Until The End Of The World (1991)

In 1999, a nuclear satellite is out of control with indications that it will crash on earth and the possible destruction of mankind. Meanwhile, a French girl (Solveig Dommartin) becomes obsessed with a mysterious hitch hiker (William Hurt) on the run from the authorities. Her obsession with him has her pursuing him to Berlin, Moscow, China, Japan, San Francisco and eventually Australia. Directed by Wim Wenders, the film pushes the five hour mark (reputedly the original cut was 20 hours!). That it is self indulgent is a given (hey, it's Wim Wenders!). The first half of the film is rather tiresome with far fetched coincidences and an illogical narrative. It somewhat improves during the second half (or at least, more interesting) when they stop the globe trotting and settle down in Australia and the film focuses on Hurt's scientist father (Max Von Sydow) and his experiments. The film was edited down to three hours for its original theatrical run and I can see why. I've not seen that cut but there's so much from the first half that could have easily been eliminated without hurting the story which is really the Australian section. The acting varies from very good (Jeanne Moreau as Hurt's blind mother) to laughably bad (Chick Ortega who stinks in both French and English). Often the film feels like an extended music video to Wenders' favorite music artists. If there's a compensation, it's Robby Muller's breathtaking cinematography which is simply stunning! It almost redeems the film. With Sam Neill, Lois Chiles, Chishu Ryu, Allen Garfield, David Gulpilil (WALKABOUT), Rudiger Vogler, Ernie Dingo and Kuniko Miyake.