Synopsis
Cybernetics engineer Fred Stiller uncovers a massive corporate conspiracy involving a virtual reality computer project.
1973 ‘Welt am Draht’ Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cybernetics engineer Fred Stiller uncovers a massive corporate conspiracy involving a virtual reality computer project.
Klaus Löwitsch Barbara Valentin Christine Kaufmann Ingrid Caven Mascha Rabben Karl-Heinz Vosgerau Wolfgang Schenck Günter Lamprecht Adrian Hoven Ulli Lommel Ivan Desny Joachim Hansen Kurt Raab Margit Carstensen Gottfried John Rudolf Lenz Lilo Pempeit Heinz Meier Peter Chatel Rainer Hauer Karl Scheydt Ernst Küsters El Hedi ben Salem Solange Pradel Bruce Low Elma Karlowa Maryse Dellanoy Werner Schroeter Magdalena Montezuma Show All…
Cinematic paranoiac, the great philosophical science fiction mindfuck noir of 1973. As far as connecting with me mentally, this is right in my wheelhouse and pulverizes all the ‘not for me’ slop movies I’ve been suffocated by over the last few weeks here in weirdo 2020.
Even better on a revisit.
I fell asleep during The Matrix. Its themes seemed to me, at the time of its release, more or less just trite ideas that I had already read about in various intro philosophy texts and whatnot, and the areas it touched on were never my areas of interest in philosophy anyway. It muddled its religious undertones, and the ethical questions were given short shrift. Fifteen years later, I watched a movie nearly twice as long, which eschews action in favor of psychological intensity, and tackles many--but not all--of the same questions.
It was much better this time around.
The first and best difference is aesthetic. Fassbinder has created a science fiction world that looks schlubby. It's populated by suits and…
Fassbinder's science-fiction/noir hybrid was really years ahead of its time. Not only in its ideas but in its aesthetic as well. This was such an obvious influence on The Matrix. The Wachowski siblings even modeled the "what does chicken really taste like" scene after a sequence included here.
Its 3,5 hour runtime might deter some modern day viewers from watching it, but they should at least give it a chance, because it's a very rewarding watch.
Absolute top-tier proto-cyberpunk seventies science fiction. Existence is simulations all the way down and there’s only one master programmer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Reflections and affectations and permutations and the director’s world-class blocking all lean into the idea of an artificial world that’s, in turn, imagining an artificial world.
It’s the neurotic, surveillance obsessed, Eastern Bloc science fiction masterpiece that could only have been made in the West... and for television too (the real medium of the future).
Fortunately for us, Fassbinder is settling our own real world debate over whether we live in a simulation or not. Here he suggests that our world is not a simulation, for if it were, we would’ve created technology to build a simulated world…
Some obvious inspiration for The Matrix but I wanna give a special shout out to the Wachowski Sisters for expanding those two blonde guys into the albino twins in The Matrix Reloaded. And then for coming back to this well years later to use Stiller’s car as the inspiration for Speed Racer.
Speaking of which, I had the damndest time trying to figure out if this inspired Blade Runner or not. Possible that this movie was simply inspired by Philip K. Dick. But the main guy sort of looked like a German Harrison Ford, you see. So you can understand why I’m over here like “uhhhh okay??”
The movie kept a really smart narrative distance from Stiller and his troubles.…
I Am Curious Orange and Teal (Aren't I?)
I love how nervous the camera is in this. Searching the room for clues, fixating on mirrors and reflections and spheres, scanning along walls and corridors. It really invites you into the paranoid headspace of the protagonist in a horrible way. I have to go now, someone is watching me (from above...or is it below?).
I’d never heard of World on a Wire before Criterion’s announcement of its re-mastering and subsequent theatrical re-release in 2010. The trailer they’d put together hooked me immediately, based mostly on the retro-future set design and the promise of a strange, hard sci-fi thriller full of intrigue and mystery. The picture did not disappoint. With the recent blu ray release, I was thankful to be able to sit down with this epic film once again and try and make sense of any details I’d missed the first time around.
In the not-too-distant future, a supercomputer called ‘Simulacron’ provides scientists with the ability to simulate and study a virtual society comprised of 10,000 ‘identity units’. When the technical director of the…
A haunting sci fi gem that questions reality at it’s core and lingers in your mind long after it’s over.
Fassbinder gets the jump on decades of philosophical sci-fi with this miniseries. His penchant for reflective surfaces and obscuring glass is taken to an early extreme here, with countless shots incorporating reflections into blocking or framing characters through glass that often warps dimensions and even at its least intrusive makes it clear that everyone is being watched. (The adjective "cinematic" is used freely and almost always emptily in current discussions of TV, but Fassbinder, like the other European auteurs who experimented on the small-screen, comes closest to cinema by expressly foregrounding the format of their television productions with an aesthetic that shows them adapting to its different demands and even the implications of its alternate screen.)
There's way too much…
Reflections, distortions, refractions, obstructions... Reality is seldom clear-cut, and World on a Wire takes that notion to the extreme. One of the most impressive made-for-TV movies I have ever seen, Fassbinder takes us on a twisted tour of technology, our minds, and reality. Heavy on psychology, philosophy, and gleefully 70s-style zoom-ins, Fassbinder's flair for visually arresting cinematography take this sci-fi tale from dated to exemplary.
