Until the End of the World

In Brief: Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World (1991) is both like a Wenders film (check out the soundtrack) and not. The film — at least till it hits the final stretch — is as quirky as anything the filmmaker ever did, but it’s a bit more playful. It’s certainly one of the more quixotic enterprises imaginable. Wenders dragged his impressive cast around the world for over a year, and handed in an original cut that ran a reported eight hours. The version that was finally released — to mixed reviews — ran 158 minutes. (There’s currently a 280-minute director’s cut available from Europe, which, I confess, I finally broke down and ordered after seeing the release version again.) Its length aside, the film is also one of the most fascinating films of the 1990s. Wenders’ picture is at once rather old-fashioned (like something made way before 1991) and surprisingly modern in its concerns. If anything, its themes of self-isolation are more relevant in 2007 than they seemed in 1991 — or maybe it’s just that much of what Wenders fancifully envisioned has come true. On the downside, the film is a bit lumpy (with so much left on the cutting room floor, that was probably inescapable), but it’s the kind of glorious lumpiness that only comes from a great filmmaker. This excerpt was taken from a review by Ken Hanke published on March 28, 2007. Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Until the End of the World on Friday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 2160 Hwy 70, Swannanoa.