Wrong Move (1975)

A writer goes on a road trip across West Germany with a group of eclectic people he meets along the way.

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Peter Handke (screenplay), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (novel) (as Johann Wolfgang Goethe)

Stars:

Rüdiger Vogler, Hanna Schygulla, Hans Christian Blech

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rüdiger Vogler	...	Wilhelm
Hans Christian Blech	...	Laertes
Hanna Schygulla	...	Therese Farner
Nastassja Kinski	...	Mignon (as Nastassja Nakszynski)
Peter Kern	...	Bernhard Landau
Ivan Desny	...	Industrieller / The Industrialist
Marianne Hoppe	...	Mutter / The Mother
Lisa Kreuzer	...	Janine (as Elisabeth Kreuzer)
Adolf Hansen	...	Schaffner (as Adolph Hansen)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gustav Leonhardt	...	Johann Sebastian Bach, form film 'Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach' (archive footage)

Storyline

Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change. An actress, whom Wilhelm gazes at, joins them. Then, a plump young man introduces himself, having heard them talk of poetry. He takes them to his uncle's, except it's the wrong house; they interrupt a man's suicide. He invites them to stay. The actress tries to connect to Wilhelm. Couplings and rare bursts of feeling come as surprises; other characters remain alone.

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Plot Keywords:

underaged female nudity | female underage nudity | underage nudity | girl man relationship | road movie | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

22 October 1975 (France)

Also Known As:

The Wrong Movement

Filming Locations:

Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 620,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Albatros Produktion,Solaris Film,Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The long walk is in the wine region from where Wenders' mother comes. The gunshots are real and are made by some of the neighbors. One of them is on a moped.

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Connections

Featured in Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)

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Soundtracks

Goldberg Variation, 25 Variation
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Wilhelm doesn't like people.

"The Wrong Movement" is the second of three films by Wim Wenders about a disaffected man (in each case played by Rüdiger Vogler) searching for himself out on the open road. Unlike the first (Alice in the Cities) and third (Kings of the Road) films, this one is infinitely less accessible. It's the talkiness that brings it down in the end. Each character seems especially in touch with their own highly specific brand of angst. It's almost too easy to identify with, all the abstract alienation. We all feel it sometimes, but do we actually spend so much time speaking of it? This depiction of dark truth doesn't make it a good story, only an honest one.

The actors are good (Nastassja Kinski plays a mute, in her first role), but the characters are cold. The dialogue is impressive, yet bereft of all beauty. On some inherent level, it's apparent that all the characters deeply despise one another. Wilhelm himself testifies at the very start to his dislike of people. Wim Wenders seems to be doing very much the same. Only, this time, it doesn't make for a very good film. Its shorter length is almost a relief.