813-816 Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy

[GaryC]

I'd say the nudity involved in Wrong Move is in the setting of unambiguously eroticized physical contact. Was this screened in the UK?

OK, this is interesting; it seems that the BBFC did indeed cut it for UK video release in 2004, and for precisely that reason. So yes, it did cross that particular line in a way that À nos amours didn't.

(I haven't seen it myself.)

It opened theatrically in mid-1977, but without a BBFC certificate, and in any case this was before the passage of the 1978 Protection of Children Act.

I haven't seen it either, but do you have a source for it having been cut? The BBFC site has a cinema pass in 1980 (with an obviously inaccurate time of 41 minutes - should be 103) and homeviewing passes in 1995, 2007 and 2008, but not 2004, none of them cut. Going by the Monthly Film Bulletin, it was indeed released non-theatrically in 16mm in 1977, by the same distributor (Cinegate) who submitted it to the BBFC in 1980.

I wonder if Kinski has ever spoken about To the Devil a Daughter, which she made at the age of fourteen. She's not only topless but full-frontal in that, but as she's the only person in that particular shot, it's deemed not to be a sexual scene and not in breach of the Act so the BBFC have never cut it. There are other reasons in the film for an X or 18 certificate. But I wonder if this might go out of circulation too.

[The Curious Sofa]

I'd say the nudity involved in Wrong Move is in the setting of unambiguously eroticized physical contact. Was this screened in the UK?

OK, this is interesting; it seems that the BBFC did indeed cut it for UK video release in 2004, and for precisely that reason. So yes, it did cross that particular line in a way that À nos amours didn't.

(I haven't seen it myself.)

It opened theatrically in mid-1977, but without a BBFC certificate, and in any case this was before the passage of the 1978 Protection of Children Act.

I haven't seen it either, but do you have a source for it having been cut? The BBFC site has a cinema pass in 1980 (with an obviously inaccurate time of 41 minutes - should be 103) and homeviewing passes in 1995, 2007 and 2008, but not 2004, none of them cut.

I wonder if Kinski has ever spoken about To the Devil a Daughter, which she made at the age of fourteen. She's not only topless but full-frontal in that, but as she's the only person in that particular shot, it's deemed not to be a sexual scene and not in breach of the Act so the BBFC have never cut it. There are other reasons in the film for an X or 18 certificate. But I wonder if this might go out of circulation too.

In the German media it was reported that Kinski collectively called out all early films and TV series where she appeared naked or near naked, which comprises at least her first five appearances on screen and she's been pursuing this for a while now. I guess the focus is most on Wrong Move because she was so young and Wenders recently issued a reply that didn't go down well. A notable case in Germany is a feature length episodes of the long running (56 years and still going) German police procedural Tatort, which was directed Wolfgang Petersen. She was 15 then, played a seductive teen femme fatale and the context of her nudity was certainly sexual. In 2024 she's received an apology and come to "an agreement" with the TV channel ARD and that there are no plans to screen the episode again. I guess for Kinski this came all more into focus since her sister Pola Kinski revealed that their father Klaus Kinki sexually abused her from the age of 5. I always wondered why there hasn't been more outrage over that.

[therewillbeblus]

Currently on backorder on Criterion's site

[dwk]

The DVD version ia still available.

[TMDaines]

I noticed Falsche Bewegung had been allowed to drift OOP on Blu-ray in Germany a number of years ago and was never included in subsequent compilation sets where it might otherwise be expected, nor did it get a single release.

[spectre]

I guess for Kinski this came all more into focus since her sister Pola Kinski revealed that their father Klaus Kinki sexually abused her from the age of 5. I always wondered why there hasn't been more outrage over that.

I don't think there was or is any less "outrage" than anyone would expect, and it's not one of those things where it's somehow slipped under the radar – I think most people who are in any way familiar with Kinski are by now aware of Pola's sexual abuse allegations against him. But the fact he was long dead by then and already such a disreputable (to say the least) figure meant there was nothing much to do with the revelation except to acknowledge it in horror and sadness (and, for those so inclined, make decisions about how to engage with his work in future accordingly).

With a person as mentally unwell as Kinski sr, one's instinct is to look more sharply at the people and the broader film industry that might have enabled or covered up for him. But I'm not sure even they could have been expected to know that this was happening or to have been in a position to do anything about it.

By the way, speaking of Klaus, I'm seeing a lot of commentary on social media suggesting that he was the person enabling or encouraging Nastassja to be cast in sexually suggestive roles as a teenager. But if I understand correctly, she was (mercifully) long estranged from him by her teens, and I'm not aware of him playing any role in getting her cast in Wrong Move or any of the other films she acted in afterwards.

[hearthesilence]

Coverage in today's New York Times.

[swo17]

Well, this is my favorite film in the trilogy, and perhaps my favorite Wenders film full stop. I was not aware Kinski was underage at the time, nor that she later objected to this scene circulating. Obviously this gives me pause