Until the End of the World (1991)
"Bis ans Ende der Welt" (original title)

Set in 1999, a woman (Dommartin) has a car accident with some bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the bank money to a drop in Paris. On the way she runs into another fugitive from the... See full summary »

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Michael Almereyda, Peter Carey,

Stars:

Solveig Dommartin, Pietro Falcone, Enzo Turrin

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Solveig Dommartin	...	Claire Tourneur
Pietro Falcone	...	Mario
Enzo Turrin	...	Doctor
Chick Ortega	...	Chico Remy
Eddy Mitchell	...	Raymond Monnet
William Hurt	...	Sam Farber, alias Trevor McPhee
Adelle Lutz	...	Makiko
Ernie Dingo	...	Burt
Jean-Charles Dumay	...	Mechanic
Sam Neill	...	Eugene Fitzpatrick
Ernest Berk	...	Anton Farber
Christine Oesterlein	...	Irina Farber
Rüdiger Vogler	...	Phillip Winter
Diogo Dória	...	Receptionist
Amália Rodrigues	...	Woman in Street Car

Storyline

Set in 1999, a woman (Dommartin) has a car accident with some bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the bank money to a drop in Paris. On the way she runs into another fugitive from the law (Hurt), an American who is being chased by the CIA. The charges are false, he claims. They want to confiscate a device his father invented which allows anyone to record their dreams and vision. On the run from both the bank robbers and the CIA, the couple span the globe, ending up in Australia at his father's (von Sydow) research facility, where they hope to play back the recordings Hurt captured for his blind mother. Set in the futuristic year of 1999, a subplot about a damaged Indian nuclear satellite crashing and causing the end of civilization is a puzzling addition to the film.

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Plot Keywords:

bank robber | dream | australia | surrealism | blindness | 

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Taglines:

. . . the ultimate road movie

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sensuality

Details

Country:

Germany France Australia

Language:

English French Italian Japanese German

Release Date:

25 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Until the End of the World

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$752,856 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Films, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Village Roadshow Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

280 min 280 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby LC-Concept Digital Sound (France)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When filming ended, Wenders confessed, his producers had to literally pull the plug on him for his own good because he wanted to take the film to a conclusion in the African Congo. There, the Pygmies' "dream music" would have brought his characters and themes full circle. As it is, he hit every continent in the film except Africa and South America.

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Goofs

When Bert is shown as the guitarist in Chico's impromptu band for the first time, he hands the guitar to the green-shirted man on the bridge while the rest of the band keeps playing. But when the scene cuts to a different angle, Bert is still playing the guitar.

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Quotes

Edith Farber: Life ends. But I've seen, finally, after these years. This is our story, my darling. What a chase it has been. What a dance.

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Connections

Referenced in Cinemania (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"
Written by Jack Lloyd, Ben Weissman, Fred Wise
Performed by Elvis Presley
Courtesy of RCA Records Label of BMG Music

User Reviews

A difficult film at first, but so is all good literature

The vast majority of people I know have never understood this film. Probably this is because the 2.5 hour running time of the original release is actually vastly too short for the story. The director's cut is a whopping 4.5 hours, but goes by so quickly one hardly notices. If you are bored, then you probably haven't figured out what's really going on. Some notes:

This is a story of trials, of how our relationships to each other, and to humanity and the Earth, are shaped and impeded by technology. It is a fearful story of the dangers of our world as Wenders saw them in almost 20 years ago now. The journey is central here (as it is in almost all epic works) and the story doesn't work without seeing that journey unfold first all over the earth (and no, it wasn't about sponsoring nations--the journey of Sam and Claire et al reenacts other journeys only alluded to in the film, bringing up themes of connectedness to family and place.)

To me the most important theme in this film is the power of the journey and of stories to transform us--a theme so old we may be tired of it, though it remains relevant today. Eugene (Neill) is to me the central character, and any good viewing of the movie depends on understanding how he fits in as more than a side character caught up in a great chase.

One last note: this doesn't deserve to be described as Sci-Fi. Yes, there's some science-like imagery in it, but the thrust of the movie is literary. The "science-fiction" in the movie serves only as an extension of the transformations and journeys of the characters. It turns those things inward rather than outward, and succeeds well in doing it. A truly remarkable and excellent film that got a bad first screening because no distributor had the guts to put out a 5 hour movie. (What would they say to Akira Kurosawa these days?)