source: The State of Things

Moviecut—The State of Things

Der Stand der Dinge

Did someone find the plot somewhere in the film?. Perhaps it is the thing missing in this pretentious exercise of cinema about cinema. It is quite surprising that Gordon says that "A movie without a plot is nothing"... It is possible that characters have more to say that the own Wim Wenders. Was this phrase in the original plot or the actor decided to send a hint to the director?.

Arguably Wim Wenders' best movie is a sum of his work and his artistry and also presents the haphazardness of film-making, photographed in beautiful black-and-white images; alone, the entrance sequence of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi film demonstrates what Wenders would Wenders himself could have done with such a project.

Time has passed since i watched this wonderful movie, and it remains in my mind like those dreams you remember for ever although had lasted ten, twenty, thirty years, like a child's dream. In effect ever i though this film was made as Wenders wanted to built an feverish dream, the American night, in a gorgeous black and white, the scene the crew is filming with that children dying and screaming like an hurt animal, and the self image that Friederich receive in an old printer from the screenwriter. Do you remember those old movies of 60's made in the Nuevo Mexico desert? Those movies made in a high percentage in a false night that you could feel the heath of a warm wind?. Longer, the best Wenders'film.

This movie is probably one of the best movies of the early 80's. A simple story: the beginning is enigmatically, the dessert?, the space? a lonely and a dead world and people who are trying to survive in a terrible weather, but they are just making a movie in Portugal, then the concepts of money and economics and "the life goes on" appears. Wenders makes a journey into reality, and this is cruel. The journey from fiction to reality is long and atmospheric. It ends in LA with an assassination. The interior monologues of the actors and the static of each scene is definitively material to be study by every cinematographic student.

I saw this film when I was in mid-20s in 1982. I viewed this film with Stanley Brock in Santa Monica, California. Stanley Brock was in the Actors Studio with one of the actors from "State of Things" - Allen Garfield. I have not seen the film again, but if I see it in the video store, I will rent it. The eerie black and white photography of the Portugal coastline creates the loneliness of the actors. I love that image of the coastline even 20 years later. I do remember Allen Garfield and Paul Getty in this film. Please see this film if you have the chance.

The film is slow, but very nice, because really shows life as it is. It talks about a director who shoots a movie without knowing that its budget will be cut off. Once he embarks on a journey to the U.S., where his film has been funded, he sank into the muddy waters of the life of his sponsor. The action in the film gradually speeds up and it is not very surprising. The music is also very good. Throughout the movie repeats the same theme, which is quite strange. Finally, however, it develops and displays all its importance... In the end is time for the real action. You have to watch this movie! http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

This film was shot by Wenders while he was waiting for Coppola to get the financing to complete Hammett and his frustrations with that experience are clearly expressed here. It is a very personal film and, as such, I think one of his best. The end sequence in LA is classic. Shot in beautiful black and white, this is really a must see for any fan of the 'art film' in general and of Wenders' work in particular.