Very well executed

It is a performances centric movie

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The second film in Wim Wenders' so-called "Road Movie Trilogy" (about as artificial a "trilogy" as the three Ingmar Bergman films arbitrarily lumped together under that banner), now available on The Criterion Collection's YouTube channel, Wrong Move (1975) starts off on a markedly different note than its predecessor, Alice in the Cities (1974). It becomes clear, in fact, that despite supposedly representing a trilogy, Wrong Move is a distinctly darker brand of Wenders, less whimsically surreal. It starts not by Rudiger Vogler singing "Under the Boardwalk" but by him punching out his windows, which can be taken as a sign of suicidal tendencies.The film continues on its dark tone while introducing its surreal elements. It is essentially a story of strangers whose lives randomly collide, and they stick together as a group for a while. The weirdness is soberly found in them discussing their dreams, and in one being a mute street performer. There is more use of blood, with the film evoking the story of a saint in the process. Vogler's character, more of a nihilist than his one in Alice in the Cities, seriously contemplates killing and comes close to it, in a scene rather intense on its first viewing.Wrong Man is at once a film that shares commonalities with Wenders' other works like Wings of Desire and Alice, but is also worlds apart. In the process, it finds its own unique voice and is a satisfying experience.

This early Wim Wenders film is about a frustrated writer who is encouraged by his mother to take a train trip to Bonn. On the way he meets an odd assortment of characters including a former concentration camp guard who is now a street musician, a mute teenage acrobat, a semi-famous actress, a hilarious overweight would-be poet, and the latter's "uncle", a depressed suicidal recluse. The film is rather talky and philosophical, frequently meditating on the nature of artistic creation itself. It has kind of morose atmosphere to it like Wender's later film "Paris, Texas", but without the redemptive ending. For lack of a better word I would call it existentialist. Like "Paris, Texas" it's kind of an existentialist road movie except that the characters travel by train.The only recognizable actor in this is a young Nastassia Kinski. This isn't nearly as sexy as one of her late 70's/early 80's roles (but like "To the Devil a Daughter" a year later, it's probably sexier than it ought to be). Still, whereas most male directors at the time were mostly interested in undressing Kinski (both on and off screen), Wenders can be credited at least with making her a more respected actress, mostly with her later role in "Paris, Texas", but also to a lesser extent with her debut role in this.I can see why people find this kind of slow-going and perhaps a little depressing. But I found it quite interesting and actually enjoyed it.

"The Wrong Movement" is the second of three films by Wim Wenders about a disaffected man (in each case played by Rüdiger Vogler) searching for himself out on the open road. Unlike the first (Alice in the Cities) and third (Kings of the Road) films, this one is infinitely less accessible. It's the talkiness that brings it down in the end. Each character seems especially in touch with their own highly specific brand of angst. It's almost too easy to identify with, all the abstract alienation. We all feel it sometimes, but do we actually spend so much time speaking of it? This depiction of dark truth doesn't make it a good story, only an honest one.The actors are good (Nastassja Kinski plays a mute, in her first role), but the characters are cold. The dialogue is impressive, yet bereft of all beauty. On some inherent level, it's apparent that all the characters deeply despise one another. Wilhelm himself testifies at the very start to his dislike of people. Wim Wenders seems to be doing very much the same. Only, this time, it doesn't make for a very good film. Its shorter length is almost a relief.

While it may be cliche to say that The Wrong Move is director Wenders' self-portrait, his sense-of-lost in contemporary Germany will be easily trailed through writer-wannabe protagonist Wilhelm's fruitless journey to encounter and interact with new lover, friend and enemy. Cinematographer Robby Muller, who would be internationally acclaimed a few years later, is on his way, exploring amazing long takes in the conversation-while-walking scene towards the end. European contemporary classical soundtrack sounds appropriate but obsolete.