The State of Things (film)
Encyclopedia
The State of Things is a 1982 road movie
directed by Wim Wenders
. It tells the story of a film director travelling from Portugal
to Los Angeles
in search of his missing producer.
The soundtrack includes original music from Jim Jarmusch
, Jürgen Knieper, as well as tracks from Joe Ely
, X and The Del-Byzanteens
. Wenders' 1994 film Lisbon Story is partly a sequel to The State of Things.
to shoot a black-and-white remake of Roger Corman
's 1955 science fiction
B movie
Day the World Ended
about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust
. The remake is titled The Survivors. The production runs out of film and money and the director, Friedrich Munro (the name alludes to director legend Friedrich Murnau
) played by Patrick Bauchau
, who cannot reach his producer, Gordon, and so sets off to find him. The crew waits for Friedrich's return in an abandoned hotel. As they grow restless and bored, the film depicts some of their philosophical thoughts and emotional reactions, focusing on the themes of cinema, illusion and reality. Friedrich eventually manages to track the producer (Allen Garfield
) in Los Angeles
, who is in mortal danger because of money he owes to the Mafia
.
Cameo appearances
of The State of Things was Henri Alekan
, the noted photographer of Jean Cocteau
's 1946 motion picture Beauty and the Beast
.
The origin of the film began during the filming of Wenders' 1981 Hammett for Francis Ford Coppola
's then new American Zoetrope Studios
. Coppola interrupted Wenders' production to make his own film One from the Heart
, and during this unexpected sabbatical, Wenders went to Portugal and discovered a film crew running out of money; they were making The Territory
(1981). Wenders borrowed the entire cast and crew to make The State of Things. He reportedly made a conditional deal to help with the completion of the film if the crew would agree to make a film of his own. This film turned out to be The State of Things; in that film, the unexpected halt in filming due to a producer's troubles parallels Wenders' own experience with Coppola. Ironically, The State of Things is an example of the "personal film" that Coppola himself passionately believed in but did not fully realize with One from the Heart. After completing The State of Things, Wenders returned to Los Angeles and completed Hammett.
at the Venice Film Festival
of 1982. In 1983 it won the German Film Prizes in Gold for Photography and in Silver for Production.
Road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main character or characters leave home to travel from place to place. They usually leave home to escape their current lives.-History:...
directed by Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
. It tells the story of a film director travelling from Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in search of his missing producer.
The soundtrack includes original music from Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, Jürgen Knieper, as well as tracks from Joe Ely
Joe Ely
Joe Ely is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, Texas Country, Tex-Mex and rock and roll....
, X and The Del-Byzanteens
The Del-Byzanteens
The Del-Byzanteens was a New York-based No Wave band active in the early 1980's. The band comprised Phil Kline ; Jim Jarmusch ; Philippe Hagen ; Josh Braun ; and Dan Braun...
. Wenders' 1994 film Lisbon Story is partly a sequel to The State of Things.
Plot
A German film crew is in PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to shoot a black-and-white remake of Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's 1955 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
Day the World Ended
Day the World Ended
Day the World Ended was the fourth film directed by Roger Corman. Rick is a heroic scientist who, among others, must face off against a mutant monster after an atomic war destroys human civilization...
about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
. The remake is titled The Survivors. The production runs out of film and money and the director, Friedrich Munro (the name alludes to director legend Friedrich Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era, and a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s...
) played by Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau is a Belgian actor.-Early life:Bauchau was born in Brussels, the son of Mary , a Russian-born school administrator and publisher, and Henry Bauchau, a school administrator, publisher, writer, and psychoanalyst who served as an officer in the Belgian...
, who cannot reach his producer, Gordon, and so sets off to find him. The crew waits for Friedrich's return in an abandoned hotel. As they grow restless and bored, the film depicts some of their philosophical thoughts and emotional reactions, focusing on the themes of cinema, illusion and reality. Friedrich eventually manages to track the producer (Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield, born and sometimes credited as Allen Goorwitz , is an American film and television actor.-Biography:...
) in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, who is in mortal danger because of money he owes to the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
.
