2017 Blind Spot Series: World on a Wire

Based on the novel Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye, Welt am Draht (World on a Wire) is the story of an engineer who makes a chilling discovery in the corporation he works for involving conspiracies following the death of a colleague. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and screenplay by Fassbinder and Fritz Muller-Scherz, the film is a two-part sci-fi miniseries that blends with all sorts of genres from film noir, melodrama, and suspense as it play into a man pondering his own existence in a world where everyone is trying to find answers through machines. Starring Klaus Lowitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl Heinz Vosgerau, Wolfgang Schenck, Gunter Lamprecht, and Ulli Lommel. Welt am Draht is an evocative yet whimsical film from Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Set in modern-day Cologne, West Germany, the film revolves around a murder mystery where an engineer is trying to find out what happened as sudden disappearances have occurred while becoming a target from his superiors. It’s a film that explores a man who is trying to deal with these mysterious events around him while trying out this new simulation experiment that the company he works for is making. Yet, he would question the world he’s in as it raises a lot of questions into the people that disappeared as well as who to trust. The film’s screenplay by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Fritz Muller-Scherz definitely explore the idea of reality but also fantasy in what humans want to experience. Yet, it is about the mystery of what this man in Fred Stiller (Klaus Lowitsch) is trying to discover as the film is split into two parts as it was originally made as a two-part miniseries. The first part is about the mysterious death of Professor Henry Vollmer (Adrian Hoven) and the sudden disappearance of Stiller’s friend Gunther Lause (Ivan Desny) at a party Stiller was at.

The script would have Stiller try and solve everything while being promoted as the technical director for the company he works for as he suspects one of the bosses in Herbert Siskins (Karl Heinz Vosgerau). Stiller has few he could trust as he also encounter’s Vollmer’s daughter Eva (Mascha Rabben) who wants to know what happens to her father. The second part isn’t just about the world that Stiller is in but there’s also a strange twist which definitely blurs what is happening around him. Especially where he becomes a suspect of Vollmer’s murder and comes to term with the fact that he knows too much and his superiors want him dead. Then there’s the stuff about technology and how it can manipulate one’s perception of reality which is prominent in the film as the simulation machine that Stiller is trying to observe has him realize of its power and how it can distort things.

Fassbinder’s direction is definitely stylish for not just the world he creates inside the emerging world of supercomputers but also for setting it in modern times rather than the future. Shot on 16mm film and on location in Cologne, West Germany, Fassbinder would largely set the film in some of the business sections but also use locations such as shopping malls where some of the characters meet. Though it’s shot in the 1:33:1 full-frame aspect ratio which was common with television in those times, Fassbinder is able to use that format to his advantage in some of the wide and medium shots. Using some dolly-tracking shots for some of the camera movements, Fassbinder showcases a world that does feel modern but also a bit futuristic in some respects. Yet, he takes his time in unveiling bits and pieces where the film does start off slow in order to establish the characters, environment, and the situation that Stiller is in.

Fassbinder would also create hints in the first part of the film to showcase things that could play into this world that Stiller is in as it blur the line in reality and fiction. Once the big reveal in the first half is presented, it does change the tone of the film into something that is far more intriguing but also filled with a lot of twists and turns. There isn’t a lot of big moments of action in the film as it’s more about ideas and motivations as Fassbinder wants the audience to follow the events as well as antagonists planning their next move. By the time the film reaches its climax where Stiller would uncover some truth, it is once again about the world that he’s in and how it may not be the reality that he or anyone wants. Especially when there are things around him that doesn’t make any sense where he comes into question about who he is. Overall, Fassbinder creates a hypnotic yet rapturous film about a man questioning himself and his own environment while solving a murder mystery.

Cinematographers Michael Ballhaus and Ulrich Prinz do brilliant work with the film’s grainy yet colorful cinematography as it play into the dazzling lights inside some of the interiors as well as some of the exterior scenes at night. Editors Marie Anne Gerhardt and Ursula Elles do amazing work with the editing as its usage of jump-cuts and other stylish cuts help play to the film’s methodical pacing as well as in creating some of its eerie moments of suspense. Production designers Kurt Raab, Horst Giese, and Walter Koch do incredible work with the set design from the supercomputer room and the simulation room plus the homes of some of the characters to play into their personalities. Costume designer Gabrielle Pillon does fantastic work with the design of the dresses that the women wear as well as some of the clothes of the men to play into their own personalities

The makeup work by Rosemarie Schonartz is terrific for the way some of the women look in the film as well as other oddball characters that Stiller would meet like a waiter a nightclub. The sound work of Hans Pampuch and Ernst Thomas is superb for not just the sparseness in some of the quieter moments but how some of the screeching sounds of electronics come into play to try and stop Stiller from discovering something as it add so much to the environment he’s in. The film’s music by Gottfried Hungsberg and Archives is excellent for its mixture of orchestral and electronic music that play into the suspense and drama while the music soundtrack features an array of classical music pieces as well as contemporary cuts from Elvis Presley and Fleetwood Mac.

