The Auteur's Film Company presents
A Wim Wenders Production
in black/white
Aspect Ratio 1.66:1
and live-recorded audio
Shot in 11 weeks from July 1st to October 31st, 1975...
...between Lüneberg and Hof along the East German border
So you were a cinema musician
Yes, I was
My wife played the piano, and I was on the violin
And if it was an epic film like "The Niebelungen" or "Ben Hur"...
...there was other music...
...like a cello, a bass fiddle, and a harmonium...
...or maybe drums and cymbals
-It wasn't easy -And they all lost their jobs?
Yes, it was tough when the talkies came
The real talkies, I mean, not the records
They had those big records...
...and every film was 12, 14 reels - small reels
And, you know, the film often broke...
...and we'd have to spend the whole night...
...sticking it together...
...but it was still awful...
...and they'd boo us the next day
What was your favourite music?
I'd say "The Niebelungen", the film was in two parts
First was "Siegfried", the "Kriemhild's Revenge"
"Ben Hur" was also in two parts
At least, I think so, I'm not sure now
Could you make a living from the cinema?
Impossible, not nowadays
Can you see cinemas disappearing from small towns soon?
I think there were too many cinemas round here
For instance, in Schirnding, Hohenberg, Heckstadt, Thiersheim...
So there was no market
Now they're all gone
But one cinema on its own could still be going in 10 years
If there are any films, that is, if films are still being made
Did you make a living from your cinema before?
Yes, after 1951
But for many years I wasn't allowed to run it
Because of the Third Reich, and all that
Why weren't you allowed?
Because I was a Party member
The SPD... I mean, NSPDAD, or whatever its name was
I had to go to court in 1950 to get my cinema back
It happened to many cinema owners
In the Course of Time (Kings of the Road)
They squeak, eh?
Get your wet things off, I'll lend you some
I need water for my van
Sleeping the day away
Can I have this?
I need a shit
Your clothes are dry now
What's the next big town?
I go through Wolfsburg
My name's Bruno Winter
Mine's Lander
Robert Lander
How long have you been going around cinemas?
Two years
Alone?
Two years?
Where's your home? Your base?
The van's registered in Munich, I bought it there
How do you cope... being alone?
It's fine
Better
I can't do it
Any idea where you want to head for?
Let's see
This goes to Lehrte...
...Magdeburg... Dessau...
Helmstedt... I'm there this afternoon
At the Roxy
Finished yet?
-What day is it today? -Monday
I've just had a beer
I was in Genoa yesterday
I'm tired. I've driven enough
I can make up another bed
I'll take a walk... to the railway
Do you know what "loon" means?
Crazy person
Can't be that
What's the whole sentence?
There was a grey light on the lake...
...and when he heard the loon...
...he knew exactly what it was,
listening to the raucous, idiot voice
A water bird... a diver
Want some music?
Aha... gone
Kamikaze...
Daredevil...
I've got something for breakfast
The cup's had it
Do I get another?
Where is it?
It's okay
It'll fall off again
Come, children, inside
When can we start?
The kids are getting restless
I didn't know I'd have to mend a loudspeaker. Lucky I had a spare
The kids have been waiting half an hour already
We install this and we're ready
Quiet please now
The men are repairing something, we'll start in five minutes
I can't see
The men are mending the loudspeaker
Turn the light off
The next turning goes to the village "Powerless"
Only one road
A dead end
About 6km, there and back
Not worth it, it's just another village
Ever been there?
I saw it on the map
So I did a detour to "Powerless"
The village on the other side of the hill is "Peaceless"
Yes... and the hill?
"Dead Man"
"Powerless", "Peaceless", "Dead Man"
It can't be
I bought a few things
But the only shirt I found had a high collar
They rub my neck
It's so sticky, with this hot wind
I feel like going swimming
Maybe later on... in Baggersee
I've no time
I can always go on alone
A nine-figure number! A matter of life and death
-The town... -Schöninger
When I was on the ladder... I suddenly felt frightened
I was watching my shadow...
...and at that moment I noticed... that you were watching me
That was it! I wanted to stop
I was angry...
