Alice In The Cities

The first in a trilogy of low-key, low-budge "road trip" films by Wenders that included Wrong Move (1975) and Kings Of The Road, 1976 and that all starred Rüdiger Vogler as a morose, existentially-alienated central character (different in all 3 films) this is also the most accessible and dramatically sustaining of the three as Vogler's photo-journalist becomes engaged by the spontaneity of his child companion (Yella Rottländer) as they travel along the east coast of America and then in Germany in search of her grandmother.

Although the film is usually discussed in terms of New German Cinema and specifically in relation to Wenders' self-reflexive musings on post-war Germany and it relation to American culture, for me the most engaging aspect of the film is the theme of jaded adult sensibilities being renewed by the innocence of a child, this being a commendable addition to the catalogue of films dealing with this subject (Wenders himself revisiting it in Paris, Texas)

DVD Extras: Available as a part of a 3 disc Madman release that also includes Wrong Move, 1975 and Kings Of The Road, 1976. Comes with an audio commentary by Melbourne film academic, Dr Adrian Martin.

Available from: Madman

 

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