The director who showed Wim Wenders how to make movies
Wim Wenders is one of the defining directors within the German new wave movement, known for the haunting legacy of Paris, Texas and experimental narrative style in Wings of Desire, more recently making a comeback with the beautiful simplicity of Perfect Days, a story about the life of a toilet cleaner in Japan and the rituals that mark his everyday life.
The director has spoken many times about the influence of famous painters and artists, imitating the colour palette and stark lighting often depicted in the work of Edward Hopper, with some of his paintings being direct sources of inspiration for the landscape of Paris, Texas; wanting to capture the loneliness of modern living and the way that we have been isolated through the commercialisation of our world.
However, in terms of his filmmaking influences, the director recently shared one director that he most admires, and someone who has greatly impacted his own way of working.
Anthony Mann was an American director and theatre actor, most famous for his work in Western films such as The Man from Laramie and Winchester 73’, who later expanded his work to include film noirs and other historical epics, with his last film The Fall of a Roman Empire costing nearly $18.4million to make. Interestingly enough, Mann’s work bears no obvious narrative resemblance to Wenders style, but it’s not the first time that a director has been inspired by someone who is their creative polar opposite.
When asked about Mann’s work, Wenders said, “I learned how to make movies from Anthony Mann: why the shots, how the shots, travelling shots, location shots, strategies and techniques in editing–he was my sense of movement. My sense of framing and placement, I get from painting”.
While both directors make very different films, both of them show a fascination with the natural landscape and incorporate that into their stories, with Wenders’ films like Alice in the Cities and Paris, Texas using the environment to reflect the emotional arc of the characters, with both films using their physical journey to mirror their sense of isolation and lack of connection.
The vastness of the desert that we see in Paris, Texas, is very much a character in itself, resembling the inner world of Travis as he struggles to make sense of his own loneliness and place in the world, attempting to rebuild on rocky foundations after a mistake that tore his family apart. A similar landscape can be seen in Mann’s work, with many of his films taking place in a similarly dusty desert that heightens the tension of the film. Its sparseness only draws more attention to the conflict and drama, with the viewer being lured in by the stark presence of these characters living in desolate spaces.
Inspiration can be found in many places, and while I can’t see any of these qualities being explored in Wenders’ most recent film, Perfect Days, he does use the solitary figure venturing out into the world alone, trying to make sense of it all.