...sort of... helpless
I didn't know how I'd got involved
But you kept playing the fool, so I had to follow you
That made me more angry
Same with me
What?
Stop that now
I'm not sleeping in here again
Sleep where you like
-How was the sausage? -Good
D'you do anything else, apart from racing driver?
I'm a paediatrician... a sort of children's doctor
I left my wife in Genoa
I didn't ask you that
No need to tell me your history
What then?
Who you are
I am my history
The mattress is in the back
Take a cushion
What a racket!
Beat it!
What's wrong?
Can I help?
Leave me alone!
I'm not hurt
It isn't my blood
I wasn't even in the car
It's my wife's coat
It was a word
A remark
Yesterday
Something set it off
She drove straight into a tree
We'd spent a few days... at a village inn
There were these beds, twin beds
The kitchens were underneath...
...and when you opened the window...
Suddenly she said "This stinks"
"The bed stinks, the basin stinks, the kitchen stinks...
"...the lamp stinks, the picture..."
Suddenly, the smell from the kitchen...
Suddenly...
She'd had enough
She even said she'd drive into a tree
She told me
It was sort of blackmail
I told the police...
...what she said she would do...
...but... they couldn't care less
Accident!
She was still warm
She's dead
Didn't she understand...?
There is only life
Death doesn't exist
Kamikaze, have you got a lodger?
There used to be an ink you could erase old writing with...
...and write something new at the same time
I keep thinking the same thing, and writing it down...
...even when I keep waking from my dream
Abstract repetitions...
...courses, paths...
...that I experienced and wrote
That means the dreaming was writing, circular
Then, in my dream, I thought of the idea...
...of changing the ink
With the new ink...
...I could suddenly think new things...
...see, and write, new things
The problem was solved
I think not
You're still in the dark
Is the car still there?
Yes, still by the tree
Can I stay?
What?
Till they fetch the car
No, we have to move on
They're coming for it tomorrow
Can't be done
I can't bear to see the car again
You don't have to walk past it
We must move on
No, we don't
I don't
What did I say last night?
You weren't feeling good, because of the accident
-The car's being towed away -Tell me when it's gone
They're lifting up the front
It's a truck with a crane
They're pulling it up the bank
Now it's on the road
They're leaving... no...
...they're turning...
Now they're driving away
And now... they're gone
"I'm going to my father's at Ostheim. I know your route"
Robert
Listen to me
Still doing everything alone?
The paper still coming out daily?
No, only three times a week
The house is run down
You know...
...all this time that I've been away...
...these ten years...
...whenever I think of something, or talk about something...
...the first thing I do is imagine it in print
I see you, setting the print
-I know that... -Be quiet!
Just hear me out
If you talk, I'm leaving
Last time I tried to talk to you...
...I had to listen to you
I was too embarrassed, standing next to your desk...
...because I didn't want to admit...
...that you just babble on...
...and I know you babble on
Mother couldn't get a word in either
That's what I wanted to talk about
She got nothing out of it... her life with you
Shut up!
Why...
...didn't you...
...let her...
Got a light?
I've just won it
Aren't you cold?
The sun was out just now
A light from the Führer!
Can I have a ride?
The ticket office is closed
I could pay you
-Nothing smaller? -No, hold this fellow
You can ride for ever with this
Is she with you?
Ice-cream?
If I change?
Tonight?
I'm at the cinema then
Here? I'll come
That's my automatic press
-I've had it for three years -I'm not interested
I want to talk about my mother
I know... but you've said nothing for three hours
Listen to me anyway
I want you to listen to me
Film started?
Ten minutes ago, but you haven't missed anything
You tricked me
You're all dressed up
Waste of time... or shall we go to the cinema anyway?
-Best seats? -Yes... two
8 marks
Nothing smaller?
I'll have some almonds too
You owe me 2 marks... no, I'll treat you to an ice afterwards
Better go in, the tickets expire
Your wife, I never met her
We don't live together
Unlike you...
... I separated from my wife
How about a coffee... ah no, I forgot
Don't you like the film?
