02-26-2020, 02:35 PM
Okay, I finished this. It was a slow fizzle beginning to end, as far as I'm concerned.
Ebert agreed, giving it just two stars, citing a lack of narrative urgency, among other things.
I think the big problem is that the director Wenders and leading lady Solveig Dommartin were involved at the time, and they co-wrote the script, and they scoped out all the places around the world where the film was shot. So the whole movie project got tangled with their own personal journey so they lost perspective on how it would play on screen to an audience. While I'm sure they had a great and intimate time making it (almost as much as Beatty and Hoffman in Ishtar), the audience is largely left in the lurch.
Oh, William Hurt is Solveig's love interest in the movie, but I just wasn't buying any of their scenes together. The chemistry wasn't there, likely because her real love interest was the guy behind the camera.
Solveig Dommartin is beautiful, well-built, athletic, by the way. She previously played the trapeze artist in Wings of Desire, directed by Wenders as well, which I haven't seen (it's on my list). For the role, Solveig learned to do circus acrobatics. So, yeah. Beautiful and athletic.
She died of a heart attack at 45. I'm still puzzling over that. Haven't read of any extenuating condition.
Not recommended, but like I said, I do intend to check out Wings of Desire soon.
Ebert agreed, giving it just two stars, citing a lack of narrative urgency, among other things.
I think the big problem is that the director Wenders and leading lady Solveig Dommartin were involved at the time, and they co-wrote the script, and they scoped out all the places around the world where the film was shot. So the whole movie project got tangled with their own personal journey so they lost perspective on how it would play on screen to an audience. While I'm sure they had a great and intimate time making it (almost as much as Beatty and Hoffman in Ishtar), the audience is largely left in the lurch.
Oh, William Hurt is Solveig's love interest in the movie, but I just wasn't buying any of their scenes together. The chemistry wasn't there, likely because her real love interest was the guy behind the camera.
Solveig Dommartin is beautiful, well-built, athletic, by the way. She previously played the trapeze artist in Wings of Desire, directed by Wenders as well, which I haven't seen (it's on my list). For the role, Solveig learned to do circus acrobatics. So, yeah. Beautiful and athletic.
She died of a heart attack at 45. I'm still puzzling over that. Haven't read of any extenuating condition.
Not recommended, but like I said, I do intend to check out Wings of Desire soon.