragments without stories, that is, stories are impossible. Yes, and we can't have a story." The contradictions and troubles between the story and the image mentioned here reflect the struggle of Wenders when he went to the United States to film "Hammett." Being forced to tell stories in the film, Wenders suffered. This painful experience was later put on the screen, that is, "The State of Things".
"The State of Things" describes the situation where a film crew is unable to do anything in Portugal. Funds were scarce, film ran out, filming stopped, producer Gordon was gone forever, leaving behind a group of workers who were just as exiled. Later, the German director Friedrich flew to Hollywood to find Gordon, but both died outside the coach. The film focuses on the differences in the values of European and American films, and has profound judgments on images and stories, black-and-white films, and color films. "The State of Things" was shot in black and white and divided into three sections. It was originally part of the film "The Survivor" made by the crew. It uses Hollywood-style video style and European soundtrack to show the contradiction between European and American images. The second paragraph narrates the situation where the film crew is trapped in Portugal doing nothing, and the third paragraph where Friedrich is looking for Gordon in Hollywood constitutes a clash and contrast between European and American film production and concepts. Wenders uses Friedrich’s Speaking out: "Stories only exist in stories. As time goes by, life continues without the need to make stories." In Wenders's view, faithfulness to the inherent state of life can tell the best stories. , All without pretentiousness. Gordon, on the premise of putting aside the troubles of funding, he sympathized with Friedrich's views, but Hollywood is a world that emphasizes benefits and rewards. Gordon said: "We are talking about reality, fucking reality. Movies are not a running account of life, and the audience does not want to watch this!" This reality Wenders has to face, whether he admits it or not, after "Hammett", Wenders's image style has indeed changed. "Texas" "Paris" is obviously much more narrative than the previous movies. The casual and sloppy image style is gradually replaced by a simple, restrained and peaceful style. Of course, one thing has never changed, and that is sensibility. Wenders' films are still full of introspection. On the road, rock music, and empty shots are still his irreplaceable signatures.
"The State of Things" frees Wenders from the demons and confronts the conflict between images and stories. However, after entering the 90s, the flooded world of images made Wenders question this thing he has always been obsessed with. In Wenders's view, the images that have been developed for nearly a hundred years can no longer maintain the purity and perfection of the past. They are full of boring advertisements. In "Alice in the City", Philip said: "The most inhumane part of TV, It’s not that every show is broken by advertising, although it’s bad enough, it’s that all shows are advertised as the status quo... the images are bothering you, and they all want to ask for something." TV So, why not the movie? The director of "Lisbon Story", Frederup, was extremely lost: "Consider, things and images live longer than us. We are now shooting images like garbage. The images are now garbage. My competitor is Trash people." Frederup wanted to save images by sound (Wenders also values the role of sound in movies, and he claims that the status of music is as important as the plot and the characters), but this can't stop him. Depression. So he carried the camera on his back and allowed the camera to shoot freely along the street. He called what he captured was a pure image that was not contaminated by human perspective. Sadly, this approach is just an escape from self-deception. However, this doubt was quickly dispelled by Wenders himself. Through the mouth of Philip, he once again expressed his expectations for the image: "Don't be fooled by the naive image, squeeze your head into the narrow gap, or believe in yourself. Eyes... Making worthless junk images is a waste of life. Use your heart to create valuable things... Movies still have the same charm as when they were just invented, and now they can also make people's hearts move... The bright sun Next, the sound will also shine...".
4. Diaphragm and communication
Berlin’s sky is densely covered with clouds. On the statue of Victory, on the top of the magnificent church, angels look down on the world indifferently. Danmir and Cassirer watched this ancient land together. People came and went in the street, closed their eyes, and quietly listened to the murmur of each soul. In the subway, in the bus, in the library...Why are you sad and depressed everywhere you go? Unfolding the notebook, the two angels exchanged what they saw and learned.
"Under the Berlin Sky" has a charming frustration and sadness. Berlin, the most German city, records the contradictions and struggles of a generation. On the one hand, they deliberately forget the memory of war; on the other hand, they are reminded by the reinforced concrete wall from time to time. Wenders, who returned to Germany to film, finally mustered up the courage to touch the content he had deliberately forgotten in the past, looking for the memory of the past and the past from history. Angels are undoubtedly the best historical linkers. They are both outsiders and bystanders. They have been guiding and comforting mankind from the beginning to the present day. This is Wenders's extremely clever and profound perspective and entry point.
