Alice in the Cities

Alice in the Cities is a 1974 German road movie directed by Wim Wenders. This was the first part of Wenders' "Road Movie Trilogy" which included The Wrong Move and Kings of the Road . The film is shot in black and white by Robby Müller with several long scenes without dialogue. The film's theme closely foreshadows Wenders' later film Paris, Texas. German writer Phil Winter is having trouble writing an article about the United States. He then decides to return to Germany, and encounters a German woman and her child Alice, who are both doing the same thing. After the mother asks Phil to... watch after Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected. Phil finds himself stuck with Alice, searching the cities of Germany for her grandmother, whose name and address Alice can't remember. The only clue they have is a photograph of her grandmother's front door with no house number and no one in the shot. The scenario of a young girl and a writer thrown together was inspired by his long time collaborator Peter Handke's experience as a single parent.
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