The use of mirrors, while seeming almost heavy-handed at times (nearly every other shot seems to have a reflection of one of the speaking actors), hammers home the underlying theme of paranoia - both of the invisible limits of our own perception and our minds' attempts to enlarge our world beyond those limits. In browsing…
I’ve never done cocaine, but I have watched this movie, and I can’t imagine the experience is much different.
In other words:
It’s the kind of film where, at a certain point, a guy manically shoots at a bird—indoors—which inevitably leads to a cabin exploding.
A weird, hyper-stylized existential sci-fi noir film. Simultaneously overly dramatic and expressionless. Practically drowning in the philosophical implications of it’s premise.
The whole time I couldn’t help seeing the influence of Godard’s Alphaville on this film (confirmed later by a brief cameo), and the influence of this film on Fukunaga/Somerville’s Netflix mini-series Maniac.
Every camera move is pointedly virtuosic. Every mirror is a metaphor. Every room is stylish. Every look is sly, knowing. Every reality is both below and above another.
So, basically, it was delightful.
I think, therefore, I am.
Imagine reflecting a mirror on a mirror, thousands of Tiny-Mes unaware of the existential crisis that looms. A world built on wires, stretching towards infinity. Combining Tarkovsky's elegance and the alienating effect of Kubrickian aesthetics, this 3-hour german science fiction epic definitely belongs up there among the genre-defining ranks. But unlike Blade Runner or 2001 which convey large, complicated ideas through ethereal and mindbending visuals, World on a Wire actually thrives on simplicity.
The film is especially alive during the second part when it turns into a paranoid thriller where everything screams plot. The uncertainty, fear seeps into the air, the walls, even the camera, like in Coppola's Conversation, constantly checking around, looking into mirrors,…
Incomparable. Both parts are so distinct yet come together seamlessly to tackle some poignant existential ideas. Part 1 is cool and methodical, with a strong focus on set design (which is gorgeous). Part 2 increases the paranoia from the first half and turns into an acid trip action thriller, and the acting becomes stronger or rather more defined. An accomplished ending ties it all together and cements World on a Wire as one of the best sci-fi films ever made. Only my second Fassbinder but I am already impressed with what are for sure clear signs of his genius.
Ich komme einfach nicht mit Reiner Werner Fassbender klar. Nachdem zugegeben Die Dritte Generation vom Filmlabel falsch beworben wurde habe ich nun Welt am Draht gesehen (Kurzzusammenfassung: Matrix aus den 70ern aus Deutschland) und hab echt ein Problem mit seiner Inszenierung. Die ist halt Stocksteif und unerträglich langwierig, viel mehr fürs Theater geeignet als fürs Kino, oder Fernsehen. Und das ärgert mich zu sagen, weil der Film wirklich einige sehr gute Ideen hat, die aber einfach von allem anderen erdrückt werden. Der zweite Teil ist etwas besser als der erste, weil es hier wenigstens sowas wie Spannung gibt.
Bin echt unsicher, ob ich mir echt nochmal Angst fressen Seele auf geben sollte
Exceptional film. During scenes that could have dragged on in many other films, they are either posing interesting questions or presenting you with very engaging imagery. The Sci-Fi elements of this are great, and handled with care. Even though I figured out what was happening really quick, I suspect the director made it so intentionally, it was very fascinating watching the protagonist figure it out. Honestly, my perception of it constantly changed throughout my watch, even though I may have understood the big picture, the details unfurled in a way I found beautiful. The thriller aspects of it were handled very well and I was quite tense during those moments. If you want a very direct Sci-Fi that loves to challenge what you think of it at every turn, this is it.
i have no idea why i liked this so much but here i am? the visual aesthetics are the stuff of fantasies
This definitely isn’t for everyone, but it suited me fine. Since it was originally a two-part miniseries, I watched it divided over two days. I think that worked well. If long and/or slow bothers you, skip it. Also, there are going to be ideas here that you’ve probably seen repeatedly, considering this was released in 1973, so if that’s a problem, I’d again say skip it. If the synopsis sounds interesting, and none of what I wrote scares you off, you might be in for a treat.
"i just want it to end... this horrible nightmare"
my first rainer werner fassbinder and this was a lot to process. first of all, i love how he framed the shots. he creatively used mirrors and blockings to create interesting and astonishing visuals. his colors pop, making the cinematography inviting to watch. its lengthy runtime daunted me for a long time but it also intrigued me. how much story there is that it needed almost 4 hours of my time. interestingly enough, it has so much to tell and fassbinder successfully fleshed out the story and made a mindfuck of an adaptation.
world on a wire's paranoia infects us as we also don't know who to trust, what is true…
fassbinder je moja nova religija
veoma kvalitetna osmina dana tj. preciznije sedam četrdesetosmina
Excellent noir sci fi that either no one acknowledges as being massively influential or coincidentally a lot of people had very similar ideas later on.
The negatives first; over long by about an hour which could easily be cut out. Some of the directorial choices have aged poorly for example there are a lot of snap zooms on a face which look like something out of Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place.
The positives; the camera work is exceptional especially with how much mirrors are incorporated into the set design and theme of the film. The plot is great and really ahead of it’s time. The film isn’t afraid to explore the questions it raises either rather than just throwing ideas out there and moving on. Obviously this is a double edged sword as per the 3 1/2 hour run time. The acting doesn’t feel dated but this is probably helped by it being in German so I’m going off subtitles.
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