Leah Marks

Wim Wenders, “Talk About Germany”

In the speech “Talk About Germany,” Wim Wenders discusses the complications and contradictions of his own national identity in order to draw conclusions about the collective German conscience. As a youth growing up in postwar Germany, Wenders was disillusioned with his shattered country and captivated by American westerns and comic books. He eventually moved to the United States, only to become disenchanted with America’s commoditization and cheapening of images. Wenders’ quest to find a place for himself and his films is an endless struggle. He is neither fully at home in Germany, nor will he ever find a Heimat in America.

Much like Wenders is a director straddling two countries, Germany is a nation torn between images and language. Whereas modern images are imported and mass-produced, the German language is indigenous and singular. Wenders points out that the capitalization of images is a worldwide phenomenon. However, it has special significance in Germany, a country that is “entirely given over to foreign images” (442). For Wenders, the language that implies “a certain attitude, a relationship to the world, ‘my’ take on it” (437) is Germany’s wealth, salvation, and identity.

Wenders’ talk sheds light on the struggle with nationality that motivates much of his cinema. Characters such as Philip Winter and Tom Ripley follow in the director’s own restless footsteps, taking to the road to better understand their respective German and American identities. On a broader scale, the movies’ narrative and cinematic techniques call into question the idea of German and American cinemas as distinct modes of film practice. A constant exchange of inspiration binds the two; neither exists in a vacuum. Likewise, differences in methods of representation define the cinemas as unique products of their nations. If American films are superficial and easy-to-digest, German movies are emotionally deep and psychologically troubling. Such sweeping characterizations of American and German film could not exist without the other cinema as a basis of comparison.

Discussion Questions:

1) Wenders says that after a period in America, he “couldn’t stand living in Disneyland anymore” (440). How does the idea of America as a mass-marketed fantasy inspire the Wenders films we’ve seen?

2) In what ways does Wenders’ cinema reconcile images with language? Which of his films achieves the best balance between the two?

3) There are no German characters in Paris, Texas (although Nastassja Kinski is a German-born actress). How does Wender’s approach the ideas of national identity and national cinema in this film?