Reviews of World on a Wire
Displaying all 3 reviews
Judicial Joe
9Feb13
There is a certain amount of camp humor in the first half that goes unmentioned by most people that is quite funny and appropriately unusual for Fassbinder’s most unusual film. The implication of a concept of an evil god that comes with the revelation of the other Fred Stiller’s megalomania and penchant for “playing games” doesn’t hit you until at least a few hours after finishing the film. I just wish Fassbinder had had enough money for an exterior shot of the assumedly super-futuristic top world. I don’t know if the Wachowskis have seen this film, but the idea of leaving the matrix via a phone booth originated here, so I’m guessing they at least knew of it when making their existential action classic.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
Michael Harbour
19Jan12
Interesting as a precursor to films like “The Matrix”, “Inception”, and “The Adjustment Bureau” and probably seemed innovative on 70s television but lags even the S.F. literature of its time in sophistication. “The Adjustment Bureau”, for example, was based on a 1954 short story.
Some very original and creative camerawork is paired with sophomoric philosophical underpinnings and world-building. That I was so fascinated by the camerawork in a few scenes is an indicator of how little I cared about the characters and story.
- Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
Omar Antonio Iturriaga
25Jun11
“I think, therefore I am”, says Fred Stiller (Klaus Löwitsch), quoting French philosopher René Descartes.
Our protagonist, Fred Stiller is the newly appointed Technical Director of Simulacron, a highly advanced computer system which creates a miniaturized version of society with 9,000 identity units, or shall we say ‘humans’? These identity units have all the characteristics of ordinary humans: they feel guilt, they sin, they have children, argue, feel pain etc…
Stiller, with conflicting notions of reality, begins to doubt his very own existence as people around him start to vanish into thin air. The event which sets a domino effect into motion seems to be brought upon by a realization that if there is a world below us, there must be a world above us. As we begin to realize our own artificiality, the real scientists above us begin to delete our own identity unit in means of avoiding any risks that we might bring about suspicion to the rest of the society.
The 205 minute, made for television, Germanic film first broadcasted in 1973 helmed by famed director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. What seems to be nothing more than an average science fiction film about identity crisis and artificial worlds is actually much more than meets the eye. Fassbinder introduces to his audience a slow-paced, yet vastly intriguing study into a well-aged philosophical discourse with no clear resolution yet filled with endless possibilities left open for any hungry imagination to devour. Rather than rely on special effects to carry the story, a heavy reliance is placed on set design, cinematography, editing, and location.
However, the most appealing quality of World on a Wire seems to be how well it has aged. Regardless of the similarity to modern films such as The Matrix, modern day audiences may still feel a justified parallel with this science fiction masterpiece. Fassbinder, a genius filmmaker in capturing subtle symbolisms, provokes his audience to further poke away at the mystery delved at by Fred Stiller. If there may be infinitely many worlds below us, why not infinitely many worlds above us? What world is below ours? Well, if taken from a literal stand point, how about this very film? Are we not merely observers of a society made out of projections of lights and tiny pixelated circuits like the ones in the film? If so, who is viewing us from a similar screen? And if we are a mere simulation of a true reality, will we ever have the courage to admit that existing, regardless of our state, is existing nonetheless?
Thank you for reading,
Omar Antonio Iturriaga
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.