''Lightning Over Water'', also known as ''Nick's Film'', is a 1980

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

- Swedish

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written, directed by and starring

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

and Nicholas Ray. It centers on the last days of Ray's own life, who was already known worldwide for his 1955 classic film '' Rebel Without a Cause''. It was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

Summary

''Lightning Over Water'' is a collaboration between Wenders and Ray to document Ray's last days due to terminal cancer in 1979. The film is partially an homage to Ray, who had a strong influence on Wenders' work, and partially an investigation on life and death. Ray's influence on Wenders includes Ray's "love on the run" subgenre as well as his ''

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

'' photography. Excerpts from Ray's '' The Lusty Men'' (1952) and his unfinished final work '' We Can't Go Home Again'' are featured. The sequence with the former excerpt was shot at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, at which Ray presented the film and then gave a lecture, which itself is excerpted. Ray appears in a minor role in Wenders' film '' The American Friend''. Wenders' science fiction film '' Until the End of the World'' is named for the last spoken words in Ray's 1961 Biblical

epic film Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a her ...

King of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...

''. The crew is extensively seen onscreen.

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

, Ray's personal assistant at the time — and later a notable filmmaker in his own right — can be briefly glimpsed sitting at an editing console. When Wenders goes to Vassar to attend a lecture, a brief one-man performance is seen onstage,

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's " A Report for an Academy", about an ape who becomes a man.

Cast

Gerry Bamman Gerald G. Bamman (born September 18, 1941) is an American actor and playwright. He is best known for playing Uncle Frank in the films '' Home Alone'' (1990) and '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992), and has also guest starred in several tel ...

as Self * Ronee Blakley as Self * Pierre Cottrell as Self * Stefan Czapsky as Self * Mitch Dubin as Self * Tom Farrell as Self

Production

The American independent film director Jon Jost has come out against Wenders' status as the sole co-director, saying that Wenders "used his celebrity" to push Jost and Raúl Ruiz out of the project of which they had created.

References

External links

Official website
* * Documentary films about film directors and producers 1980 films 1980 documentary films Films set in 1979 Swedish documentary films German documentary films West German films 1980s German-language films Films directed by Wim Wenders Films directed by Nicholas Ray Documentary films about death 1980s German films 1980s Swedish films Films with screenplays by Wim Wenders {{1980s-Germany-film-stub