Cast
- Patrick BauchauPatrick BauchauPatrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau is a Belgian actor.-Early life:Bauchau was born in Brussels, the son of Mary , a Russian-born school administrator and publisher, and Henry Bauchau, a school administrator, publisher, writer, and psychoanalyst who served as an officer in the Belgian...
as Friedrich, the Director - Allen GarfieldAllen GarfieldAllen Garfield, born and sometimes credited as Allen Goorwitz , is an American film and television actor.-Biography:...
as Gordon, the Producer - Isabelle Weingarten as Anna
- Rebecca Pauly as Joan
- Jeffrey Kime as Mark
- Geoffrey Carey as Robert
- Camilla MoreCamilla MoreCamilla More is an English actress who has starred in movies and on television. She is the fraternal twin sister of Carey More. The two sisters have starred together in some films and TV shows.More was born in London, England...
as Julia - Alexandra Auder as Jane
- Paul Getty Jr. as Dennis, the Writer
- VivaViva (Warhol superstar)Viva is an American actress, writer and a former Warhol superstar.-Career:She was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in Syracuse, New York. She was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film but later used her married last name . She appeared in several of Warhol's films...
as Kate - Samuel FullerSamuel FullerSamuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter, novelist, and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
as Joe, the Cameraman - Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
as the Lawyer - Janet Rasak as Karen
- Artur Semedo as the Production Manager
- Francisco Baião as the Soundman
- Robert KramerRobert KramerRobert Kramer was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 19 films between 1965 and 1999...
as the Camera operator - Monty Bane as Herbert
Cameo appearances
- Samuel FullerSamuel FullerSamuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter, novelist, and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
, a famous B movieB movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
director, plays a main role as Joe, the director of photography who, early in the film, informs the director Friedrich that they have just run out of film stockFilm stockFilm stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
. - Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
, the director of the original 1955 B movie being remade by the filmmakers in The State of Things, has a cameo role in the film as a Hollywood lawyer.
Filming
The bulk of the film was shot in Portugal, and the last quarter of it in Los Angeles. It was made by Wim Wenders Productions and five other production companies were involved. The lead cinematographerCinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
of The State of Things was Henri Alekan
Henri Alekan
Henri Alekan was a French cinematographer.-Life:Henri Alekan was born in Montmartre in 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at the Billancourt studios. He then spent a short time in the army,...
, the noted photographer of Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
's 1946 motion picture Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1946 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film adaptation of the traditional fairy tale of the same name, written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and published in 1757 as part of a fairy tale anthology . Directed by French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, the film stars Josette...
.
The origin of the film began during the filming of Wenders' 1981 Hammett for Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's then new American Zoetrope Studios
American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded on December 12, 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV...
. Coppola interrupted Wenders' production to make his own film One from the Heart
One from the Heart
One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city...
, and during this unexpected sabbatical, Wenders went to Portugal and discovered a film crew running out of money; they were making The Territory
The Territory
-Cast:* Isabelle Weingarten - Françoise* Rebecca Pauly - Barbara* Geoffrey Carey - Peter* Jeffrey Kime* Paul Getty Jr. - Guide* Shila Turna - Linda* Artur Semedo - Indefinite man* Camila Mora - Young girl* Ethan Stone - Young boy* José Nascimento - Prawler...
(1981). Wenders borrowed the entire cast and crew to make The State of Things. He reportedly made a conditional deal to help with the completion of the film if the crew would agree to make a film of his own. This film turned out to be The State of Things; in that film, the unexpected halt in filming due to a producer's troubles parallels Wenders' own experience with Coppola. Ironically, The State of Things is an example of the "personal film" that Coppola himself passionately believed in but did not fully realize with One from the Heart. After completing The State of Things, Wenders returned to Los Angeles and completed Hammett.
Awards
The film won the Golden LionGolden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
of 1982. In 1983 it won the German Film Prizes in Gold for Photography and in Silver for Production.
Legacy
- Left over film stockFilm stockFilm stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
from The State of Things was used on the first third of Jim JarmuschJim JarmuschJames R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
's 1984 black-and-white film Stranger Than ParadiseStranger Than ParadiseStranger Than Paradise is a 1984 American absurdist/deadpan comedy film. It was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and stars jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint...
. - In 1991, Wenders later made Until the End of the WorldUntil the End of the WorldUntil the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...
, which also follows characters coping with the results of a nuclear blast. In 1994, he made Lisbon Story, in which the fictitious movie director in The State of Things, Friedrich Munro, reappears, having expatriated to Portugal.