Germany, this highly sensible and extremely crazy country. History is becoming blurred because of wars. Anxiety, loneliness and sensitivity make people close their hearts and refuse to communicate. Angels therefore become images of their desire to communicate and expect the possibility of being understood, just like the metaphor of "Don't Knock on the Door". People close their hearts for fear of injury, but expect someone to knock their hearts someday. Underneath the indifferent appearance, panic and helplessness are hidden. Rock youths, conservative parents, American actors, men in car accidents, youths who jumped from a building, old people looking for old cafes, and lonely and displaced girls in the circus...all the pain and sadness, everything is true and graceful.
"The place where the first rain drops, the sun, bread, and wine, jumping around, Easter, the veins of the leaves, the grass swaying in the wind, the color of the stone, the pebbles under the pond, the white tablecloth outside the house , Dreaming of the house in the house, and continuing to dream in the next room, silent Sunday..." This is the last nostalgia of the dying man in the car accident to this world, human suffering, but also beautiful, relative to the immutable eternity of angels, Every moment in the world is very precious. Wenders deliberately asked the angels to look down at everything with childlike innocent and interesting eyes, "When the child is still a child, he walks on the road, shaking his arms, dreaming about the creek. It’s the river, those little mud puddles, and the sea. When the child was still a child, he didn’t know that he was just a child. Everything was full of life, and all life was the same... When the child was still a child, yes. I don’t know everything, I don’t have any habit, I often sit or run with my feet crossed... my hair is messed up, and I didn’t make faces when I took pictures."
There are too many imperfections in this world, but there are also too many things worthy of nostalgia, for Danmir, that is Marianne. Her beauty and sadness made Danmir fascinated. He wanted to enter her life, not to end her desolation, but to share everything about her. "I finally understand that I want to be a human being and never or never wade across the river, but there is only one river in this world. No matter whether wading across the river is life or death, we have never tried to be born, go down and watch. But with a heavenly vision, I will be able to take a bath and shave with a razor. Someone will massage me until my toes, then buy a newspaper to read, and then have a cup of coffee. On the first day, I will be in contact with humans, and I will be able to Contact people around, if someone hits me, I will apologize, I was hit, or hit someone else. In the coffee shop, the boss will find a place for me. The taxi stopped in front of me, I took the car . I will know everyone and feel everyone. I will no longer just speak a word, but understand all languages. This will be the first day of my life.” Danmir said to Cassirer, so he Falling into the world...
In 1989, Eastern Europe changed drastically, and the wall between East and West Germany was torn down. This should be something Wenders did not expect when he filmed "Under the Sky of Berlin." The changes in the political climate gave Wenders a desire to overlook Berlin again. As a result, the melancholy angels are no longer content to watch and listen to the hearts of human beings silently. In the low violin sound, they express their emotions: "You can't see us, you can't hear us, you can only imagine us far away... We are angels, we are the light that illuminates your darkness, we are far away but close, we answer your questions, maybe we are nothing, but you, you are everything to us..." Between angels and humans The relationship is very close to the world, but after the reunification of Germany, how can the relationship between people be like this? Cassirer is eager to communicate and substantively communicate with humans, just like the American actor Peter Falk said, personally feel the wind blowing, the warmth of a cup of coffee, and the real contact with people on the road. In order to save the little girl who fell from upstairs, he finally fell from eternity to transitory. Unlike Danmir who came to this world in pursuit of love, Cassirer wanted to help mankind through his own efforts. But when a bystander became a participant, people's trust in him has long ceased. Cassirer's extraordinary wisdom is not only useless, and even his friends around him also fall into trouble. Cassirer found that humans still closed their hearts, but he could no longer listen to their hearts.
When Cassirer visited Danmir's home again, Danmir's home was being renovated, and all the furniture was covered with film. This coincided with the fact that everything in the industrial giant's home in "Forked Road" was blinded by plastic covers, and the TV screen was uncomfortable. Set the plot with sparkling snowflakes. It vividly conveys a state of separation between people. In fact, starting from "Goalkeeper's Anxiety on Penalties", the protagonists in Wenders' films often take self-pity in solitude. They talk but never communicate. In other words, they have been in a state of misunderstanding. Cassirer wanted to help mankind, but ended up making himself dead. Humans have their own laws of evolution, everything is still going on, but sometimes we are powerless.
