THE AWARDS EDITION 2011-2012

His Fiction Career May Be Fading,But Wenders Is Revived throughBy Tim AdlerFeature Docs: Witness PinaWatching Pina, Wim Wenders’ 3D documentary about the abrasive-tender,jaunty-tormented work of choreographer Pina Bausch, it is ironic that theOscars ® has only ever recognized this master German filmmaker for his documentaries.Buena Vista Social Club was nominated for an Oscar ® in2000. And now Pina is up for another feature documentaryAcademy Award ® on Feb. 26.Of course, there has been a non-fiction line throughoutWenders’ career. He started taking documentaryphotographs at the age of seven, and has made featurelengthdocumentaries since 1980. Wenders himself saysthat his fiction films have a documentary feel, while hisdocumentaries always have a fairytale aspect to them –the Cinderella story of Cuban street musicians working asshoeshine boys elevated to playing Carnegie Hall in BuenaVista Social Club being a case in point.Actually, there’s a double irony here: Not only isWenders, director of such seminal European arthousemovies as Wings of Desire and Paris Texas, most feted thesedays for documentaries but they are documentariesabout other artists, arguably those with an even strongerartistic drive than his own: Willie Nelson, Ry Cooderand Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu are some of theartists he has made films about. There is a sense amongpeople who have worked with him that his days as anauteur filmmaker ranking alongside such greats asIngmar Bergman or Michelangelo Antonioni may bebehind him, and that he has settled into the seconddivision. His last fiction film, Palermo Shooting, was booedwhen it played in competition at Cannes in 2008. Criticsdescribed it as “excruciating” and “inconsequential” andan on-screen dedication to “Ingmar and Michelangelo”only fuelled catcalls in the Grand Palais.If Wenders’ fiction career has sputtered, there is nodenying how Pina has rejuvenated him. The documentaryhas grossed $12 million worldwide to date. He has talkedabout only making films in 3D from now. For too long,PINAhe says, 3D has been the preserve of cynical Hollywoodblockbusters. All movie documentaries will be filmedthree-dimensionally, he has predicted, and he is developinganother 3D docu about architecture. Deepak Nayar, whohas produced three of Wenders’ movies, says: “He’s trueto what he wants to do rather than sell out. That’s whatmakes him an auteur.”Building design is just one of Wenders’ interests: Hehas also been an engraver, philosopher and painter– and is currently writing a novel. “He’s a truepolymath, a director who’s interested in music, dance,performance and fine art,” one admirer says. And hislong association with the music scene, directing videosfor U2 and Taking Heads, means he is that rarest ofcreatures: a rock’n’roll intellectual.Opinion is divided as to what he is like personally.“Pleasant in a slightly cool way,” sums up one friend. “He’svery funny. He cracks me up,” Nayar says. Unlike someEuropean masters of his generation, he is not snobbishor unapproachable “although he is conscious of his ownposition,” says one distributor. Vain, self-indulgent and inlove with himself, carps another colleague. Whatever thetruth of this is, Wenders is certainly loved by those whowork with him. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael,in demand for Hollywood blockbusters (Knight and Day),has turned down better-paying gigs to work with him.And, in a world which is so often what-can-you-do-forme-today,Wenders remains loyal to past collaborators.When he throws parties, he often invites people he hasn’tworked with for more than a decade. “That defines aperson,” Nayar says. “Even at his budget level of auteurfilmmaking, he works democratically.” There is nodoubting his popularity on the film festival circuit. “Whenwendersyou’re with Wim, suddenly you can get in everywhere,”laughs producer Nigel Thomas, who produced theportmanteau film Ten Minutes Older.Although his longevity is appreciated in his homeland, heis not regarded as a national treasure. He has been keptaway from the levers of power distributing state fundingto other filmmakers. And he has found it increasinglydifficult to raise money out of Germany itself. Partly, it’sbecause the market for the kind of films Wenders makeshas shrunk: the days when he could raise $23 million tomake Until the End of the World (1991) ($830,000 domesticB.O.) are long gone. Today Wenders can only hope toraise $3-4 million out of Europe’s subsidy system. Hemade Land of Plenty ($20,000 domestic B.O.) in 2004 withMichelle Williams for just $500,000.Also, his slightly cool, dispassionate films have madehim – and his refusal to please an audience – go out offashion. Once the Berlin Wall came down, Germanybusied itself with construction and reunification; thespace for public intellectuals like Wenders got smaller.He is not part of the zeitgeist anymore. Wenders says:“A track record doesn’t really count for anything. It’seasier to get a film funded as a first-time director thanif you’re an old hand like me.”Anyone would agree that Wings of Desire and Paris, Texaswere groundbreaking in their time, but these have beenexceptions rather than the rule. Critics say his films arepretentious. There is a nagging sense among those whohave followed his career that at times this particularEmperor – and Wenders is noted for his flamboyantfashion sense – may not be wearing any clothes at all.“People had written Wim off,” Nayar says, “but withPina he’s come back strongly.” •