The American Friend (1977)

This is an interesting one. It feels the most autobiographical of the Wim Wenders films I've seen. The cameos by Sam Fuller and Nicholas Ray, the dedication to Henri Langlois and the inclusion of early optical toys clearly indicate that Wenders wants us to be thinking about cinema itself. Viewed in this context, the forgery subplot seems like a knowing nod towards his early career, where Wenders himself acknowledges that his directing "style" consisted of little more than approximating Hitchcock and Cassavetes. Even the Zimmerman character agreeing to serve as a hired gun seems to pre-sage the difficulties Wim would later encounter trying to work for Francis Ford Coppola on Hammett. Yet by placing all of this within the context of a "crime picture", Wenders is able to sidestep the indulgence of making a "struggling artist picture". It's not an entirely perfect marriage, but it sure makes for some interesting images, ideas and an amazing train sequence.

The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

For better or worse, when you make a period piece you are judging the past. Often the judgement is positive. Weren't things so much better back in the day? This rose colored perspective almost always ignores the various horrors that were going on during the time period in question. As a German man born almost immediately after the end of World War II, Rainer Werner Fassbinder has nothing good to say about the past. Using Maria Braun as a stand-in for the entire country, Fassbinder paints a very bleak portrait of post-war Germany. Not only is Maria an opportunist who will do anything to move forward financially, she also continues to carry a torch for her missing/imprisoned Nazi husband. An entire Nation doesn't just suddenly change their prejudices or impulses overnight and the "progress" of today is often built on a rotten foundation. We are forever wedded to the past. Fassbinder never wants us to forget that.

Alice in the Cities (1974)

Like many young artists, Wim Wenders started out by emulating “the old masters” as a crutch. By his own admission, he shot his early films as though he were John Cassavetes or Alfred Hitchcock. Alice in the Cities was Wenders’ deliberate attempt to make a film that was truly his own. It is fitting that he chose to do so through the medium of the Road Movie. It has been said that, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” and no genre better illustrates that than the Road Movie. I imagine Wenders to be much like Phil at the start of the film trying to force inspiration through stimulation, only to coming up continually empty handed. Even when Alice enters the picture, he is still primarily goal driven. Just as Wenders was intent on shaking loose the yolk of influence, Phil’s mission is to unburden himself of this little girl. Yet, at various moments, Phil forgets this mission and finds himself actually enjoying the presence of this small human. These are also the moments where Wenders’ cinema really comes the most to life. An original vision cannot be forced, it has to come naturally. Watching Alice in the Cities, we are privileged to witness an artist truly coming into his own.

Phoenix (2015)

I have no clue what it is like to live through a war. Hopefully I never will. Not only is there all the grief and loss that comes with bombing and battles, but there is also the shock of coming home to a world that has moved on without you. Your old apartment has been blown to bits and that person who always swore they would love only you doesn’t even recognize you. You want everything to be the same but that isn’t possible. You cling to what you knew. No matter how hard you try to go back to the “old you”, you cannot. And it isn’t just because everyone and everything else has changed. You have changed as well. You have lived through experiences that only others who lived through them can understand. Stuff that you’d probably not talk about. From here on, you are out of step with the rest of the world. How can you ever really come to grips with that? Phoenix is about all of that and so much more. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen all year.

Fox and his Friends (1975)

In the right hands, melodrama can be more effective and damning than any sort of "serious" film could ever dream of being. Unlike, say, a prison story where the protagonist is physically restrained behind iron bars and cement walls, the protagonist in melodrama is restrained by the amorphous ideas of what polite society decides is acceptable. Racism, nationalism, homophobia, etiquette, etc. are all human constructs, and as such they are nearly impossible to overcome. It isn't some wall that you can chip away at until you are free because those walls are constantly changing on whims. There is simply no room in "their" world for the weird or different. Anything that is rough will be sanded down until it is smooth like everything else. Resistance is futile.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)

Growing up, I didn’t date very much. In fact, prior to my wife, I had only had two serious girlfriends. Sure I had plenty of crushes, but I never acted on them. I would just pine from afar. I only moved forward with something if I knew my chances of success were close to 100%. When you let someone know that you “like” them, you are figuratively giving them the power to destroy you. But even then it isn’t a sure thing. After a few weeks of dating my first high school girlfriend, she informed me that she needed to focus more on studying and our relationship was over. She signed my yearbook, “It was great getting to know you”. As a result, I became even more cautious. From then on, I was ready to split at the first sight of danger. College was a long series of leaving them before they could leave me. Finally that cycle stopped when I met my wife and came to learn to stop throwing in the towel when things started to get tough. We have now been together for almost ten years which is far longer than that period of fear and anxiety. But I still remember all those years. And that part of me that remembers really related to The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant…as well as all of the other women in this film.

Run Lola Run (1998)

A young woman (Franka Potente) has 20 min to get 100,000 dm in order to save her boyfriend's life. There are three ways for this to go down. All of them entertaining.

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If I wanted I could turn this review into a dissertation on chaos theory and free will v. determinism. Or I could use it as a means to reflect on our media-saturated culture. Perhaps I could just keep it simple and tell you that this film is really really fun and has a great soundtrack. Three totally different paths. Which one should I take? Which one is the right one? I mean they're all equally valid. And I guess that's the real answer, isn't it? Any film that can provoke such philosophical and cultural discussion while simultaneously being a fun watch, must be one heck of a film.

"The ball is round, a game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theory. Off we go!"