Modern technology has brought unprecedented convenience to mankind, but when the timing changes, this convenience has become an inescapable burden. Human communication has not become close due to the advancement of science and technology. On the contrary, the distance between everyone is getting farther and farther. "Until the End of the World" Wenders exiled the protagonist in the isolated Australian desert. The nuclear satellite exploded, and the helicopter that took humans across the desert a minute ago was useless at the moment. Not only that, the door of the plane held in Claire's hand became an extra burden for them to walk forward. This is a great irony, just like in "Apocalypse of Violence", the equipment that monitors criminal activities in the city of Los Angeles has become a tool for criminals to fight against the wind in a blink of an eye. Wenders deliberately set up the monitoring room on the mountain, overlooking Los Angeles, echoing the angelic perspective of "Under the Sky of Berlin", looking coldly at this world that turns violence into a tool for entertainment and money.
All along, Americans have claimed to be representatives of justice and truth in the world, and they reject or ignore opposition from the outside world. I never thought that they were getting separated from the outside world. After 9/11, they suddenly turned around and found that the threat came from countries that they never cared about. Lanna said: "When the building fell, my place (Tel Aviv) was at night. At first I didn’t know what was going on, I only heard people cheering... Many people gathered in the street... I think what makes me sad the most is that they are all ordinary people... They hate us... They hate America, From such a sincere place, from so many people..." This made the American veteran who suffered a lot from the Vietnam War incomprehensible. The World Trade Center fell and thousands of innocent civilians lost their lives. Why did they even return? Can you applaud? However, this is reality. Just as people outside would never think that there would be hunger in the United States. There will also be refugees in the United States. In the eyes of outsiders, it was a world full of gold and feasting. "Lost Angel City" shows people the panic and confusion of Americans after 9/11. They have always thought that they live in the safest place in the world, but it turns out that this is not the case. All of a sudden, everything is everywhere, and "Alice in the City" and Like "American Friends", the film is often reminiscent of Hollywood horror and suspense movies. When Paul was fully armed and broke into the "enemy" camp, he found that it was just an ordinary house. A disabled elderly man was being forced to watch Bush’s The TV speech of the Iraq War is nothing more than that. And Hasan, the "terrorist" suspect he had been following, proved to be just an unfortunate refugee. Everything is full of ridicule, and this country has long been lost.
V. City Love Songs
In 1984, Wenders set off for Tokyo to pursue his "only master", Ozu Yasujiro's video world, to see if the orderly and humane city described in Ozu's video still exists. Wenders said in the film: "There is no city that makes me so familiar and so kind, and this is all thanks to Ozu." The little boy in the subway station who stopped and pestered his mother was just like Ozu. The child in the movie is naive but rebellious. However, Wenders was more or less disappointed during his trip to Tokyo. The world described by Ozu is nowhere to be found, full of vulgar images, bustling and noisy everywhere. Golf courses, taverns, steel ball shops... The common content in Ozu movies seems to have changed a bit today, just like the models of dishes in the windows of restaurants. Wenders even filmed the production process of these wax food decorations. The melancholy is vaguely discernible. Fortunately, Wenders found what he was interested in: a group of young rock and roll dancing in the park. "Looking for Ozu" begins with the opening scene of "Tokyo Story" and ends with the ending scene of "Tokyo Story", an era so sadly disappeared. But when Herzog said that fresh images can only be found in outer space, Wenders obviously disagrees: "No matter how well I understand Herzog's pursuit of transparent images, the only images I seek are here. , Can only be found in the chaos of the city.”
This is also the expression of Wenders’s inner love and hatred for the city. This attitude has always been present in many of his works. In "Alice in the City", whether it is New York or Wuppertal, all seemed indistinguishable. "Friends of America" Chinese Des deliberately confuses the differences between cities. Overlooking the city from the "Little Manhattan" in Paris, a replica of the Statue of Liberty erected on the banks of the Seine can be vaguely seen. These are what Wenders is heartbroken, all cities. They are all exactly the same, they are all replicas of industrialized America, such as Paris, Munich, and Tokyo. How sad! However, Wenders is still attached to the city. It is the feeling of making movies in his early years that made him continue to explore the beauty of different cities. The Berlin of "Berlin Sphere" allows people to see the mystery of this ancient city. Breath and heaviness, and "Until the End of the World" has a tour of 15 cities in 5 countries around the world. Each city is unique and unforgettable...
The humid air is mixed with the breath of the sea, and the scattered streets are full of enthusiastic faces. The car drove on the road wet by the sea, leaving mottled and messy traces. This is Wenders’ Havana impression. This red city has not been reduced to rigidity due to political factors. The relaxing and unrestrained music filled her with vitality. The Cuban’s unique optimism and sentimentality are vividly expressed here. "Luoman Havana" is Wende The most beautiful city hymn in Sri Lanka. Here, life and vitality are everything...
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