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.
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.