''Palermo Shooting'' is a 2008 film written and directed by German director

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docu ...

, and starring

Campino A campino () is a cattle herder in the Portuguese region of Ribatejo. Campinos work on horse-back, using a long pole (a ''pampilho'' or lance) to manage and direct the herd. Campinos are also known for their distinctive attire, which consists o ...

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in '' Giant'' (1956). In the next ten year ...

Giovanna Mezzogiorno Giovanna Mezzogiorno (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian theatre and film actress. Early life Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, 9 November 1974, a daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...

as himself, and an uncredited

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...

, also playing herself. It was screened at the

2008 Cannes Film Festival The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2008. The President of the Official Jury was American actor and director Sean Penn. Twenty two films from fourteen countries were selected to compete for the '' Palme d'Or''. The award ...

Plot

A German photographer named Finn (

) comes to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

because he needs to make a clean break from his past. In the city, he meets a young woman named Flavia (

) and a completely different way of life.

Cast

as Finn * Inga Busch as Karla * Axel Sichrovsky as Hans * Gerhard Gutberlet as Gerhard * Harry Blain as Harry * Sebastian Blomberg as Julian *

Jana Pallaske Jana Pallaske (born 20 May 1979) is a German actress and singer for the rock band Spitting Off Tall Buildings. Partial filmography * '' Alaska.de'' (2000), as Sabine * ''Jeans'' (2001), as Nina * ''Engel & Joe'' (2001), as Joe * '' Baader'' ...

as Student * Olivia Asiedu-Poku as Fan *

Melika Foroutan Melika Foroutan (born 1976) is a Germany, German-Iranian actress. Biography Melika Foroutan, born 1976 in Tehran, initially studied Philosophy, English and History in Cologne from 1995 to 1998. She then enrolled in the acting class at the Berl ...

as Anke * Anna Orso as Mother *

as himself *

Udo Samel Udo Samel (born 25 June 1953) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1977. He starred in the 1994 film ''Back to Square One'', which was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. Sele ...

as Banker * Giuseppe Provinzano as Actor 1 * Giuseppe Massa as Actor 2 *

as Flavia * Patrizia Schiavone as Market woman *

Letizia Battaglia Letizia Battaglia (; 5 March 1935 – 13 April 2022) was an Italian photographer and photojournalist. Although her photos document a wide spectrum of Sicilian life, she is best known for her work on the Mafia. A documentary film based on her lif ...

as Photographer * Alessandro Dieli as Doctor * Carmelo Billitteri as Doorman *

as Frank *

as herself * Anton Giulio Pandolfo as Contained

Production

The film is the first one directed by Wenders in his hometown,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

. Filming also took place in the nearby cities of

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...

and

Neuss Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It ...

as well as

and other areas of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Soundtrack

The film's original soundtrack includes songs from

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Jason Collett, Portishead,

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

, and

Iron & Wine Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a l ...

. It also features exclusive tracks from Grinderman,

Bonnie Prince Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

Matt Sweeney Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan. Early life and education Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...

, and

Sibylle Baier Sibylle Baier (born 25 February 1945) is a German folk singer and actress, whose musical abilities achieved belated recognition with the 2006 release of the album '' Colour Green'', compiled from songs she had recorded in the early 1970s. Her ...

Release

On 24 May 2008, the film was screened at the

. The film was released in Germany on 20 November 2008. The film had its U.S. premiere on 20 January 2009 at the Berlin and Beyond film festival at the

Castro Theatre The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque fa� ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. The closing titles contain a dedication to two directors dead the same day, July 30, 2007,

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoun ...

and

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

, while filming was underway.

Reception

Peter Brunette of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' gave the film an unfavorable review, saying, "Every time the film goes philosophical on us, the resulting dialogue is sententious and banal." Todd McCarthy of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said, "Although she can’t save the film from its own silliness, Mezzogiorno does provide a gravity and legitimacy of her own, as her mesmerizing eyes and her excellent delivery in English make a dramatic highlight out of a monologue about a personal tragedy, as well as showing up Campino for the non-actor he is." At the 2009

Sofia International Film Festival Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) ( Bulgarian: ''Международен София Филм Фест, София Филм Фест''), also known as Sofia Film Fest, is an annual film festival in Sofia, capital city of Bulgaria, taking pl ...

, the film won the Bourgas Municipality prize.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palermo Shooting 2008 films German drama films French drama films Italian drama films 2000s German-language films English-language German films English-language French films English-language Italian films 2000s Italian-language films 2008 drama films Films directed by Wim Wenders Films set in Germany Films set in Sicily Films set in Palermo Films shot in North Rhine-Westphalia Films shot in Palermo 2000s French films 2000s German films