source: Radio On

Trailer—Radio On

Radio On

A film that is awful and dull without any redeeming features except for the west way but strangely hypnotic and haunting even days after viewing.

Other than Sting's scene this was a very boring movie. You can make existential films WITH some movement: they dont have to be dreary like this one.

Couldn't watch this pretentious drivel. After 10 minutes I felt like life wasn't worth living if I had to spend one more minute looking at this guy moping around staring -ok life was bleak and meaningless in the dreary Britain of 1979. I was there and really couldn't be bothered having to revisit it in 2017. This film is bleak and meaningless and as boring as batshit.

Matt Bellamy drives to Bristol from London to pointlessly enquire about his brother's death. On the way, Sting kindly fills his car up with petrol and they both have a sing along. How nice. Matt also gives a ride to a British soldier with PTSD who punches himself in the face and grabs Matt, screams at him to pull over so he can take a wee wee. Matt thinks bugger this knob head, I'm off, and drives off while the squaddie yells abuse. Haha. Take that whacko. He then meets a German bird, gets a hot dog, observes porno pics from his brothers photo slider, and oh gosh I can't remember what else happened as I passed out from the utter boredom.

came across this database entry by accident. saw the movie 25 years ago and still can find its traces in my memory - amongst these the strongest when Robert and a hitchhiker drive along a forest of power line pylons and find them awful. Robert says something like "years from now when only a few of them are left we might say they're beautiful" (sorry, a 25 year old memory is not the best base for correct quoting) Christopher Petits influences of the early Wim Wenders road movies can be traced down best in " I'm Laufe der Zeit (Kings of the Road) " from 1976 - its in b/ w as well. But to me there is as well a link to Jarmush's " Stranger than Paradise " from 1984 (more acting and dialogs but the same slow glide thru scenic black& white landscapes)

It comes as no surprise to see Wim Wenders name in the credits. As in most road movies much of this simply consists of a loner staring into space. But former critic Christopher Petit has taken the message "We are the children of Fritz Lang and Werner von Braun" to heart. As benefits a film that's half-German half the dialogue is in German and the credits are bi-lingual (we even hear David Bowie singing 'We Can Be Heroes' in German), and Petit employs black & white photography to transform North London into an alien environment combining 'Metropolis' and 'Alphaville' (complete with a sinister voice like Alpha-60 emanating from a radio). Like the earlier films by Lang and Godard it all seemed very modern at the time, but the references to Northern Ireland like Godard's to Algeria and a cameo by Sting make it today look just as much of a period piece as the earlier film. The charmingly archaic computer game seen in a pub is also evocative of an era long ago.

A radio DJ drives from London to Bristol to investigate the death of his brother. Along the way he encounters some odd people and listens to some pretty cool music. Former film critic Christopher Petit crafts a very deliberate homage to the early films of Wim Wenders (who was a producer), even using Wenders's cinematographer and actress Lisa Kreuzer (who may even be reprising her role from "Alice in the Cities"). This is a very slow and uneventful film, but if you appreciate Wenders's existential road films, you should love this one. Sting's debut role here is the best role he ever had as a fanatical Eddie Cochran fan. David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Ian Dury and Wreckless Eric are all featured on the soundtrack.