tl;dr. Sorry. Yeah, I’m of mixed feelings when it comes to this film. It’s not what it appears to be on its surface. Unsympathetic characters are the biggest stumbling block when it comes to enjoying Wim Wenders’ work…(or anybody’s, if they use unsympathetic characters). Because, like you said, it’s tied into all that self-indulgence -- both on the part of the characters and that of the author. If you feel excluded, it’s hard to get into it.
Wenders’ protagonists are indeed extremely lost souls, finding connections again generally through their adventures on the road. Claire’s journey, however, seems to come about less because she’s “lost” and more because she’s bored. She sure is a user. I giggle at your description of Claire as Bella Swan-esque. In terms of why men are inexplicably attracted to her, it’s quite true. But Claire has some street smarts…and…maybe…hidden talents? I don’t know; I just hate Bella so much, there’s no one as useless as her.
You touched on the other big theme of Wenders’ -- communication devices as mediators. Lots of shit goes down via phone or photo images because the characters are unable (for various reasons) to say what they need to say or see what they’re really experiencing. It’s supposed to function as an outside perspective…and with varying degrees of effectiveness. Yeah, suddenly the narcissistic addiction to dream machines is putting me in mind of Facebook junkies who feel that every little thought that comes from them is golden, or that the world will stop if they lose the feed.
In a note of disclosure, my last year of film school was more or less devoted to Wings of Desire, so that film I do know inside and out. I fear that if I watched it today I would feel shame at the pretentiousness of art school and artsy films. In the end, it’s the only Wenders film I really fell for. But back to this film. I always enjoy the unsettling stage of the world on the brink of destruction. And I like the futuristic theme of making the world seem smaller through all of this “world citizenship,” easily zipping from country to country, and the cool technologies they have. I do enjoy the concept of the dream recorder. It makes it sound like it could almost be invented, if you just knew what brain signals to hook it up to. The film is beautifully shot and has Rudiger Vogler in it, who I would watch in anything. And you’re right about the soundtrack too.
I finally saw Wings of Desire last year (after feeling like I'd already seen it, thanks to aforementioned professor), and I really, really liked it. There was pretension, but also a lot of pretension-poking humor, and it all balanced out well for me. Haven't seen any other Wender films, tho, so I'm not sure whether I'd like his usual themes - but he is a great friend of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, so it's pretty likely I'd be a fan.
I'll admit, Claire is not nearly as bad as Bella Swan - at least she acts on her lust :D And there's a lot more here that's interesting conceptually than any Twilight film. Her and Sam/Trevor, tho...urgh. That's a kind of character that twigs my rage button, because I was raised by special snowflakes, and thus became a special snowflake magnet even as I tried to grow out of that maddening no-win paradigm. It's my own issues more than the film, really. I get all Elvis-y on the tv when "I love you because I've decided you're exactly what I want without getting to know you" is portrayed as real, higher-than-the-plebs human emotion. If I felt like their facebook-esque self-obsessions were meant to be an extension of that, I'd have found the film eerily prescient and incisive.
I like unsympathetic characters when I feel like the text means them that way as part of their arc or function - the most recent to come to mind is Monsters, where both protagonists have landed in their situation via self-indulgent bad choices, telling themselves stories of who they are that bear little resemblance to reality. Shoring up a self-image is fair fictional game, to me, but when a writer/director over-identifies with characters, I get irritated. Mostly because it's something I had to have knocked out of me.
Also, I'm so very jealous you've gone to film school :)
As a film, Wings of Desire functions perfectly on every level. The narrative is presented visually, which I think is all-important in a visual medium!!! I’ve been tearing the house up today looking for my videotape, but I can’t find it. I want to watch it. Yeah, the Nick Cave scene is one of my favorite parts.
Though it’s quite different from Wings of Desire, it’s sequel, Faraway, So Close might be worth a watch. In some ways, it’s a bit of a buddy movie between Damiel and Cassiel. It’s more plot-heavy, and whereas I found Wings more uplifting, Faraway So Close is gloomier.
Yeah, I’m of mixed feelings when it comes to this film. It’s not what it appears to be on its surface. Unsympathetic characters are the biggest stumbling block when it comes to enjoying Wim Wenders’ work…(or anybody’s, if they use unsympathetic characters). Because, like you said, it’s tied into all that self-indulgence -- both on the part of the characters and that of the author. If you feel excluded, it’s hard to get into it.
Wenders’ protagonists are indeed extremely lost souls, finding connections again generally through their adventures on the road. Claire’s journey, however, seems to come about less because she’s “lost” and more because she’s bored. She sure is a user. I giggle at your description of Claire as Bella Swan-esque. In terms of why men are inexplicably attracted to her, it’s quite true. But Claire has some street smarts…and…maybe…hidden talents? I don’t know; I just hate Bella so much, there’s no one as useless as her.
You touched on the other big theme of Wenders’ -- communication devices as mediators. Lots of shit goes down via phone or photo images because the characters are unable (for various reasons) to say what they need to say or see what they’re really experiencing. It’s supposed to function as an outside perspective…and with varying degrees of effectiveness. Yeah, suddenly the narcissistic addiction to dream machines is putting me in mind of Facebook junkies who feel that every little thought that comes from them is golden, or that the world will stop if they lose the feed.
In a note of disclosure, my last year of film school was more or less devoted to Wings of Desire, so that film I do know inside and out. I fear that if I watched it today I would feel shame at the pretentiousness of art school and artsy films. In the end, it’s the only Wenders film I really fell for. But back to this film. I always enjoy the unsettling stage of the world on the brink of destruction. And I like the futuristic theme of making the world seem smaller through all of this “world citizenship,” easily zipping from country to country, and the cool technologies they have. I do enjoy the concept of the dream recorder. It makes it sound like it could almost be invented, if you just knew what brain signals to hook it up to. The film is beautifully shot and has Rudiger Vogler in it, who I would watch in anything. And you’re right about the soundtrack too.
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I finally saw Wings of Desire last year (after feeling like I'd already seen it, thanks to aforementioned professor), and I really, really liked it. There was pretension, but also a lot of pretension-poking humor, and it all balanced out well for me. Haven't seen any other Wender films, tho, so I'm not sure whether I'd like his usual themes - but he is a great friend of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, so it's pretty likely I'd be a fan.
I'll admit, Claire is not nearly as bad as Bella Swan - at least she acts on her lust :D And there's a lot more here that's interesting conceptually than any Twilight film. Her and Sam/Trevor, tho...urgh. That's a kind of character that twigs my rage button, because I was raised by special snowflakes, and thus became a special snowflake magnet even as I tried to grow out of that maddening no-win paradigm. It's my own issues more than the film, really. I get all Elvis-y on the tv when "I love you because I've decided you're exactly what I want without getting to know you" is portrayed as real, higher-than-the-plebs human emotion. If I felt like their facebook-esque self-obsessions were meant to be an extension of that, I'd have found the film eerily prescient and incisive.
I like unsympathetic characters when I feel like the text means them that way as part of their arc or function - the most recent to come to mind is Monsters, where both protagonists have landed in their situation via self-indulgent bad choices, telling themselves stories of who they are that bear little resemblance to reality. Shoring up a self-image is fair fictional game, to me, but when a writer/director over-identifies with characters, I get irritated. Mostly because it's something I had to have knocked out of me.
Also, I'm so very jealous you've gone to film school :)
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Though it’s quite different from Wings of Desire, it’s sequel, Faraway, So Close might be worth a watch. In some ways, it’s a bit of a buddy movie between Damiel and Cassiel. It’s more plot-heavy, and whereas I found Wings more uplifting, Faraway So Close is gloomier.
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