jefferino
Wrong move, indeed, and currently rated way too high above (7.1 as I write this). Wenders is one of my favorite directors, but this is the weak link in his Road Trilogy. Since the three movies are not directly connected, you can skip right from "Alice in the Cities" (wonderful) to "Kings of the Road" (a masterpiece).
zetes
Rudiger Vogler plays a dull, young man who still lives with his mother. He wishes to be a writer, and his mother gives him a push at it when she kicks him out, forcing him to experience the world on his own. This is kind of an abstract narrative. Vogler drifts along picking up new companions, who then accompany him and chat with him on long walks. It's interesting at first, but, frankly, the talk gets pretty boring after a while and it never really goes anywhere. A visual cue in the very first scene should have tipped me off about what I was getting into: William Faulkner's sophomore novel, Mosquitoes, is propped up in an awkward position against a wall so we're sure to see it. Not many people have read that one, and for good reason: it isn't any good. But it follows a very similar structure, as it's about a group of banal people who talk a lot. The story itself is purportedly based on a Goethe novel. Hanna Schygulla and a very young and adorable Natassja Kinski co-star (I kind of suspected Kinski was extremely young, but she was only 14 when the film premiered and she appears topless in the film, which is quite icky).
daydreamblvr1210
Wenders' road movies of the 70s have a charm that makes them accessible to many viewers, yet are often linked by the less accessible themes of alienation and detachment. It is an interesting dichotomy and one that comes to focus with this film. Political and cultural pre-determinism are not as easily digested outside the German point of view in the 70s, yet it is a common theme amongst Wenders films as well as (arguably) Herzog & Fassbinder (New German cinema contemporaries) . One does not have to be a philosophy or poli-sci major to enjoy this film however. The fact that Wrong Move is freely based on Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" is easily overlooked by the casual viewer - but if viewed as an allegorical narrative, like Goethe's work, parts of the film come together and make this obtuse, personal work by Wenders more interesting.The characters Wilhelm (Rudiger Volger) meets during his trip represent ideological sensibilities of 70s Germany. Mignon played by the teen Nastassja Kinski represents the youth and future of Germany (mute, trusting yet undemanding). Laertes represents the idealism of old Germany, and considers himself a martyr for the Nazi cause. Wilhelm and Therese (Hanna Schygulla) are between these 2 and take action to liberate one from the other. All is told in an un-naturalistic style that only works in some cases. The long (almost single take) walk up the hillside by the river are a good example of where the film shines. The photography by Robby Müller is consistently excellent here.It's a difficult film but rewarding to those who take time to understand it from it's original historical and ideological context. Worth seeing for the cinematography of Müller and the presence of Hanna Schygulla and Nastassja Kinski.
jazzest
While it may be cliche to say that The Wrong Move is director Wenders' self-portrait, his sense-of-lost in contemporary Germany will be easily trailed through writer-wannabe protagonist Wilhelm's fruitless journey to encounter and interact with new lover, friend and enemy. Cinematographer Robby Muller, who would be internationally acclaimed a few years later, is on his way, exploring amazing long takes in the conversation-while-walking scene towards the end. European contemporary classical soundtrack sounds appropriate but obsolete.
AD
