Review: World on a Wire – Presented by the TIFF Bell Lightbox

by Julian Carrington

20, June 2011ReviewsView Comments

Recently rediscovered and meticulously restored in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art, World on a Wire is a kaleidoscopic, existentialist science-fiction epic from short-lived but hugely prolific German New Wave pioneer, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Originally produced for German television in 1973, Fassbinder’s fearless foray into the science-fiction genre is a two-part disco-futurist tour de force, incorporating elements of pulp noir and paranoia thriller, and featuring a gloriously outmoded, modernist production aesthetic, which is worth the price of admission alone. Similarly marvelous is the film’s crude prescience. World on a Wire is a close adaptation of Daniel F. Goulaye’s 1964 novel Simulacron-3, and anticipates a broad swathe of celebrated sci-fi canon, including Blade Runner, The Matrix, Avatar, and Inception.

In the film as in Goulaye’s novel, “Simulacron” is the name of a newly developed supercomputer, engineered by the state-sponsored Institute of Cybernetics and Futurology. Within its simulated reality, a population of “identity units” – virtually identical to human beings, and oblivious to their true nature – provide data that will allow for the precise prediction of future social, economic and political trends. For Technical Director Henri Vollmer (Adrian Hoven), however, Simulacron’s side effects include dementia, crippling headaches, and sudden, suspicious death.

When his brooding successor, Fred Stiller (Klaus Löwitsch) inherits his title, a sexpot secretary, and a magnificent white Corvette, Vollmer’s demons soon follow. Poised to share Vollmer’s fatal secret, a second colleague disappears before Stiller’s eyes, but others deny he ever existed. A meddlesome, manipulative superior demands Stiller conduct an ethically dubious simulation for a private sector crony. Stiller twice escapes mysterious, life-threatening mishaps. All the while, piercingly discordant synths convey his newly manifested migraines, and suggest his rapidly fraying sanity.

At an indulgent total of 210 minutes, there is ample occasion for requisite plot twists, though contemporary audiences versed in genre convention will experience few narrative surprises. Nor, despite the film’s thriller trappings, are audiences actually likely to be thrilled by its pacing, which ranges from dolefully languid to morosely inert. Nonetheless, World on a Wire remains magnetic, thanks to its brilliant production design and audacious, masterful mise-en-scène. In keeping with the film’s central dichotomy – reality vs. illusion – nearly every composition features a reflective or refractive surface, if not several of each (to the enormous credit of DP Michael Ballhaus, who consulted on the restoration). Far from a mere flourish, Fassbinder succeeds in creating a metaphysical hall of mirrors, deliberately toying with our perceptions, and echoing Stiller’s increasingly fractured state of mind.

It is easy to imagine that 38 years of obscurity might have been unkind to World on a Wire, but, by and large, the opposite is true. The recent popularity of similar subject matter does dampen its mind-bending potential, but Fassbinder’s bold vision is otherwise a welcome surprise. His charmingly analog evocation of dystopian decadence is a joy to behold, while its portentous ruminations on virtual reality, collaborative illusion, and silicon subjectivity are more timely today than ever before.

Janus Films’ touring presentation of World on a Wire screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, June 17 and 19. For a complete schedule and ticketing details, visit Janus Films.

75/100 - Fassbinder’s fearless foray into the science-fiction genre is a two-part disco-futurist tour de force, incorporating elements of pulp noir and paranoia thriller, and featuring a gloriously outmoded, modernist production aesthetic, worth the price of admission alone.

by Julian Carrington | View My Other Posts | Follow Me On Twitter

A graduate of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, I haven't let my regrettable decision to drop Cinema Studies 101 deter me from becoming a pretentious, know-it-all film snob.

  • http://twitter.com/NextProjection Christopher Misch

    My embarrassing admission is that I haven’t seen a single film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

  • http://twitter.com/aHealthyDisdain Julian Carrington

    Nearly as embarrassingly, I’ve only seen the one. But after World on a Wire, and reading up on him in preparation for the review, I absolutely need to catch up, ASAP.

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