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Movies Forum Index » International Movies Forum » _Wong Move_
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| Guest |
 Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:13 pm |
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I don't think I ever saw this in the theater. Even if I did,
the print must have been mangled and the colors faded
by then. I just watched the Anchor Bay edition DVD,
and it looks *amazing*. Most of it is shot in the dusk
hours, it seems, and Robby Mueller's color cinematography
here rivals anything he (or Wenders) has ever done since.
The light is just so achingly beautiful.
Too bad the dialog and the plot don't improve with the
DVD. Wenders' commentary reveals that the film is
a loose adaptation (and inversion) of a Goethe novel.
The script is done by Peter Handke, whom I've never
liked. The problem here is badly excerbated by 2 to
4 cast members talking in Handke-speak at the same
time. If one person does it it is not so bad. The
multiple characters walking side by side towards the
camera or crossing each other in the wide takes also
distractingly remind me of Fassbinder. Of course
Peter Kann and Hanna Schygulla do that very well
by themselves, as does the story (now twisted to
deal with postwar Germany, and I suppose its
cross-generational angst. The early Wenders are
much crisper when they focus on one or two people.
But oh, the transfer is so perfect. You wouldn't find
a scratch in it if you use a microscope. Maybe I
should make an effort to watch all the Anchor Bay
releases, even the wooden _Scarlet Letter_. By the
way, Wenders blames himself for making Schygulla
look so "wooden." He should blame the script (to
which he is too faithful). No one comes off too well
when they sit around listening to lifeless Handke
dialog for minutes at a time. |
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