German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected. After returning to Europe, the innocent friendship between Winter and Alice grows as they travel together through various European cities on a quest for Alice’s grandmother. A melancholic poem on the barren nature and alienation within Western and European culture. This movie is as warm as it is cold and it's probably one of the calmest movies I can think of. Filming locations for Alice In Den Stadten (Alice In The Cities) (1974), in Germany and New York. More Alice In Den Stadten images. Phillip is a roving German reporter who, after a chance encounter with an elusive American woman, reluctantly accepts temporary custody of little Alice. Phillip takes. It's almost like going through a time machine. It's steeped in culture yet somehow removes itself from it, a dwindling poem about being lost, desensitized by the homogenization of said culture, and the simple story of finding something worth smiling about in another soul. Philip and Alice's arduous relationship is fascinatingly endearing, flipping back and forth from opposite to opposite. It's comical, actually. It reminds me of my own trials to be a father type figure to my own sister, which is to be expected with this movie, but I couldn't help it. ![]() It gets to me. Film #10 in Wim Wender's Alice in the Cities is a really simple film, with a narrative that focuses on a road trip shared between a tired writer and the young girl he is attempting to return to her family. The film moves incredibly slowly, almost dreamlike, without any sort of stakes or tension. It's a very relaxing film, and a majority of the film is only images, with very little dialogue. The performance by the young girl that portrays Alice is fantastic, and she definitely carries the film. It is easy to see why the main character grows to love her like his own child, as she is a very well-rounded character and she is flawlessly •. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() One of the more subtle road movies ever made, where low-key existentialism co-exists with an even quieter kind of sentimentality. Wenders explores space - both external and internal - with 16mm film grit, projected through an alter ego character, who, like the director himself, is looking for his Story. This seemingly aimless ambling, sprinkled with Wender's curiosity about Americana, becomes a more edifying drift once the protagonist meets a child companion and returns to Europe. The scene at the ice cream parlor, where another (unrelated) kid hums strangely to a harmonica in a Canned Heat song playing on the jukebox, as Alice and Philip exchange cutting remarks, wry smiles and a bit of sly bonding, really elevates the film. The little foreboding guitar track is overused, and the film too restless to truly let me settle in. But I found it a minor tragedy that Alice never got to meet Phil's parents. I feel like American filmmakers would tilt the story to extremes, rendering this film more saccarine or more disturbing. Here, the sweet and sour balance each other nicely, Alice's rudeness and insouciant entitled nature boldly contrasting with the rather severe fact that her mother has abandoned her to an impoverished stranger. The sincerest of Wim Wenders' Road Trilogy— jaded adulthood being repaired by innocent childhood, to create an unlikely and pure friendship. Shot in shimmering b&w, this existential odyssey follows German journalist Philip who's traveling across the U.S. To complete a magazine article. Instead, he's more focused on photography, taking snapshots of beach-side boardwalks, gas stations, telephone poles and other objects, etc. Deciding to leave for Germany, Philip realizes that a strike has prevented all flights to his hometown. At the ticket counter, he meets a woman who is also trying to return to Germany with her 9-year-old daughter, Alice. But suddenly, Alice's mother leaves her daughter with Philip on account of a personal mishap. And what transpires, is an eloquent •.
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March 2018
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