Alice in the Cities (1974)
Alice in den Städten
Film details
Drama · Wim Wenders · 1h 50min
Synopsis
German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected.
Verdict
Contemplative auteur cinema about unexpected responsibility and human connection.
In-depth analysis
Wim Wenders crafts a deliberate and contemplative narrative about two solitudes that meet by chance. The German journalist, creatively blocked and adrift, discovers an unexpected purpose upon assuming the responsibility of caring for a girl temporarily abandoned by her mother. The film functions as an inverted coming-of-age drama: it is not the child who grows, but the adult who regains contact with reality through the child's gaze. The direction is minimalist, featuring long takes of roads and cities that reflect the characters' inner state. There is no explicit moral nor dramatic flourishes. The screenplay trusts in the power of small gestures: buying an ice cream, searching for an address, sharing silence.
For parents: this is European auteur cinema, which implies a slow pace and an absence of action. Appropriate for mature adolescents who can appreciate subtlety. The protagonist-child relationship is tender and responsible, without ulterior motives. A work about how responsibility we do not choose can become the gateway to our own humanity.