The film’s phenomenal cast include some notable small roles from Eddie Constantine as a man who gives Stiller a ride late in the film, El Hedi ben Salem as a corporate hood in Castro, Rudolph Lenz as the corporate chief Hartmann, Kurt Raab as Siskins’ new corporate observer Mark Holm, Ingrid Caven as a reporter’s secretary, Joachim Hansen as the executive Hans Edelkern, Adrian Hoven as Professor Vollmer, and Ivan Desny as Stiller’s friend Gunther Lause who tells him about Vollmer’s death before he mysteriously disappears. Ulli Lommel is terrific as the reporter Rupp who is one of the few that believes that Stiller is telling the truth while Wolfgang Schenck is superb as the inspector Franz Hahn who also makes a discovery that proves that Stiller is innocent until he behaves quite strangely. Margit Carstensen is wonderful as Maya Schmidt-Genter as a lover of Stiller who only appears occasionally as someone that is a source of comfort until she too acts strangely towards him.

Barbara Valentin is fantastic as Stiller’s secretary Gloria Fromm as a beautiful and voluptuous woman who is quite ambiguous in her motives yet later realizes what is really going on. Gunter Lamprecht is excellent as Fritz Walfang as a scientist who has help create the simulation machine as he becomes aware of what is really going on as he becomes one of the few who believes Stiller. Karl-Heinz Vosgerau is brilliant as Herbert Siskins as a corporate executive who tries to cover up a murder while plotting many things in the hope he would silence Stiller. Mascha Rabben is amazing as Eva Vollmer as the daughter of Professor Vollmer who is trying to figure out what happened to her father while befriending Stiller who she believes can help him while also being mysterious herself. Finally, there’s Klaus Lowitsch in an incredible performance as Fred Stiller as an engineer who finds himself trying to solve a murder where he questions his own self and existence as it’s a very engaging performance that has him be the every-man but also with some anguish and humor.

Welt am Draht is a tremendous film from Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Featuring a great cast, imaginative set designs, a provocative and enthralling premise, and a hypnotic soundtrack. It’s a film that definitely plays against the conventional aspects of sci-fi while also delving into massive themes of self-being and the world that people live in whether it’s reality or fantasy. In the end, Welt am Draht is a spectacular film from Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films: Love is Colder Than Death - (Katzelmacher) - (Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?) - (Rio das Mortes) - (The American Soldier) - (Whity) - (Beware of a Holy Whore) - The Merchant of Four Seasons - The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant - Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day - (Jailbait) - Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - (Martha (1974 film)) - (Effi Briest) - (Fox and His Friends) - (Mother Kuster’s Trip to Heaven) - Satan's Brew - (Chinese Roulette) - (Germany in Autumn) - (Despair) - (In a Year of 13 Moons) - The Marriage of Maria Braun - (Third Generation) - Berlin Alexanderplatz - (Lili Marleen) - Lola (1981 film) - Veronika Voss - Querelle

© thevoid99 2017

Possession (1981 film)

Directed by Andrezj Zulawski and written by Zulawski and Frederic Tuten, Possession is the story of a woman who starts to behave very strangely after asking her international spy husband for a divorce. The film explores a marriage coming apart as well as a woman unraveling amidst the decision to end her marriage. Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. Possession is a terrifying yet provocative film from Andrezj Zulawski.

A spy returns home from a mission as his wife asks for a divorce as she starts to behave erratically as he wonders what is wrong with as their marriage starts to crumble. It’s a film that plays into questions about how a marriage can fall apart as questions of infidelity come into play but things become more complicated due to the behavior of the wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) who becomes neglectful towards her son Bob (Michael Hogben) as well as being unkempt and goes away for long periods of time. For the husband Mark (Sam Neill), he wonders what Anna is up to as he asks her friend Margie (Margit Cartensen) and a lover of Anna in Heinrich (Heinz Bennent) as they don’t really know. Eventually, the answer that Mark finds would force him to question to his own devotion to his own wife.

