Until the End of the World – Director’s Cut

UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD is “the ultimate road movie,” a journey around the globe, a modern-day odyssey—and it certainly bears similarities to Homer’s saga. However, the aim of this journey is the spiritual reconciliation between an obsessed father and his lost son—and, in UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, Penelope decides to set out in pursuit of Odysseus.

In order to enable his blind wife (Jeanne Moreau) to see, Dr. Farber (Max von Sydow) invents a process that makes it possible to transmit the images recorded in the brain of sighted people directly into the visual system of blind people.

Farber’s son Sam (William Hurt) sets out on a journey around the world in order to “see” and record the various stations of his mother’s life for her. The French woman Margot (Solveig Dommartin) falls in love with him and sets out in pursuit of him. She, in turn, is followed by the author Eugene (Sam Neill), who is recording her adventure.

The film was shot in 1990 and takes place in what was then the near future, around the turn of the millennium. What most interests Wenders here is how humanity learns to deal with images—or becomes their victim. Eugene notes: “In the beginning was the word. What would happen if only the image remained in the end!?”

Frustrated with the “Reader’s Digest” version of his film, which was forced upon him by his distributors, Wenders created a director’s cut two years after the film’s release: At a length of 4 1/2 hours, it lives up to his intentions and to the epic nature of the story.

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Format

Germany/France/Australia 1990/91
1994 Director’s Cut
Length: 179 min, 5258 m (287 min two-part Director’s Cut)
Format: Super 35mm Eastmancolor; 1:1.66; Dolby Stereo
Original Language: English

4K Restoration 2014, 4K DCP


Festivals & Awards

1992 • Gilde Prize in Gold (Best National Film)


Cast and crew

Production: Road Movies Filmproduktion GmbH (Berlin), Argos Films S.A. (Neuilly), Village Roadshow Pictures Pty. Ltd. (Sydney) Director: Wim Wenders Producer: Anatole Dauman, Jonathan Taplin, Wim Wenders Screenplay: Wim Wenders, Peter Carey, after an idea by Wim Wenders, Solveig Dommartin Director of Photography: Robby Müller Editor: Peter Przygodda Sound: Jean-Paul Mugel Cast: Solveig Dommartin, Pietro Falcone, Enzo Turrin, Eddy Mitchell, Adelle Lutz, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow, Ernie Dingo, Rüdiger Vogler, Jeanne Moreau, Chick Ortega, Ryu Chishy, William Hurt

1st Assistant Director: Marc Jeny 2nd Assistant Director: Thierry Verrier, Scott Kirby International Assistant Director: Alessandro Bressanello (Italy), Christine Fauconnot (France), Manuel João Aguas (Portugal), Gabriele Mattner (Germany); Takeshi Miyasaka, Masaharu Komsatsuki, Takuya Seki (Japan); Emma Schofield, John Martin, Tony Mahood, Daphne Paris (Australia) Script: Jacqueline Gamard Personal Assistant to Wim Wenders: Dagmar Forelle Dramaturgy: Walter Donohue Editorial Office: Alison Summers Book and Dialogue: Horst Geisler Assistant Camera: Pim Tjujerman, Benedict Neuenfels Gaffer: Christopher Porter Set Design and futuristic Objects: Thierry Flamand Assistant Set Design: Denis Renault Property Master: Colin Gibson High Definition Video Design: Sean Naughton Video Coordinator: Michael Condon, Hito Steyerl (2nd Unit Video Kamera) Sound Assistant: Sophie Chiabaut Sound Effects: Matthias Lempert, Solid Sound Foley Artist: Hans-Walter Kramski, Bernd Schmidl Re-recording Mixer: Milan Bor Soundtrack: Graeme Revell Make-up: Thi Loan Nguyen Hairstyle: Agathe Moro Wardrobe: Montserrat Casanova, Philippe Schuller, Germinal Rangel, Len Alexander Special Effects: FuturEffects, Frank Schlegel, Morton McAdams Music Coordinatior: Barklie K. Griggs, Jennifer Quinn-Richardson, Dana K. Sano Music Recordings: Tritonus Studios, Berlin Music Editor: Dick Bernstein Audio Engineer: Gareth Jones, Gerd Krüger, Marco Birkner Further Music Recordings: Hansa Tonstudios (Berlin) Line Producer (Music): Gary Goetzman, Sharon Boyle Image and Music Editor: Peter Przygodda Assistant Editor: Anne Schnee, Sandra Schmidt, Susan Fortson Sound Editor: Barbara von Weitershausen Assistant Sound Editor: Oliver Gieth Solo Cello: David Darling Music: U2, Talking Heads, Elvis Presley, Lou Reed, T-Bone Burnett, Peter Gabriel, Laurent Petigand, Can, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., Julee Cruise, Crime & The City Solution, Chubby Checker, Boulevard of Broken Dreams Orchestra, Robbie Robertson & Blue Nile, Patti & Fred Smith, Neneh Cherry, Depeche Mode, Daniel Lanois, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Jane Siberry with k.d. lang, Gondwanaland, David Darling, Mildred Hill and Patti Hill With Participation of: Australian Film Finance Corporation Pty. Ltd. Editorial Office: Alison Summers Production Coordinatior: Ghislaine Cauet, Catherine Coste Management: Alex Matcham Accountants: Samantha Glen, Linda Bowen, Steffi Hiller Production Office: Gabriella Scarpa (Italy) Production Assistant: Laura Bettanin, Fabio Dona (Italy); Jaime Campos, Joaquim Carvalho (Portugal); Tilmann Vierzig (Germany); Greg Walker (USA); Hiroshi Ogawa (Japan); Scott Gary (Australia) Production Manager: Rosanna Roditi (Italy); Alexandra Barradas (Portugal); Ginette Mejinsky, Claude Albouze (France); Barbara von Wrangell (Germany); Karen McCabe (USA); Yoshio Tan, Kunio Niwa, Mitsuko Oki (Japan) Line Producer: Marc Monnet, Paolo Branco (Portugal); Su Armstrong (Australia) Location Manager: Guido Cerasuolo (Italy); Camilo Castelo Branco (Portugal); Olivier Thaon, Arnaud Dupont, Frédéric Doniguian (France); Laurie Noll (USA); Takao Sugiyama (Japan); Benoit Feder, Chen Kaige (China) Primary Distribution: Tobis Filmkunst GmbH & Co. KG (Berlin) Premiere (DE): 10.09.1991 Berlin Shooting: January 1990 – May 1991 in Paris, New York, Tokyo, San Remo, Venice, Lozere (France), Lisbon, Berlin, San Francisco, Hakone (Japan), Sydney, Coober Pedy, Oodnadatta, Maree (South Australia), Alice Spring, Darwin (Northern Territory), Brisbane (Queensland), Bungle Bungles/ Gordon Downs (West Australia), Potsdam Studio Neubabelsberg, Moscow, China


Blu-ray & DVD

DVD (DE)
Arthaus/Studiocanal
Language/Sound: German, English (5.1 Dolby Digital)
Subtitles: German
Image Format: 1,78:1

DVD (GB)
Metrodome Distribution
Language/Sound: English
Subtitles: English
Image Format: 1,78:1


Press Sheet (PDF)

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