Words fail me
The film's out of focus, too dark in the middle
It's badly framed too
Sorry...it's not my field
Had the job long?
I'm helping my gran
Honestly!
Call the projectionist
He's helping out too
What do I say?
I'll do it
It's out of focus
Who says
I do
It's clear enough
Clear, eh?
Put it back
That's why it's dark in the middle
I'm working here for nothing
And why not?
Shit on you!
I'm off
You can't do that. I'll put it back
Go fuck yourself
Leaving?
It's unbelievable
What's wrong?
He just left
What did you do?
I have to go... change the reel
And my projectionist?
He'll be back. Don't worry. I'll do it tonight
D'you know how? Don't pretend again
Shit!
Will you be here all night?
Yes
I'll show you something
"Brutality, Action, Sex. A film TV won't show"
A woman had vaginal cramp in here recently
Grandpa had to call an ambulance
She and her lover had to be carried out
He couldn't get it out of her
I met a man this morning whose wife killed herself last night
She drove into a tree
Yesterday I saw a woman sitting in the sun under a hair-dryer...
...her hands folded in her lap
-Did you talk to the man? -Yes
He said "Life is all there is"
But which one?
And you?
I live alone with my daughter, I always will
Did you know my mother died when I was born?
What?
And now?
Now I'm in the dark too
What?
I'm tired
Father!
Got a pen?
Paper?
On the back
Don't you need it?
Keep it... it's from Wolfsburg
I'm leaving
Good to see you... wait
"How to Respect a Woman"
Not get much sleep?
Oh, I didn't have a bad night, compared to your travelling museum
-Satisfied? -What do you mean?
You printed a special edition
It was meant to be a speech
Did you have to?
Why not leave an old man in peace?
I always left him in peace... but he never did me
You probably can't imagine
No, I never had a father. Mine got it in the war
How long since you last saw him?
Since my mother died... eight years
I thought the Kings of the Road didn't like history
-Where to now? -I've a job in Hassfurt
-The C.C. cinema? -You know it?
Yeah... I spent my money there when I was a kid
Secretly, I didn't dare go in my village
Shouldn't your headline have a question mark?
I left it out on purpose
-Did you learn typesetting? -Of course
Do you have to go to the next cinema?
No
-Let's go somewhere else -To Genoa?
-Not necessarily -Where then?
-Where did you grow up? -On the Rhine
-Alone with your mother? -Yes
Let's go there
It all looks the same, we'd better hurry
Paul's still here
Paul
This is Bruno
Remember your dad's old BMW?
-The one we ran around in? -Without a licence...
-Still got it? -It's mine now, it's a gem
Is it in the garage?
You know I ran into someone in Sicily... on Mount Etna
Softly
Soft-ly
Aha! Geography!
As security
Paul, you still owe me
Got a licence?
He's Mike Hailwood's brother
Here
On the island?
Yes, there's a house... it's hidden in summer
You row there?
The current's very strong
Don't worry, I know how it's done
-Can we sleep in the house? -No
"Shortly before dawn..."
What a racket!
They're dredging the channels
Can you drive the bike?
I think so
I'm too tired
I had some sleep
Got it?
Yes, but I promised to show the film tonight
The projectionist is ill, the grandmother...
What's in it for you?
An apple, and an egg. They won't have a show otherwise
-Can you get me a free ticket? -You get the egg
-I'm too generous -It has it's good side
Generous!
-How long still to go? -Three reels
What if you leave one out?
Or two?
Let's go!
-Quiet! -Right, slowly does it
Walk, don't run
Hang on... it's the other way
Waste of time...
What?
You said something
What? What did you say?
Everything's gone to sleep
Coffee! Let's have some coffee
The Champ!
An organ's home. 4 letters...
Loft
That's it... been to the river?
Yes
Can I phone?
If it's not long distance
It is long distance
It's me
How are you?
-You the projectionist? -Yes
Come with me
They didn't teach you much
I learned by watching
Know what a Maltese Cross is?
Maltese? Some kind of booze?
