MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 1,968 this week

Kings of the Road (1976)
"Im Lauf der Zeit" (original title)

 -  Drama  -  January 1977 (USA)
7.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 1,907 users  
Reviews: 11 user | 11 critic

A traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out film-theatres. He meets up with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.

Director:

Writer:

0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 2916 titles created 16 May 2011
 
a list of 622 titles created 25 Apr 2011
 
a list of 422 titles created 06 Apr 2011
 
a list of 153 titles created 24 Feb 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Kings of the Road (1976)

Kings of the Road (1976) on IMDb 7.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Kings of the Road.
4 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Stars: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin
Paris, Texas (1984)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his wife and son four years before... See full summary »

Director: Wim Wenders
Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Sam Berry, Dean Stockwell
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer's block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, ... See full summary »

Director: Wim Wenders
Stars: Rüdiger Vogler, Yella Rottländer, Lisa Kreuzer
The Sacrifice (1986)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

At the dawn of WWIII a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Stars: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall
Persona (1966)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A nurse is put in charge of an actress who can't talk and finds that the actress's persona is melding with hers.

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Stars: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook
Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

This story takes place in a small town on the Hungarian Plain. In a provincial town, which is surrounded with nothing else but frost. It is bitterly cold weather - without snow. Even in ... See full summary »

Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky
Stars: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla
Nostalghia (1983)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

The Russian poet Gortchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer. In a ancient spa town, he ... See full summary »

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Stars: Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano
Contempt (1963)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Paul Javal is a writer who is hired to make a script for a new movie about Ulysses more commercial, which is to be directed by Fritz Lang and produced by Jeremy Prokosch. But because he let... See full summary »

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance
The Return (2003)
Drama | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

In the remote Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father--a man they only know through a single photograph--resurfaces.

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Stars: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko
La Strada (1954)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A carefree girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Director: Federico Fellini
Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart
Stroszek (1977)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.

Director: Werner Herzog
Stars: Bruno S., Eva Mattes, Clemens Scheitz
Drama | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A sensitive seven-year-old girl living a small village in 1940 rural Spain is traumatized after viewing James Whale's "Frankenstein" and drifts into her own fantasy world.

Director: Víctor Erice
Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent
Edit

Cast

Credited cast:
Rüdiger Vogler ...
Hanns Zischler ...
Robert Lander
Lisa Kreuzer ...
Pauline, cashier
Rudolf Schündler ...
Robert's Father
Marquard Bohm ...
Man Who Lost His Wife
Hans Dieter Trayer ...
Paul, garage owner (as Dieter Traier)
Franziska Stömmer ...
Cinema owner
Patric Kreuzer ...
Little boy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
...
Spectator at Pauline's Theater
Edit

Storyline

A traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out film-theatres. He meets up with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.

Add Full Plot | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Drama

Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

January 1977 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Kings of the Road  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 680,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

There had basically been no script for the movie. Except for the first scene after the opening credits when the two protagonists meet each other, everything is improvised or developed on set. See more »

Goofs

The VW beetle driven into the Elbe river is not visible anymore when Robert reaches the waterside. Later after Bruno hands over an espresso to Robert, the beetle is shown as finally sinking. See more »

Crazy Credits

Opening credits provide the aspect ratio and other technical specifications of the film to come. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Wanderlust (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

"Lisa's Accelerando"
Music by Axel Linstädt
Performed by Improved Sound Limited
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
I can still see you Kamikaze.
26 September 2008 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

Projection engineer Bruno Winter is pulled up alongside the River Elbe, as he sets about giving himself a shave a Volkswagen drives straight into the river in what seems to be a half hearted suicide attempt. The driver of the Volkswagen is woman troubled Robert, after getting to the river bank he finds Bruno to be a most interesting person, and the pair then set off on a road trip that will shape their respective lives and outlooks considerably.

Shot in 11 weeks between July 1st and October 31st 1975, Im Lauf der Zeit is now considered to be one of the seminal pictures of New German cinema. Director Wim Wenders and his crew set off along the Zonenrandgebiet with only an itinerary set in concrete, working completely without a script, his lead actors, Rudolf Vogler & Hanns Zischler manage to produce one of the most thought provokingly intelligent road movies to have ever been made.

There are many musings on this picture across internet forums, and although the film has very deep meanings, I really feel that it's down to the individual viewer to align themselves personally with our protagonists to get the most from the piece. Wenders clearly had deep feelings for German cinema, and here as the guys move from town to town, on Bruno's projection repair route, the feeling that film in this country is dying is quite palpable. This all ties in with the theme of change that is the core essence in Wenders film, it's not just our characters who need to wake up to the need for change, it's essentially his home country as well.

As the guys move on they meet people, they drink, talk, even fight, and it's all filmed in real time, we are forced to be part of this unlikely friendship, be it washing or shaving, or the act of defecating, it's all humane and sits perfectly as a normal way of life. Come the ending, after nearly three hours of engrossing cinema, we know what has been identified, not just for our two wonderful characters, but for all of us who may be wary of change. The black and white photography from Robby Muller is excellent, and manages to make the various landscapes the guys travel thru an extra character, but ultimately it's just one of a number of things that make Im Lauf der Zeit a truly smart film. My hope is that any newcomers to the film will get as much from it as I did, maybe something different perhaps? But at the very least a recognition that this is a truly wonderful picture. 9/10


8 of 11 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
..and what about R.Vogler's expletation of his phisiological needs..? m-ravazzin
DVD with English subs released Derran
RELEASE THIS IN DVD!!!!!!!!!! psy_spectre
Film too long, scenes to cut jtdunlop
Soundtrack? Goldmund1710
Was Aaltra influenced by Kings of the Road? clive-ihd
Discuss Kings of the Road (1976) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?