Near the Eastern borders with West Germany, Bruno, a solitary, permanent citizen of the road and film projection equipment repairman, witnesses the sad sight of a VW beetle car storming straight into the River Elbe. After a while, however, the depressed driver, Robert, instinctively accepts an offer for a lift in Bruno's repair van, and just like that, an impromptu relationship begins. Now, against the backdrop of the German countryside, the new companions find themselves sharing the same need for freedom, visiting dilapidated movie theatres for maintenance, and getting to know each other one small town after another. But, no one knows, or cares, how long is the road that stretches out ahead of them. After all, the only thing that matters is one's commitment to a precious ideal. Have the kings of the road found life's true meaning?
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Credits
Wim Wenders
Axel Linstädt
Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, Lisa Kreuzer
Wim Wenders
Robby Müller
Peter Przygodda
Wim Wenders
More info
German, English
West Germany
1976
Filmography
Same Player Shoots Again (short, 1968), Silver City Revisited (short, 1969), Alabama (2000 Light Years) (short, 1969), Summer in the City (1970), Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1972), Der scharlachrote Buchstabe (1973), Alice in den Städten (1974), Falsche Bewegung (1975), Im Lauf der Zeit (1976), Der Amerikanische Freund (1977), Lightning Over Water (1980), Hammett (1982), Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York (1982), Der Stand der Dinge (1982), Paris, Texas (1984), Tokyo-Ga (1985), Wings of Desire (1987), Yamamoto - Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten (1989), Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991), Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring (1992), In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993), Lisbon Story (1994), Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky (1995), Lumière and Company (1995), The End of Violence (1997), Willie Nelson at the Teatro (1998), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Ode to Cologne: A Rock 'N' Roll Film (2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002), Other Side of the Road (2003), Land of Plenty (2004), Don't Come Knocking (2005), Invisibles (2007), Palermo Shooting (2008), 8 (2008) Il volo (short, 2008), Pina (2011), Mundo Invisível (2012), Kathedralen der Kultur (2014), The Salt of the Earth (2014), Alles wird gut (2015), Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez (2016), Submergence (2017), Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018), Two or Three Things I Know About Edward Hopper (2020), A future together (2021), Présence (short, 2022), Anselm (2023), Perfect Days (2023)