World on a Wire is a gloriously paranoid, boundlessly inventive take on the future from German wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder (The Marriage of Maria Braun). With dashes of Stanley Kubrick, Kurt Vonnegut, and Philip K. Dick, as well as a flavor entirely his own, Fassbinder tells the noir-spiked tale of a reluctant action hero, Fred Stiller (The Odessa File’s Klaus Lowitsch), a cybernetics engineer who uncovers a massive corporate conspiracy. At risk? (Virtual) reality as we know it. Originally made for German television, this recently rediscovered, three-and-a-half-hour labyrinth is a satiric and surreal look at the weird world of tomorrow from one of cinema’s kinkiest geniuses.
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
Cast & Crew - Welt Am Draht
Rudolf Waldemar Brem
(Films) Hospital orderly
Margit Carstensen
Maya Schmidt-Gentner
Ingrid Caven
Uschi, journalist
Peter Chatel
Hirse, secretary of state
Eddie Constantine Man in Rolls Royce
Ivan Desny Guenther Lause, uncle of Eva Vollmer
Liselotte Eder Data typist
Joachim Hansen Hans Edelkern
Gottfried John Einstein
Elma Karlowa Keeper of Cafeteria
Christine Kaufmann Party guest
Peter Kern Hospital orderly
Günter Lamprecht Fritz Walfang
Rudolf Lenz Hartmann
Ulli Lommel Rupp, journalist
Bruce Low Doctor
Klaus Löwitsch Fred Stiller
Christiane Maybach Lady at the bar
Heinz Meier Von Weinlaub, secretary of state
Peter Moland Employee
Magdalena Montezuma Party guest
Kurt Raab Mark Holm
El Hedi Ben Salem Bodyguard
Katrin Schaake Computer lab assistant
Karl Scheydt Inspector Stuhlfahrt
Werner Schroeter Party guest
Walter Sedlmayr Janitor
Barbara Valentin Gloria Fromm
Karl Heinz Vosgerau Herbert Siskins
Technical Credits
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Director, Screenwriter
Michael Ballhaus Cinematographer
Dr. Walter Koch Production Designer
Peter Märthesheimer Producer
Kurt Raab Production Designer
Product Details:
Actors: Klaus Lowitsch
Directors: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: German
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Release Date: February 21, 2012
Run Time: 212 minutes
Special Features:
New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Fassbinder's "World on a Wire": Looking Ahead to Today, a 50-min documentary
New interview with German-film scholar Gerd Gemunden
New English subtitles
Trailer for the 2010 theatrical release
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Ed Halter
|