Product Details

• Actors: Dennis Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Rüdiger Vogler, Hanna Schygulla, Lisa Kreuzer
• Directors: Nicholas Ray, Wim Wenders
• Writers: Nicholas Ray, Wim Wenders, Francois Burkhardt, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Patricia Highsmith
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 8
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: December 5, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007WQGWC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,007 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Wim Wenders Collection 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An interesting gathering of fiction features and documentaries spanning nearly a quarter-century of filmmaking by one of the original giants of the German New Wave, The Wim Wenders Collection, Vol. 2 has both the famous and obscure. From Wenders' early career comes 1972's The Scarlet Letter, which helped define the director's passion for the theme of the outsider in society. Senta Berger stars as Hester Prynne, the 17th century heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's proto-feminist novel. Lou Castel plays her tormented lover, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Hans Christian Blech is the husband who disappeared and underwent a transformation while in captivity. The mesmerizing The Wrong Move (1974) was one of the films that brought Wenders international attention, and it's another adaptation: this time Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. Ruediger Vogeler, an icon in Wenders' first works, stars as Meister, a writer who takes a journey in a forest with several companions (among them Hanna Schygulla and Nastassja Kinski) and becomes the guest of a wealthy industrialist (Ivan Desny) with a dark secret. 1980's Lightning Over Water is a loving and tragic tribute to American film director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause), a major inspiration to Wenders and a physically fragile artist at the time of production.

Ray has a small part in the extraordinary The American Friend, a major success in Wenders career and a thriller based on Patricia Highsmith's novels about sociopath Tom Ripley. Dennis Hopper plays an isolated, deranged version of Ripley, seen here as an art dealer who sets up a dying restorer (Bruno Ganz) to commit a murder, then regrets his actions and becomes the innocent man's ally. The rest of Vol. 2 is more of Wenders' fascinating documentaries, including the wonderful Tokyo-Ga, a moving and sporadically funny 1985 essay about contemporary Tokyo and how it measures up to the Tokyo portrayed in the masterpieces of the late filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Room 666 (1984) is an unusual experiment in which several other world-class filmmakers consent to a spontaneous interview, one after the other, in a hotel room. Another experimental work, A Trick of Light (1996), concerns the Skladanowsky brothers, inventors of the Bioscope projector. Much of the film was shot using the film pioneers’ own, 19th century equipment. Finally, Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989) is an intriguing piece about Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto, whose design process is viewed in the context of the computer age and digital information. Special features include a filmed lecture by Nicholas Ray, and commentary by Wenders on each of the movies. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

This set contains two documentaries and one feature film all by the German auteur. Special features including deleted scenes featurettes and commentary accompany each film.LIGHTNING OVER WATER: Director Wim Wenders assembled this experimental project with the legendary American director Nicholas Ray. Shot as Ray was dying of cancer the film finds him surrounded by family and friends as he reflects on his life and career. As he tells some amazing stories about his successes and compromises it becomes clear that Wenders and Ray are creating something that is far more than a documentary a film about a great artist and the nature of collaboration.THE AMERICAN FRIEND: Jonathan Zimmermann a German picture-framer is dying of a rare blood disease. Despite his illness the happily married Jonathan does his best to live each day to the fullest with his wife and child. But when Tom Ripley a cunning American gangster learns of Jonathan's sickness he convinces the dying man--deeply concerned about his family's financial future--to work as a hit man for a big payoff. Will Jonathan get in over his head by making a deal that could ruin what's left of his life? German director Wim Wenders delivers a sensitive film-noirish tribute to the American gangster film based on the novel RIPLEY'S GAME by Patricia Highsmith.NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES is a fascinating documentary by Wim Wenders that explores the work of noted Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. The filmmaker follows Yamamoto from Tokyo to France as the designer arranges his Paris showing. Through a dialogue between the director and his subject the film offers an original take on the meaning of fashion and style in the art world as well as in contemporary life.System Requirements:Running Time: 296 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 013131308990 Manufacturer No: DV13089

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice collection, great price!, May 23, 2009

By 

jrc "jrcasey" (Jonesboro, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wim Wenders Collection 2 (DVD)

Great value for a few really great films and occasional lesser works from Wenders. Although labelled as "Vol. 2," this is really the one and only volume available. "Volume 1" was an old Anchor Bay set that only included three of the films that reappear here: FRIEND, LIGHTNING, and NOTEBOOK.

So, collectors: forget about the "Volume 2" moniker and enjoy this Wenders set!

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wim Wenders Collection Vol 2, February 11, 2007

By 

Julia (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wim Wenders Collection 2 (DVD)

A fantastic collection from a master filmmaker, comprising some of his best known as well as his less well known works. Denis Hopper in An American Friend, the work of Ozu and his cinematographer in Tokyo Ga are particular stand outs.