The picture was shuddering
No more than usual
It's filthy
This is a mess
The whole film industry depends on this
It moves the pictures on 24 times every second
It advances the mechanism
Ingenious!
How come the juke box?
I swapped it for a projector
Good move
And you? Had an accident?
Yes, with a motorbike
I've seen it done better
Shall we take the base down?
Yes
I'm glad we went to the Rhine
I suddenly see myself as someone...
...who has lived through a time...
...and that time is my history
It's a comforting thought
Shit! Here's the border, we can't go on
Leave the headlights on
Careful! You might get shot
Bring the whisky
Yanks!
Holiday Inn?
Not exactly, but...
Beds... pictures
Colorado
Fort Worth...
Texas
Taris oats, Indiana
We can fetch the mattresses
Texas
Turner...
Bad ass from Georgia
That's for you
Don't talk crap
A children's doctor shouldn't be so sensitive
I'm not a children's doctor
You said you were
Yes, but... I'm somewhere between paediatrics and linguistics
So, you are one
I don't have patients, I do research into a child's first months...
...of reading and writing
What happens?
At that stage...
...figures and letters are still an adventure
Later, as writing becomes routine...
...this fantasy is lost...
...and only the problems caused by this fantasy remain
There was a boy...
...for whom the lines were paths...
...along which letters moved by means of a motorbike...
...the pen
The "i" and "e" always rode together
The "i" was clever and pointed
So I'm "i", and you're "e"
For instance, "e" was...
...stupid and lazy...
...a crook...
...living in the underworld...
...dirty and evil
Mean...
...mean as she can be
What?
Sometimes I've a tune in my head, often with English lyrics...
...but I don't think about the words, until suddenly...
I once quarrelled with a girl...
...and the whole time I was humming a tune...
...even when she shouted at me
Then I left, and when I got outside I remembered the lyrics
I've got a woman, mean as she can be
The Yanks have colonised our subconscious
You weren't really stupid enough to try it?
I got an American operator
I should've asked for Tennessee
Why not go back to your wife, if you miss her so much?
-It's not possible -Why not?
I'm no longer myself when I'm with her
Why keep phoning her then?
I'm afraid she'll hurt herself
You fucking coward!
You're afraid for yourself
That way you'll really kill her
She'll be all right
-You don't know her -But I know you
You're talking nonsense
You sit in your truck like in a bunker...
...and spout off about being alone
-Nothing can happen -Enough has happened to me
Not any more, you're like a corpse, Have you no desire?
I have desire
For a woman... any woman
All women arouse my desire
I think all men are like that
But I know it, and I can't pretend I don't...
...so I don't get involved now
I'd know it could be any woman - not just the one I'm with
I don't know how a man can live with a woman
If a thing isn't possible, you have to make it possible
It's not really a life...
...if you can't imagine change...
...or want it
Of course I'd like...
...to be close... to a woman
But I want to be alone just as much
I won't give that up again
We live with the contradiction
Nor do I believe...
...in...
For instance, when you fuck, you're inside a woman
But have you ever felt you're really close to her?
I always felt lonely inside a woman
Lonely to the core
I can't imagine you fucking
I can, I can imagine you
I bet you pant, like in a bad porno film
"Everything must change. So long, R"
What are you writing?
I'm describing a station, everything I see
What do you see?
Tracks, gravel, timetable
Sky, clouds
A man with a suitcase
An empty suitcase
A grin
A black eye
A fist...
...throwing a stone
That easy?
That easy
If you give me your notebook, you can have my glasses and case
It's a good swap
All right, I'll do my best
Kamikaze, don't think I haven't seen you
Better and better, eh?
-Not showing films now? -No
But I keep the cinema ready to re-open
"Films are the art of seeing", that's what father said
So I can't show those films...
...which exploit everything that can be exploited...
...in people's heads and eyes
I won't be made to show films which leave people...
...stunned and rigid with stupidity...
...and which kill the lust for life inside them...
...and destroy their feeling for themselves and the world
My father wanted there always to be a cinema here
Me too
But it's better to have no cinema...
...than the kind of cinema you get nowadays
Subtitles by NiX for FileHeaven from PAL vhs