Wim Wenders' first road movie, of which he would make many more. Noncommittal look at friendship, loneliness and existential sentimentality with 9-year-old Yella Rottlander as the fantastic young Alice.

German journalist Philipp Winter (Rüdiger Vogler) is assigned to write a report about the United States, but is at odds with himself. On his way back to Germany, he gets stuck during a strike at the airport. He meets a German woman with a 9-year-old daughter, Alice, who are in the same situation. Before he knows it, he is saddled with young Alice alone with a long road trip ahead of him.

Alice in den Städten is an essential film in terms of Wenders’ recurring travel motif, with fantastic acting by Vogler and the girl Rottländer, and with perfect camera work by Robby Müller. The film has won several film awards, including the Preis der Deutschen Filmkritik.

Alice in den Städten belongs to Wenders’ so-called road movie trilogy, along with Falsche Bewegung and Im Lauf der Zeit; in this the main characters are searching for the meaning of their existence, which invariably remains hidden behind the horizon of their (unarticulated) desires.

Note: German, English, Dutch spoken, English subtitles