Wim Wenders’ 10 biggest directorial inspirations: “I wanted to be doing what they were doing”
Few directors have been as important to independent cinema as the master of both fiction and documentary, Wim Wenders.
He emerged in the 1970s with his unique lens of beautifully shot and deeply philosophical stories combining fantasy and reality, serving as an inspiration to many, which makes you wonder where he draws his own from.
As part of a conversation with author George Hickenlooper for his book Reel Conversations: Candid Interviews with Film’s Foremost Directors and Critics, Wenders revealed some of his biggest inspirations as a filmmaker. He saw his opportunity and ran, such that, rather than give one or two names like most people, the German icon reeled off ten different people that he owes his career to.
He shared his deep passion for the work of Yasujirō Ozu, saying that his movies were what “primarily” inspire him. Best known for a series of intergenerational stories in the mid-20th century, the Japanese filmmaker was a technical innovator and a pure original, constantly blazing his own trail in a world so often defined by formulae. In a similar breath, he mentioned Anthony Mann, Robert Bresson, Jean Renoir, saying that, “Their stories work best for my own particular taste, style and imagination”.
Though born and raised in Europe, Wenders also took notes from the ways of Hollywood, naming a number of American directors he admires, such as Sam Fuller, Nicholas Ray, Howard Hawks, and John Ford.
Interestingly, he included Alfred Hitchcock in this list, who, as anyone who’s ever visited Leytonstone tube station will know, was born in London and moved out to the US in 1939 at the age of 40, which is where the ‘Master of Suspense’ made arguably his most famous films. He remained in the States until the 1970s before heading back to his native land to live out his final years.
As much admiration as he has for the US movie scene, Wenders also admits to being fond of their European counterparts. “I admire many films that came out of the French New Wave, but I admire them with reservations because they were films reflecting or reacting to what was going on in the American cinema,” he said, recalibrating, “Perhaps it was not so much reservation but envy. I also wanted to be doing what they were doing. I was particularly struck by Jean-Luc Godard’s Made in the USA.”
Released in 1966, Made in the USA (a rare Godard release with a title purely in English) is a crime comedy starring Anna Karina as journalist Paula Nelson, who discovers that her lover has been murdered, and subsequently becomes embroiled in a scheme involving brutal gangsters and militant communists. The film can trace its roots back to a movie released in 1946 called The Big Sleep, which was directed by fellow Wenders idol Howard Hawks.
Wenders has spoken many times about his love for Godard’s work, regularly labelling his films as some of the greatest of all time, so if you twist his arm and ask for a favourite from his lengthy list, chances are it would be the figurehead of the French New Wave movement.
