25° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL

Im Lauf der Zeit

Kings of the Road

Country: GFR
Year: 1976
Duration: 175'


Bruno, a projectionist who travels alone in his truck, saves Robert, a psychologist who is unable to detach himself from his wife, when he attempts to commit suicide. The two continue on together, wandering from cinema to cinema along the border between the two Germanys. Conversation, silence and rock music accompany the two as they meet various people – a widower, two cashiers, Robert’s father – and travel through different places until they reach the border, where they decide to part and each goes his own way.

“The film is about two men who get along and are more comfortable together then if there were a woman. We follow their difficulties, their insecurity when it comes to  affection and their attempts to hide it. Over time, they start to get to know each other well enough to open up to each other. But this leads to their separation because during their trip through Germany they end up becoming too close. This is a story  that the other films don’t tell: the story of the absence of women and, at the same time, the story of wishing they were present.”

Biography

film director

Wim Wenders

After high school enrolled first at the faculty of medicine, then at the faculty of philosophy. But he eventually abandoned his studies and moved to Paris, where he dedicated himself to painting. He unsuccessfully attempted to enroll at Paris’ Idhec, then moved back to Germany in 1967, where he studied at the new Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich and also wrote for various film magazines. Between 1967 and 1969 he made his first short films, which already presented the themes and forms of his future filmography, like his careful attention to images, his love of rock music and the theme of travel. In 1969 he made his graduating film, Summer in the City, which detailed and articulated the themes of his poetics. His first feature film, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971), brought him to the attention of international critique and in 1974 he began his “famous road trilogy,” which through the films Alice in the Cities (1974), False Movement (1975) and Kings of the Road (1976) further developed the theme of travel. By now a confirmed filmmaker, he shot The American Friend (1977) before moving to the United States to film the last days of Nicholas Ray in Lighting over Water (1980). In 1982 he won the Leone d’oro in Venice with The State of Things, which he shot in a working break during the complex production of the Hollywood film Hammett (1982), produced by Francis Coppola. In 1984 his film Paris, Texas, a new reflection on travel and America, won him the Palme d’or in Cannes. In 1987, after a side trip to Japan with Tokyo-Ga (1985), a documentary about Tokyo and Ozu, he returned to Europe and made Wings of Desire (1987). In 1991 he made Until the End of the World, a vast road movie that was distorted by distribution requirements (but whose director’s cut Wenders re-edited in 2004) and in 1993 Faraway, So Close!, a sequel to Wings of Desire that won the Jury’s Grand Prize in Cannes. In 1995, with his friend and maestro Michelangelo Antonioni, he filmed Beyond the Clouds, followed by Lisbon Story. After The End of Violence (1997), in 1998 he filmed his encounter with Ry Cooder and Cuban music, creating an extraordinarily successful documentary, Buena Vista Social Club. He returned to his beloved America for his next films: The Million Dollar Hotel (2001), whose subject was written by Bono, The Soul of a Man (2002), an episode of Martin Scorsese’s project The Blues, Land of Plenty (2004), a reflection on the post-9-11 period, and Don’t Come Knocking (2005), another collaboration with Sam Shepard, after Paris, Texas.

FILMOGRAFIA

Schauplätze (cm, 1967), Klappenfilm (cm, 1967), Victor I (cm, 1968), Same Player Shoots Again (1968), Silver City (cm, 1968), Polizeifilm (cm, 1968), Alabama (2000 Light Years) (cm, 1968), 3 Amerikanische LP’s (cm, 1969), Summer in the City (1970), Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (Prima del calcio di rigore, 1971), Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe (La lettera scarlatta, 1972), Alice in den Städten (Alice nelle città, 1974), «Ein Haus für uns» (ep. Aus der Familie der Panzerechsen; ep. Die Insel, cm, TV, 1974), Falsche Bewegung (Falso movimento, 1975), Im Lauf der Zeit (Nel corso del tempo, 1976), Der Amerikanische Freund (L’amico americano, 1977), Nick’s Film - Lightning Over Water (Nick’s Movie - Lampi sull’acqua, doc., 1980), Hammett (Hammett - Indagine a Chinatown, 1981), Der Stand der Dinge (Lo stato delle cose, 1982), Reverse Angle: NYC March ’82 (cm, doc., 1982), Chambre 666 - Cannes May ’82 (mm, doc., 1982), Paris, Texas (id., 1984), Tokyo-Ga (id., doc., 1985), Der Himmel über Berlin (Il cielo sopra Berlino, 1987), Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten (Appunti di viaggio su moda e città, doc., 1989), Bis ans Ende der Welt (Fino alla fine del mondo, 1991), Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring (Arisha, l’orso e l’anello di pietra, mm, 1992), In weiter Ferne, so nah! (Così lontano così vicino!, 1993), Lisbon Story (id., 1994), Al di là delle nuvole (1995), Lumière et compagnie (ep. Berlin, cm, 1995), Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky (I fratelli Skladanowsky, 1996), The End of Violence (Crimini invisibili, 1997), Willie Nelson at the Teatro (mm, doc., 1998), Buena Vista Social Club (id., 1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (id., 1999), Viel passiert. Der BAP Film (doc., 2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (ep. Twelve Miles to Trona, cm, 2002), The Soul of a Man (L’anima di un
uomo
, doc., 2003), Land of Plenty (La terra dell’abbondanza, 2004), Don’t Come Knocking (Non bussare alla mia porta, 2005), Invisibles (ep. Invisible Crimes, cm, 2006).

Videoclip

U2, Night and Day (1990), Talking Heads, Sax and Violins (1991), U2, Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (1993), Madredeus, Céu da Mouraria (1995), Madredeus, Alfama (1995), Willie Nelson, I Never Cared for You (1998), U2, The Ground Beneath Her Feet (2000), Die Toten Hosen, Warum werde ich nicht satt? (2000), Eels, Souljacker part I (2002), BAP, Schluss, Aus, Okay (2002), Idlewild, Live in a Hiding Place (2002).

Cast

& Credits

regia, soggetto, sceneggiatura, produttore/director, story, screenplay, producer Wim Wenders
fotografia/director of photography Robby Müller
scenografia/set design Heidi Lüdi, Bernd Hirskorn
montaggio/film editor Peter Przygodda
musica/music Axel Linstädt (eseguita da/played by Improved Sound Limited)
suono/sound Martin Müller, Bruno Bollhalder
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters Rüdiger Vogler (Bruno Winter, «King  of the Road»), Hanns Zischler (Robert Lander, «Kamikaze»), Lisa Kreuzer  (Pauline), Rudolf Schündler (il padre di Robert/Robert’s father), Marquard Bohm  (l’uomo dell’incidente/man of the car crash), Dieter Traier (Paul), Franziska Stömmer  (la proprietaria del cinema/cinema owner), Patric Kreuzer (il bambino/child), Peter  Kaiser (il proiezionista/projectionist), Michael Wiedemann (il maestro/teacher), Wim Wenders (uno spettatore al cinema/member of the audience)
produzione/production Wim Wenders Produktion, Westdeutscher Rundfunk
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