Which would you prefer to start with?
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WIM WENDERS:Lets start with the one that was in the works longer.
That would beAnselm, which was shot all through the pandemic and took quite a bit longer.
DEADLINE: Youve become very prolific in terms of documentaries lately in your career.
What appeals to you about documentaries, and why Anselm Kiefer?
Then you not only discover a new world, but also the way to approach it from scratch.
Wim Wenders’ Cannes documentary ‘Anslem’HanWay/Sideshow/Janus Films
The idea for a film with Anselm Kiefer didnt come out of the blue.
I had never seen anything like it.
Thats when our film idea immediately imposed itself again, very powerfully.
And that was really what clinched it.
But his sculptural work alone needed space around it to be experienced.
Anselms universe, I felt, needed me to really immerse in it.
For that, there is nothing else than 3D.
You simply see so much more and youre so much more there.
DEADLINE: Is this a study of the person or the work?
WENDERS:(laughs) The man is truly an interesting character, quite wild and independent.
I like him a lot, yes, but its his work that I was interested in.
Anselm and I have a lot in common.
We definitely share a lot of the history that so strongly appears in his work.
The scope of his painterly world is tremendous.
DEADLINE: How do you approach a documentary is it the same as your fiction narratives?
Are you the same person behind the camera?
WENDERS:Im the same person behind the camera, sure.
I make a run at be fluid and to not be preconceived.
Fiction thrives on an injection of reality, and the documentary form loves to include fictional elements.
While in a fiction film I enjoy the freedom that can come in when elements of reality enter it.
DEADLINE: Has the technology changed since you didPina?
Thats a fair while ago.
Is it easier to shoot in 3D now?
WENDERS:We didPinaon prototype equipment and remember that was beforeAvatareven came out.
I was declared crazy.
Where do you want to show your 3D extravaganza!?
We even developed an enormous drone to actually carry a two-camera 3D rig for the landscape shots.
DEADLINE: Why do you think it lends itself to this project?
What is it about his art that works with 3D?
Other parts of your brain are put into action to see three dimensions.
Youre altogether more there, both mentally and physically.
And Anselms work needs your entire perception.
You leaf through a catalog, and it doesnt mean anything.
You stand in front of the work or walk through it, and youre completely overwhelmed.
DEADLINE: Whats the structure of the film?
Is it a biography, or does it capture a particular time frame?
WENDERS:Its a long journey, the journey of his life.
I felt it was important for his whole perception to show what he went through as a child.
Especially as I related to that so much, having undergone the same postwar experience.
Actually, itsseveralairplane hangars.
There were months and months in which other people had to work which I essentially just had to supervise.
3D is extremely demanding in postproduction.
I really had time on my hands.
That proposition was a very open invitation, and acarte blanchein many ways.
And with it came an amazing partner and writer, Takuma Takasaki.
He came to Berlin and together we wrote the basic story in two weeks.
And we found the title, too.Perfect Days.
Titles are so important to drive a project!
I loved this one from the beginning, based on a Lou Reed song.
I knew his work ever sinceShall We DanceandBabeland had always been utterly impressed with him.
When the possibility opened up that we could work together, it seemed too beautiful to be true.
And we got along great on the spot.
The language barrier was no problem.
We spoke the same language and needed no words.
In October, I went back to Tokyo, and we shotPerfect Daysin an amazing 17 days.
[Laughs] Yes, that is fast.
I love that intensity of shooting in such a condensed way.
With my director of photography, Franz Lustig, we are a great team.
He shot the entire film hand-held, like a living tripod.
DEADLINE: And whats that story about, in your own words?
WENDERS:Its a very Japanese story, deeply rooted in Japanese culture.
It digs deep into the idea of what cleaning means and what service means.
The most unclean places in our Western civilization are obviously toilets.
Toilets are not part of our culture, they rather represent the contrary.
In Japan, theres a whole different attitude surrounding The toilet.
They are essential places of everyday culture.
Then again, this is not a film about toilets.
It is about the spirit of a man who takes care of these places.
