World on a Wire

First of all, this film is nearly impossible to get a grip on, but the upcoming Fassbinder DVD-Collection (Code 2!) hopefully includes this one. If you are fond of virtual reality stories (and capable of understanding the German language) you might want to look for a video-hunt. This film is truly fascinating, with a great cast of famous (and sometimes notorious...) German actors. It foreshadows everything about VR - because it is the first adaption of the novel "Simulacron", on which "13th Floor" is based as well. "Welt am Draht" is brilliantly shot by Michael Ballhaus and Ulrich Prinz. Although I am not a fan of Fassbinder's works, I really liked the eerie atmosphere and the hilarious 70's design.

Rating 9/10!

HIGHLY recommended to fans of classy/cheesy 70's sci-fi, very early "cyberpunk", and vintage German film: the recently re-"discovered" and restored, creepy mind-bender "Welt am Draht" ("World on a Wire") originally shot on 16mm film and presented as a 2-part miniseries on West German television in 1973. while it's obviously quite long, starts out kinda slow, flounders at times in cheesy existentialism, has no special effects to speak of, and has been ripped off so much it almost seems clichéd at this point (the massively inferior 1999's "The Thirteenth Floor" was based on the same book, and similar concepts have cropped up in a variety of stories throughout sci-fi...) it was SO far ahead of its time that it still packs a lot of relevant futuristic cyber-bite, albeit with a VERY sweet, classy retro style. it's very much an "intellectual" James Bond in Alphaville, though with some "2001" flourishes of design and cinematography... maybe not the greatest of masterpieces, but such an influential and unique sci-fi classic, it really should be seen by any fan of the genres or style, especially for the first time in decades!

Recently rediscovered TV film made by Fassbinder in the mid-70s, it's an early film dealing with the sci-fi concept of virtual reality. The subject became really popular in the late 90s with the mega-hit The Matrix and several other more cultish flicks like Dark City, eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor (which was actually based on the same novel as World on a Wire). This is notably less cheesy than a lot of 70s sci-fi, though 70s styles are ever-present in the decor. I don't know if I'd say it's as fun as some of those cheesy 70s sci-fis, though. The film is split into two parts, and, as a whole, runs about three and a half hours. They probably could have cut it down a lot, because it really drags at times. The one thing I really love about it is the visuals. It might be Fassbinder's most visually resplendent work. I doubt someone watching it on a television screen in 1973 (probably the great majority watched it in black and white) could have appreciated the gorgeousness of it. The Criterion Blu Ray is gorgeous and very unique looking. As long as it was, the visuals always kept me enthralled. Like a lot of early Fassbinder films, it's a bit dry and could use some more interesting characters - he became a much better director starting around this same time when he started embracing melodrama.

I saw Welt am Draht in German TV when it was broadcast first, sometime 1973 or 74 i guess. I was nine or ten years old then, and it left a tremendous impression on me -- World On Wires is definitely one of my Myths of Childhood.

The two or three parts were aired again two or three times, the last time i watched it must have been in the eighties. I recorded them, but, very unfortunately, somehow these tapes got lost in the eddies of reality. It is hard to impossible to find Welt am Draht anywhere these days, which is really sad.

Welt am Draht changed the way i perceive the world. It is its credibility, the haunting story, the atmosphere of Germany in the early seventies, the actors, everything. It was very up to date then, and i think it is very much so now. We used to watch a lot of SF on TV, and I remember several serials that were in atmosphere and outlook so close to RWF's Welt, it has almost all melted into a kind of emotion, some sort of dim remembrance of future.

This movie, made for TV in 1973 and consisting of two parts with a total length of more than three hours, certainly can seem a bit slow-going at times. However, there's so much internal tension in the slowly unfolding story that at the end, it doesn't feel too long or drawn-out at all. This is also thanks to the splendid performance by Klaus Löwitsch who convincingly plays the main character as a man who almost frantically tries to keep his guarded, restrained demeanour as his environment gets more and more puzzling and threatening. If we compare "World on a Wire" with the later adaptation "The Thirteenth Floor" which is based on the same book, the earlier film is a much more interesting experience - more layers, more depth, more interesting actors. Craig Bierko's interpretation of the main character in "The Thirteenth Floor" is not a tenth as interesting as Löwitsch's performance - I can't find the emotion in Bierko's "Douglas Hall" character, the self-doubt, the despair... it's all there in Löwitsch's "Fred Stiller". And "World on a Wire" isn't just a pioneering movie, it's also strangely timeless despite the prevalent seventies design. With the very clear, fine picture of the current DVD restoration it doesn't feel dated. It's a strange, half frozen world seemingly not entirely connected to reality - which of course fits the theme very well.