W.I.M. – Der Stand der Dinge
Bundeskunsthalle Bonn
THE STATE OF THINGS is a deeply personal film about filmmaking in Europe and America. It tells the story of a film crew stranded on the westernmost tip of Europe. Director Friedrich Munroe (Patrick Bauchau), the cameraman (Sam Fuller), the screenwriter, and the actors have been abandoned by their producer. After shooting the last reel of film (a remake of a low-budget sci-fi thriller), there is nothing left to do but wait.
Eventually, Friedrich sets off for Los Angeles to search for the missing producer (Allen Goorwitz). He finds him on Sunset Boulevard, living in his motorhome, on the run from gangsters or financiers. The next morning, both men must pay for their black-and-white film adventure with their lives. Friedrich resists until the very end, “firing back” with his Super 8 camera.
Wenders’ parable on filmmaking has also been seen as a reflection of the difficulties he encountered during the production of his first American film, HAMMETT.
FRG 1981/82
Length: 121 min, 3304 m
Format: 35mm black-and-white and color; 1:1.66
Language: English, French
4K Restoration 2015, 4K DCP
Production: Road Movies GmbH (Berlin), Wim Wenders Produktion (Berlin), Project Filmproduktion im Verlag der Autoren GmbH & Co. KG (Munich), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) (Mainz)
Director: Wim Wenders