The film’s screenplay starts off with Mark returning home as it showcases that his life as a spy is an ambiguous one where not much is revealed as his home life isn’t great either due to his numerous absences as he desires to stay home. Upon this decision, his life would unravel as he sees his marriage fall apart where Anna would leave for days as her decisions become questionable to the point that he would give her space until the realization that he couldn’t leave her. In some ways, the film is a love story of a man trying to prove his devotion to his wife who wants nothing to do with him as well as some revelations about how their marriage disintegrated. Even as Mark is tempted move on from his marriage after meeting Bob’s schoolteacher Helen (Isabelle Adjani) who is the exact opposite of Anna. Still, Mark is eager to help Anna who starts to unravel as he hires private detectives to find out what she is doing as it would involve some extremely dark aspects relating to Anna’s odd behavior.

Andrezj Zulawski’s direction is very stylish in not just some of the tracking shots he creates that are very elaborate. It’s also in some of the intimate moments between Mark and Anna where it showcases a lot of dramatic tension and quieter moments that showcases their disintegrating marriage. Notably a scene at a restaurant where Mark makes a scene as it showcases some of the film’s manic tone where Zulawski uses a lot of hand-held cameras to capture the action along with some long takes. Even the tracking shots that are created go on for a while to play into the world the characters are in as it’s set in West Berlin near the Berlin Wall where Mark often sees guards looking at him from the Wall. The use of the locations has Zulawski play into something where it serves as a metaphor for where Mark and Anna are in their life and marriage.

The sense of maniacal terror definitely looms once it becomes clear into why Anna has become quite secretive as it includes this eerie flashback scene of a meltdown in a subway tunnel that is just fucked up beyond recognition. It’s a moment in the film where it’s very primal and visceral where Zulawski’s use of hand-held cameras and the location itself adds to that sense of terror that looms. Even as the film progresses where this mix of horror, drama, and suspense come together where it plays into what Mark wants from Anna. Overall, Zulawski creates a truly mesmerizing yet haunting film about a man’s attempt to save his marriage.

Cinematographer Bruno Nuytten does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with its use of grayish colors to play into the dreariness of the locations and its tone of horror. Editors Marie-Sophi Dubus and Suzanne Lang-Willar do fantastic work with the editing with its use of jump-cuts from a film that Mark watches about Anna to some of the rhythmic cuts in the film‘s suspenseful moments. Art director Holger Gross does amazing work with the look of the apartments the characters look including the apartment that Anna lives in all by herself.

Costume designer Ingrid Zore does terrific work with the costumes from the blue dresses of Anna to the more white dresses that her doppelganger Helen wears. The sound work of Norman Engel and Karl-Heinz Laabs do brilliant work with the sound from some of the effects it play into the film‘s horror as well as the mixing to convey some of its suspense and ominous moments. The film’s music by Andrezj Korzynski is superb for its very chilling use of pianos and discordant string arrangements as well as sound textures that play into the sense of terror that looms in the film.

The film’s incredible cast include some notable small roles from Carl Duering as a private detective hired to follow Anna, Shaun Lawton as the detective’s partner, Joanna Hofer as Heinrich’s mother, Maximillian Ruthlein as an associate of Mark from the spy service, and Michael Hogben as Mark and Anna’s son Bob who wonders about his mother’s many absences. Heinz Bennent is terrific as Anna’s lover Heinrich who is a very strange man who claims to love everything as he is also a skilled fighter as he is someone that tests Mark. Margit Cartensen is wonderful in a small role as Anna’s best friend Margie whom Mark doesn’t like very much as she is aware that something about Anna isn’t right as she helps Mark in looking after Bob.

Sam Neill is great as Mark as this spy who returns home to see his marriage unraveling as it’s a performance that is terrifying at times in terms of Mark’s devotion to Anna as he also displays a darkly comic sense of charm to his role. Finally, there’s Isabelle Adjani in a performance for the ages in the dual roles of Anna and Helen. In the latter, there is a sweetness to the character of Helen as she represents everything that Anna isn’t while being offbeat in her look due to the green eyes she has. In Anna, Adjani goes all out as it is over-the-top at times but also a performance that is just visceral and frightening to watch. Most notably the scene at the tunnel where Adjani is like a wild animal coming apart as it’s a performance that is unquestionably one of the scariest performances captured on film.

Possession is a phenomenal film from Andrezj Zulawski that features a very terrifying and unforgettable performance from Isabelle Adjani. The film is without question one of the most intriguing films about marriage as well as being a smart genre-bender that refuses to define itself into one genre. Even as it has something for everyone including horror fans in how it can go to great extremes. In the end, Possession is a magnificent film from Andrezj Zulawski.

Andrezj Zulawski Films: (The Third Part of the Night) - (Diabel) - That Most Important Thing: Love - (The Public Woman) - (L’Amour braque) - (On the Silver Globe) - (My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days) - (Boris Godunov) - (The Blue Note (1991 film)) - (Szamanka) - (Fidelity) - (Cosmos (2015 film))

© thevoid99 2014