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The End of Violence | Year: 1997 Classification: Drama Directed: - Wim Wenders Actors/Actresses: - Loren Dean - Udo Kier - Traci Lind - Rosalind Chao - Bill Pullman - Andie MacDowell - K. Todd Freeman - Gabriel Byrne Almost really great It's refreshing to watch movies which don't spoonfeed you all the information. Although this is not Wenders's best work (I recommend "Until the End of the World" or "Paris and Texas"), it's still worlds better than most of what's being made today. You won't lose any IQ points watching this movie, which is more than I can say for most of the popular movies out this year. Bravo to Ry Cooder's soundtrack. A PROVOCATIVE MIND PUZZLER Wim Wender's End of Violence is a movie splattered with many interesting ideas. Gabriel Byrne sits in a top secret government observatory watching everything that goes on in the city, and in the biginning of the film watches a botched attempt on an arrogant producer played by Bill Pullman. In a way the film is the story of the producer's redemption, who after surviving the incident and living with Mexican farmers gains a new presepective on his life. Another major theme in the film is the invasion of privacy on the part of the Byrne character, the film is perhaps saying that if the forces that be can see everything that goes on there would be an "end of violence", end of crime, and all illegal behaviour, and how that plays against our right to privacy. I say "perhaps" because Wenders never makes these points too clearly, you have to make conclusions yourself from images and events on the screen, which is something that I consider a plus. Unfortunately the film has other subplots that have little to do with these magor themes. Whats the deal with the stunt woman turned actress story line, or those yuppie poetry readings, all of which are a little too "new age" for my taste. The final verdict is that End of Violence is an intresting if unsatifying movie experience. I do however enjoy watching the underappreciated Gabriel Byrne and Bill Pullman, both of whom always bring something extra to any role they are cast in. If you're looking for a more satisfying film by Wenders I suggest you buy his 1984 masterpiece Paris, Texas or better yet Wings of Desire 1988. The End of Freedom In George Orwell's masterpiece "1984", Oceania is one of three new-world-order totalitarian governments that are in a perpetually mutual state of war. Oceania's propaganda motto is, "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", "Ignorance is Strength". The Ministry of Truth, where the protagonist works, controls the dissemination of all information, and constantly rewrites the historical record. "Newspeak" is the re-formulated and politically correct language used in this process, designed to obliterate all original thought and any past or present events perceived as adverse to the health of the State. Government surveillance is everywhere, even in the "private" rooming houses for example, where all residents are forced into morning calisthenics under two-way television monitoring by BB - Big Brother. This reviewer can't know where Wenders got his inspiration for this way under-recognized film, but one must conclude that he was deeply aware of Orwell's and other such work. After seeing this film in 1998, this collector prematurely dismissed it, perhaps having little appreciation of how prescient it would shortly become; and having considerable disenchantment with Wenders' previous artsy, unrealistic and truly awful "Wings of Desire". Yet despite this reviewer's negative view of "Wings", the themes and method of depiction in "The End of Violence" became, in retrospect, increasingly haunting. One could consider this film as being a more nuanced and updated "1984," or a more constrained and intellectualized "Enemy of the State" (another great movie). The pacing is just the opposite of Enemy's frantic activities, rather being (almost maddeningly) leisurely and surrealistic. The basic plot is this: A computer development expert (Gabriel Byrne) is deeply involved in the test development of a highly classified FBI prototype in Los Angeles, a system involving city-wide surveillance webcams and spy satellites to constantly monitor all citizen activities. Developing major ethical concerns about the use of this system to commit political murders, and knowing he personally is being monitored, he tries clandestinely to email the secret details of the system to an acquaintance, a casual though (in desperation) trusted film producer who probably has the public connections that could facilitate action as a whistle-blower. In the parallel and converging plot lines, the film producer (Bill Pullman) realizes he is in mortal peril when he survives a bungled (and attempted disguised) assassination attempt. Confused as to why, but knowing his life is in danger, he flees to anonymous refuge with a mom-and-pop Mexican gardener troupe, from whence, with the occasional help of troupe members, he conducts his own pathetically limited fact finding. He discovers that the perception (by whomever) that he has come into possession of a highly classified FBI report via his email has motivated the assassination attempt, thereby forcing him to go into hiding indefinitely. Buy The End Of Violence at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The End Of Violence Search with the Priority Search Engine on The End Of Violence This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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