Following Sam as he photographed portions of the world to bring images to his blind mother, Wim Wender's Until the End of the World celebrates the ordinary world through the interface of technology. As a viewer, I was admittedly very confused, both by the plot and by cinematography of the film. It would be senseless, and almost embarrassing, for me to even attempt to critique the film from a cinematic standpoint, so I am going to try to do it from my comfort zone, as a visual rhetoric critique.
When analyzing the how the film presents sight, I was immediately struck how Wenders employs the use of Polaroids. His characters seem obsessed with using them, both as hand-held devices and fixed booths. I believe that these Polaroids offered a tangible proof of their existence amongst the chaos of their every changing and transitive world. As the plot and film progress at an alarming, and arguably confusing pace, the Polaroids serve as the physical reminder of what had already happened. For the characters, I think they were meant to capture and remember their identity. For the viewers, I believe they were meant to illustrate Wenders contention that amongst the infinitely undefined universe, individuals are constantly struggling to find their vision of themselves.
I like your observation of the importance of polaroids in the film, where you wrote "Polaroids serve as the physical reminder of what had already happened." I think this is a good point and even applies to the idea of it's about the journey not the destination. In UTEOTW the characters learn more and experience more digital medias while going through the journey then when they arrive at their destination.
ReplyDeleteI totally know how you feel, and I was certianly not feeling up to the task of critiquing the film from a cinematic standpoint either.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize how often Polaroids were used in Until the End of the World until you pointed it out, but now I see your point too. Perhaps the technology and the use of Polaroids may be attributed to the movie's filming taking place in the early 90's? I like that you point out how the Polaroid's serve to remind the characters what had already happened, which certainly seems to be true in the Aborigini scene.