Alice in the Cities

Star Review

Alice in the Cities launched the sublime ‘road’ trilogy (completed by The Wrong Move and Kings of the Road) that summed up Wenders’ obsession with cinema and the pop aesthetic, and which forged his reputation worldwide. In it nine year-old Alice dismantles the alienation and loneliness that photojournalist Phil Winter experiences before promising the hippyish Liza Kreuzer that he will escort her daughter from New York to her grandmother in West Germany. Fate then sees the two paired together on their journey with neither name nor address and only a photograph of Alice’s grandmother’s numberless front door as a clue. With mood counting for more than character and plot, this is very much a director’s film, with Wenders having famed cinematographer Robby Müller shoot the action in a monochrome that reflects both Vogler’s initial disenchantment with the United States and his growing optimism for a Europe that may not be as vulnerable to cultural imperialsm as he had feared.

David Parkinson on 6th May 2008

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Film Description

A beautifully sensitive film that mixes humour and pathos in which friendship blossoms between a German journalist with writer's block in the United States and a precocious nine-year-old girl abandoned by her mother. After returning to Europe, the innocent friendship between Winter and Alice grows as they travel together through various European cities on a quest for Alice's grandmother.

Through Rudiger Vogler's portrayal of the embittered Winter, Wenders presents a stark but witty account of the changing face of Europe, the onset of global consumerism and the influences of American pop culture.

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DVD Extras

• Exclusive in-depth interview with director Wim Wenders by critic Mark Cousins
• Collector's booklet with exclusive essays and interviews
• Photo Galleries.

Film Details

Cast

Rudiger Vogler, Yella Rottlander, Elizabeth Kreuzer

Technical Details