Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Kings of the Road Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 8, 2016

Winner of FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Wim Wenders' "Kings of the Roads" a.k.a. "Im Lauf der Zeit" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new video interviews with actors Rudiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, and Lisa Kreuzer; outtakes; and archival audio commentary with director Wim Wenders. The release also arrives with a 48-page illustrated book featuring Michael Almereyda's essay "Between Me and the World", Allison Anders' essay "A Girl's Story", James Robinson's essay "Utter Detachment, Utter Truth", and Nick Roddick's essay "Keep on Truckin'". In German, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The travelers

I suppose the best way to describe Wim Wenders’ Kings of the Road is to make it perfectly clear what type of film it is not -- it is not a conventional film that tells a conventional story; rather, it offers an experience and a sense of the reality in which it was shot.

The film has two principal characters. The first, Bruno (Rudiger Vogler, Alice in the Cities), is a knowledgeable projectionist who drives a big truck full of film equipment and various tools. He also lives in it -- and in the truck he has everything that he owns. The man seems to like his job, but what really makes him happy is the fact that he is free as a bird. Sometimes he feels lonely, but he does understand that it is the price he ought to pay so that he can remain free. The second character is Robert (Hanns Zischler, Europa Europa), a psychologist who has struggled with some personal demons, lost the woman he loved, and become a disillusioned drifter.

Bruno and Robert meet somewhere in the heart of the German countryside, shortly after Robert drives his dingy car into a river. Bruno welcomes him on his truck and they begin a long journey across the country.

The film then switches into a slightly different mode. There are scattered conversations between Bruno and Robert that reveal various bits about their lives, but the focus of attention is not on their relationship. Here the film actually examines their presence in a country that seems to have evolved too fast and in the process left too many of its people feeling abandoned. There is a great episode in which Bruno befriends a beautiful cashier (Lisa Keuzer, Alice in the Cities) working in a dying movie theater showing exploitation films who has come to the conclusion that the best that she can do is exist -- she does not dream of falling in love, having a family, or doing anything meaningful with her life; she is simply observing the passing of time. Along the way other equally disillusioned people emerge, share some of their pain, and then disappear without a trace.

Eventually, Bruno and Robert reach the border and decide to spend the night in a checkpoint that was once used by American soldiers. A few miles ahead of them there is a different country with different people -- sort of. They are also Germans and many of them are equally disillusioned and lonely, but unlike Bruno and Robert they live in fear. It is here that the film very effectively accomplishes its goal -- you can literally feel the presence of the polarizing ideologies that have divided Germany and the suffocating weight of a reality that is too big and too complex for Germans on both sides of the border to challenge. On the following morning, Robert leaves a small note for Bruno and then quietly leaves the checkpoint.

Wenders shot Kings of the Road entirely in black-and-white with his favorite cinematographer, Robby Müller, over a period of 11 weeks, between July 1 and October 31, 1975. The locations seen in the film were chosen between Luneburg and Hof, along the border with the now defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The dreamy soundtrack was created by Axel Linstadt, a member of the German band Improved Sound Limited.

Kings of the Road Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the book provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Wrong Move and Kings of the Road are presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios of 1.66:1. These new digital transfers were created from the original 35mm negatives and scanned in 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner. The films were also color corrected in 4K resolution.

Scan and restoration lab: ARRI Media, Berlin.
Transfer supervisors: Wim and Donata Wenders.
Colorist: Philipp Orgassa.
Commissioned by: The Wim Wenders Foundation, with support from the German Federal Film Board (FFA).
Financing and coordination: Laura Schmidt, Francesca Hecht, Bernd Eichorn, Johanna Muth, Dominik Bollen."

Kings of the Road is the best looking of the three films in The Road Trilogy. The wide panoramic shots look wonderfully balanced and boast outstanding depth and clarity. During close-ups minor details and nuances are also exceptionally easy to identify. Perhaps the biggest improvements, however, will be noticed by viewers with large screens and projectors since fluidity is now drastically improved -- the fuzziness, the jittery transitions and edge flicker that are noticeable on previous DVD releases of the film are completely eliminated. Grain is very well distributed and resolved. There are no traces of sharpening adjustments or contrast boosting. Lastly, there are no damage marks, cuts, debris, stains, or warped frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Kings of the Road Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with a few small lines in English). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It immediately becomes obvious that the audio has been fully remastered because depth is outstanding. Clarity and balance are also excellent. There are quite a few sequences where scattered sounds and noises are now much easier to identify, and in some cases the background audio is actually a lot clearer (see the theater footage). The music is lush and well rounded. The dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow.

Kings of the Road Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Outtakes - presented here is footage from various outtakes and raw footage from the shooting of the film. The original footage is silent, but is presented with music from Axel Linstadt's original score for the film. (22 min, 1080p).

• Interviews - in this brand new video program, actors Rudiger Vogler (Bruno), Hanns Zischler (Robert), and Lisa Kreuzer (the lonely cashier) recall their contributions to Kings of the Road and interactions with Wim Wenders before and during the shooting process. In German, with optional English subtitles. (32 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - in this audio commentary, dierctor Wim Wenders discusses how and where various sequences were shot (the entire film was shot in chronological order), the desired atmosphere, the use of music, the decision to improvise very large parts of the film, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2005 and previously appeared on various DVD releases of Kings of the Road. In German, with optional English subtitles.

• Book - 48-page illustrated book featuring Michael Almereyda's essay "Between Me and the World", Allison Anders' essay "A Girl's Story", James Robinson's essay "Utter Detachment, Utter Truth", Nick Roddick's essay "Keep on Truckin'", and technical credits.

Kings of the Road Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road has preserved the spirit of an era during which Germany was divided by polarizing ideologies. It is by no means a political film, but it is difficult not to examine the fascinating contrasts in it without acknowledging the fact that many of them were in fact created by political decisions. After Paris, Texas it is arguably Wenders' most visually enthralling film. Criterion's new Blu-ray release, which is part of The Road Trilogy, is sourced from an outstanding new 4K restoration of the film which will remain its definitive presentation on the home video market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.