Cyberpunk Review » Welt am Draht (World on a Wire)

February 14, 2012

Welt am Draht (World on a Wire)

Movie Review By: Mr. Roboto

Year: 1973

Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Written by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fritz Müller-Scherz, and Daniel F. Galouye (based on his novel “Simulacron-3″)

IMDB Reference

Degree of Cyberpunk Visuals: Low

Correlation to Cyberpunk Themes: High

Key Cast Members:

  • Fred Stiller: Klaus Löwitsch
  • Professor Henry Vollmer: Adrian Hoven
  • Günther Lause: Ivan Desny
  • Herbert Siskins: Karl Heinz Vosgerau
  • Eva Vollmer: Mascha Rabben
  • Gloria Fromm: Barbara Valentin
  • Franz Hahn: Wolfgang Schenck
  • Fritz Walfang: Günter Lamprecht
  • Rating: 9 out of 10

    Going Downstairs (Welt am Draht)

    In Welt am Draht (World on a Wire), going into a simulation is referred to as “going downstairs” while coming out is “going upstairs.”

    Overview: You think you might have seen every VR-based movie, or know what to expect after watching The Matrix or Lawnmower Man for the thousandth time. Then someone points you to some rare foreign TV miniseries, and suddenly… WHOA! The Matrix doesn’t seem so original anymore, at least in terms of concept.

    Transmit ACK signal to “virtual reality 91″ for mentioning this one (just needed some time to research and download). World on a Wire is a two-part TV movie originally called Welt am Draht when it first premiered in West Germany. Since then, other VR movies short and long have come and gone. While still available via file-sharing and torrent, a recently restored version has been appearing at film festivals world wide and a Blu-Ray version is set to drop this month.

    The Story: At The Institute for Kybernetik und Zukunftsforschung (Institute for Cybernetics and Future Sciences), or IKZ, Professor Henry Vollmer has created a simulated world containing some 8,000 “identity units”; Virtual humans not knowing that they are living in a simulation, except for the “contact unit” named Einstein who is needed to keep the simulation running. Vollmer tries to tell security chief Lause about a discovery regarding the simulation that he wants to keep secret “Because it would mean the end of this world.” Vollmer dies shortly after and Stiller takes over as the project’s technical director. At a party, Lause wants to tell Stiller what Vollmer had told him, but while Stiller is momentarily distracted Lause vanishes, and every one else suddenly has no memory of him, including Lause’s niece, Eva Vollmer. When one of the identity units tries to commit suicide it is deleted, prompting Stiller to “enter” the simulation to contact Einstein to find out why the unit tried to kill itself. When they meet again, Einstein is in Walfang’s body where he explains how he wants to be human… and how “reality” as Stiller knows it isn’t.

     

    German Engineering. So the Simulacron computer system isn’t exactly 21st centruy, bleeding edge technology. This is a 1970’s era movie after all. So there’s no fancy gun-fu shootouts with CGI enhanced slow-motion effects, rotoscoped armor to guard against laser-edged Frisbees, or pixelated sex between Unix GUI daemons.

    But Welt am Draht isn’t about fancy high tech special effects. It’s about one man’s reaction when he discovers the truth about reality… his reality, as he perceives it. We watch Stiller’s struggle to keep his sanity in a world that seems to be designed for the purpose of destroying him. A Kafkaesque nightmare encoded in silicon, and his attempt to escape it. And if he does escape, has he really escaped… or just entered a new level of the nightmare?

    Vollmer’s Death

    What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face.

    Mirror’s edge. The main effect of the movie, especially in part one, is a shot of an image in a mirror or similar reflective surface. This gives an extra disorienting feeling as we ponder if reality really is reality, and how do they manage to get all those mirror-shots without the film crew appearing in the reflections. Low tech, highly effective.

    But unless you can speak German well enough, you might miss some of the mirror-shots while trying to read the subtitles. That’s the only thing keeping this from being a perfect 10. Then again, subtitles probably would be better than dubbing that comes out as “all your wiener schnitzel are belong to us.”

    Interface Terminal (Welt am Draht)

    Is it live? Or is it simulated?

    Conclusion: From the country that gave the world cruise and ballistic missiles, Fahrvergnügen, and Kraftwerk, Germany shows that they can come up with some inventive… and scary… technology. Welt am Draht is one of those rare pre-cyberpunk cyberpunk movies that needs to be seen to be believed. Especially when more recent films have aped the idea of VR with high-end graphic trickery, this one is enough proof that high-end does not mean high-quality.

    This post has been filed under AI (no body), Made for TV, Proto-Cyberpunk Media, Man-machine Interface, 9 Star Movies, Surreal Cyberpunk Movies, VR Movies, Cyberpunk movies from before 1980 by Mr. Roboto.

    Comments

    February 14, 2012

    Burnt_Lombard said:

    Definitely interested in checking out Criterion’s Bluray of this film.

    SSJKamui said:

    Wow. You finally reacted on a suggestion on the forum by reviewing it? YEEEAAH! Thanks man.

    SSJKamui said:

    This movie doesn’t appear on the “Movies ordered by star rating” page. This could be a kind of error, so I mention it here.

    February 15, 2012

    Mr. Roboto said:

    Oops. Forgot to check the rating tag. Fixed now…

    SSJKamui said:

    Thanks. Now it works.

    techno_cyber_ass-pillager_2001_Space_BUGGERY said:

    wocha gaylords, finally another film review, but, why have none of u mutherfuckers on this website watched burst city already??!! It’s a great early, classic example of cyber-punk in its golden babydays, before it became nihilistic and self referencing…dickheads. Fantastic that R.W. Fassbinder is now here on this site, been a casual fan of him (but mainly my main man Werner Herzog) for yonks, but had no idea R.W.F made a cyberpunk themed film, i am ecstatic to say the least. On the Fassbinder side of things, watch his movie KAMIKAZE 1989, not his movie per say. but he stars in it, and it is definitely cyber-punk… do it… now!!! It’s a hard one to find, so…
    May the force be with you, twats!!

    March 9, 2012

    Agent Orange said:

    Picked up my Criterion Blu-ray of this yesterday. Can’t wait to see the extended cut!

    March 11, 2012

    Burnt_Lombard said:

    Heads up, this film can be viewed legally… online (for U.S. anyway) at Hulu’s criterion channel.

    March 17, 2012

    CyberpunkLover said:

    Both this and The Thirteenth Floor are based on the novel Simulacron-3. Great post.

    Leave a comment


    ~All Related Entries Related This~

     

    <<--Back to top

    Made with WordPress and the Semiologic CMS | Design by Mesoconcepts