Hirayama is the mans name in our story.
And to nature, trees especially.
And to listening to his favorite music.
I wont tell you more.
This man is able to live his life at the fullest.
DEADLINE: Youre very well known for the music in your films.
What can you say about the music in these two films?
This is his first film, and he has all reasons to be proud of his achievement.
Once you get to see them you will immediately see what I mean.
They are very, very, very different from each other.Perfect Daysuses only source music, Hirayamas favorite songs.
I wont tell you more.
DEADLINE: Could you have foreseen these two films being in Cannes at the same time?
WENDERS:(Laughs) No way.
How could I have ever thought of that.
SoAnselm, in my book, was already going to Cannes, if they were indeed confirming it.
And I edited it almost as fast as I shot it.
Would you allow us to send it in?
Give it your best shot.
I sat down and took a deep breath.
DEADLINE: When did you first go to Cannes?
Which movie were you with?
WENDERS:I was in Cannes as a young man of 31 withKings of the Road.
It was in 76.
I was a kid.
A couple of years later I came back withThe American Friend.
DEADLINE: You were very much a part of the German New Wave.
Did Cannes legitimize your work, or did you feel like you deserved to be there?
What was your relationship with Cannes as a young filmmaker?
WENDERS:Altogether, the whole New German wave was an invention by foreign journalists.
We didnt call each other that.
We were individuals making movies.
Werner Herzog had been to Cannes, [Rainer Werner] Fassbinder had been to Cannes.
Together we became a force.
DEADLINE: Whats your strongest memory of Cannes?
WENDERS:The strongest has got to beParis, Texas.Nobody had seen the film before Cannes.
Not a single journalist.
He never saw the finished film until it played.
When the festival started, we were beginning our mix in the sound studio.
We watched the opening ceremony on television and then started mixing.
The film was screened that evening.
It was in the second week, luckily, because it was not finished in the first week.
Dirk Bogarde was the president.
DEADLINE: Its funny you mentioned Herzog.
Why did you not take up that opportunity in America?
WENDERS:Well, I did a seven-year stint there.
AfterThe American Friend, I spent seven years in America and made a studio movie,Hammett.
But Icouldmake a movieinAmerica as a European director.
And that becameParis, Texas.
He is utterly happy there, as he told me.
DEADLINE: Youve been quite involved in the European Film Awards.
It was a beautiful task and I enjoyed it for a long time.
DEADLINE: Are you now full-time back into filmmaking?
You dont seem to be like someone who has a lot of quiet time.
WENDERS:[Laughs] I thought I would take it easier when I turned 75.
But look whats happening!
Im busier than ever in my life.
Taking it easier turned out to be wishful thinking.
But Im not complaining.
I love to work.
Making movies is my way of living.
Then again, I think I could swap with Hirayama inPerfect Daysand commit to a much simpler life…
DEADLINE: Technology has changed a lot in the 50 years sinceKings of the Road.
But it doesnt seem to have made filmmaking any easier, from what youre telling me.
WENDERS:Everybody thinks digital has made filmmaking so easy.
The contrary is the case.
Look,Paris, Texaswas edited in two and a half months!
And evenWings of Desirewas done in three and a half months, all on analog editing tables.
Nobody can make a film any more today in under a year or two.
Too many choices now, period.
Decision-making itself was a different process, both in shooting and in editing.
DEADLINE: Youve obviously been to Cannes many times.
What is your favorite thing about the festival?
WENDERS:My favorite thing ever was being president of the jury in 1989.
It was sheer pleasure.
Cannes has been very good to me.
Im looking forward to being there again.
With the unknown feeling of what its like to present two films.
DEADLINE: What advice would you give to someone taking their film there for the first time?
WENDERS:Dont believe the good they say about your film, but dont believe the bad either.
[Laughs] Dont take the good news personally and think you are the greatest now!
And if you get the worst reviews, dont think youre a failure.
Just try not to be aware of it all.
If you could, dont read anything at all.
Let your film do the talking.
