“Achieves a palpable sense of time, place and atmosphere, and of how everybody is affected by their tiny spot in history.” -The Guardian, Derek Malcolm’s 100 Greatest Movies List
KINGS OF THE ROAD is about a friendship between two men: Bruno, aka “King of the Road” (Rüdiger Vogler), who repairs film projectors and travels along the inner-German border in his truck, and the psychologist Robert, aka “Kamikaze” (Hanns Zischler), who is fleeing from his own past. When Robert drives his old VW straight into the Elbe river, he is fished out by Bruno. This is the beginning of their shared journey through a German no-man’s-land, a journey that leads them from the Lüneburg Heath to the Bavarian Forest.
Wenders began the film without a script. Instead there was a route that he had scouted out beforehand: all of the little towns along the Wall that still contained a movie theater in this era of cinematic mass extinction. The old moving van with the film projectors in the back becomes a metaphor of the history of film - it is no coincidence that the film is dedicated to Fritz Lang.
This “men’s story” also treats the themes of the absence of women, of loneliness and of post-war Germany. At one point Bruno says to Robert: “The Yankees have colonized our subconscious.”
SCREENING AS PART OF KINO DREAMS
Kino Dreams is the first UK retrospective of Wenders’ films in 15 years and the first chance for UK audiences to experience the 4K restorations of Wings of Desire, The American Friend and Kings of The Road in cinemas.
The tour, supported by the BFI awarding National Lottery funding, aims to give audiences across the UK a chance to see these restorations on the big screen and introduce a new generation of film fans to the work of one of world cinema's most curious and creative filmmakers.
£100/year gets you: 6 free cinema tickets, 10% off all tickets at Riverside, 10% off our various bars & bakery, free popcorn every cinema visit, no booking fees, AND MUCH MORE
