Hat Tric

Welt am Draht may very well be ahead of its time story-wise on a philosophical level discussing aspects of the modern man vs. machine and maybe the totalitarian regime topics. The Matrix definitely borrows the best aspects of this movie.

But if you take a look at the screenplay, timing, editing, acting, sound editing, visual effects and production design I have never seen a movie that looks so hopelessly outdated. Maybe that's the price for trying to make an ultra modern avantgardistic film, or it's just the result of trying to put too much (or too little) effort into a philosophical/intellectual sci-fi/action movie of 200 minutes.

I'm sorry that I didn't find more positive aspects to point out, especially considering Rainer Werner Fassbinder reputation but all the mentioned downsides made the 2010 remastered DVD version nearly unwatchable for me.

Although 1994's football World Cup final didn't turn out to be very spectacular, millions of people worldwide gathered round their TV sets to watch who would become the world's best team. This documentary by A. Rogenhagen follows football fans from 40 countries around the globe how they watch and react to the match. Keeping the chronological order while cutting to different locations around the globe makes this film interesting in the first place. Regardless of being a monk in Czechoslovakia, living a harem in Cameroon, drinking some beer in Germany, working in a factory in Iran or being a supporter of one of the finalists Italy and Brazil, this documentary shows how all kinds of people share their common interest in the biggest match in football.

As stated in the opening titles and at the end Freakstars 3000 is supposed to be a commentary on the problems of the non-disabled people.

The more I was shocked about how the disabled were depicted in this film the more I started to realize that in every non-disabled TV counterpart of this show (German TV shows like "Popstars" or "Friedmann" or the home shopping channels) its mentally "non-handicapped" participants are treated in a completely identical way: The total prostitution of the mind in front a huge TV audience at the expense of one's most important gifts one should hang on to: dignity

On the other hand I completely understand people who are furious about "exploiting" these handicapped persons. But that's what Schlingensief's works are all about: shock people and don't care about those who cannot or will not try to get the message (if there is one).