I'm a big fan of Wim Wenders as a director. Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire are some of my all time favourite films. I also really like The American Friend by him. I was both excited and apprehensive before watching Until The End of the World. Mainly due to its 5 hour long length and divisive critical reception. Though now that I've watched the film. I have mixed feelings about it though overall I found it to be really interesting.
I adored the soundtrack and the way it was used. There are many standout tracks from artists such as Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, REM and Julee Cruise. The cinematography from the late Robby Muller is stunningly beautiful. There were many sequences that captivated me mainly due to the variety of worldwide locations, the visuals as well as the many different themes explored. All of the performances are very solid with Max Von Sydow, Solveig Donmartin and William Hurt being standouts.
Though I had a lot of problems with the film. I thought the narration from Sam Neill for the most part was really unnecessary and explained things that were already happening on screen. Even though I didn't find Until The End of the World boring at all. I can't help but feel the 5 hour runtime wasn't fully earned. There was a lot of scenes I felt would've benefited from being shortened and having tighter pacing particularly in the middle section of the film. Another problem I had was that the film lacked the emotional pull that Wim Wenders best films have.
In spite of my problems with it. Until The End of the World is still a compelling and beautifully shot film. That in many ways is way ahead of its time particularly in its exploration of technology and how it can overtake peoples lives. The things that work about this are highly impressive and it stands out as being an ambitious work of cinema. Though it falls short of being a masterpiece.
I adored the soundtrack and the way it was used. There are many standout tracks from artists such as Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, REM and Julee Cruise. The cinematography from the late Robby Muller is stunningly beautiful. There were many sequences that captivated me mainly due to the variety of worldwide locations, the visuals as well as the many different themes explored. All of the performances are very solid with Max Von Sydow, Solveig Donmartin and William Hurt being standouts.
Though I had a lot of problems with the film. I thought the narration from Sam Neill for the most part was really unnecessary and explained things that were already happening on screen. Even though I didn't find Until The End of the World boring at all. I can't help but feel the 5 hour runtime wasn't fully earned. There was a lot of scenes I felt would've benefited from being shortened and having tighter pacing particularly in the middle section of the film. Another problem I had was that the film lacked the emotional pull that Wim Wenders best films have.
In spite of my problems with it. Until The End of the World is still a compelling and beautifully shot film. That in many ways is way ahead of its time particularly in its exploration of technology and how it can overtake peoples lives. The things that work about this are highly impressive and it stands out as being an ambitious work of cinema. Though it falls short of being a masterpiece.