Kings of the Road

The recent slump in Wim Wenders' critical reputation has occurred not so much because films like Until the End of the World and Faraway so Close have been complete disasters - they haven't - they have simply been shown up as mediocre or unsuccessful by the sheer magnificence of earlier films like Kings of the Road.

Forget plot - Kings of the Road has neither a conventional beginning nor end to speak of - Wenders instead finding interest in the changing relationship between two men as they travel the roads along the East/West German border. As Bruno (the superb Rudiger Vogler), a travelling projection engineer, and Robert (Hans Zischler), recently dumped by his girifriend, roam the country via a succession of declining village cinemas Wenders creates a wonderfully honest picture of the growing bonds between them: the eventual realisation that they have grown overfamiliar with each other, and their subsequent parting of ways.

Robert and Bruno's epic journey is permeated with signs of the cultural invasion of Europe by Americana: posters, adverts and most obviously, rock n' roll, a personal obsession of the director, and coasts on with an incredible and often uplifting sense of freedom. Wenders' visually stunning organisation of landscape and use of location is complemented by some glorious black and white photography and a great soundtrack. Like all Wenders' best movies Kings of the Road leaves you feeling that you've really seen some-thing.

Review by Iain Harral
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96