Klaus Lwitsch as Fred Stiller – Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

All technology becomes obsolete, but most people prefer to dream about what new gadgets and gizmos are right around the corner. Usually, we overestimate ourselves: most people assumed the 2000s would instantly produce flying cars and moving sidewalks, but we had to settle for the Segway instead. On the other hand, computers are still advancing at breakneck speed, especially since most folks over the age of 30 never thought they’d fit their music libraries, games, movies and family photos all on the same hard drive. Case in point: it’s amusing to think of an “advanced” computer system from my youth (the Apple II, for example), which included such luxuries as 15-color graphics and 4kb of RAM for just under $1,300. Who would have guessed today’s average cell phone would run circles around it?

Science fiction loves to predict the future of technology…and occasionally, it hits a bullseye. Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel Simulacron-3 presented the the possibility of a virtual world where the inhabitants had no idea they were part of a simulation. The lead scientist behind this virtual world dies under questionable circumstances and another employee vanishes, leading one eyewitness through a spiraling mystery that makes him question the “reality” of the world around him. Less than 10 years later, prolific German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder adapted Galouye’s novel into World on a Wire (Welt am Draht, 1973), originally a two-part television feature that added plenty of its own touches. Our man of action is Fred Stiller (Klaus Lwitsch), who witnesses the aforementioned disappearance of a co-worker and quickly becomes lost in a complex, layered hall of mirrors (literally and figuratively). As he inches ever closer to the truth, however, large chunks of World on a Wire begin to show their seams.

If I could sum up World on a Wire’s visual design in one phrase, it would be “painfully distracting”. The film is absolutely stuffed with mirrors and reflective shooting angles (a Fassbinder trademark), which obviously attempt to support the theme of perceived identity. Sounds great…and it would have been, in smaller doses. Luckily, the film’s set design is a bit more tastefully done: sure, it’s occasionally laughable in the same way those old computer ads are, but the stylish world on display is anything but drab. At worst, however, the framing of particular shots and sequences is purely self-indulgent, drawing attention away from the main characters to fill our eyes with needless background noise.

As far as pacing goes, the feature’s 205-minute running time occasionally grinds to a halt, and we get the feeling that an hour could’ve been trimmed with minimal impact to the actual story. Hints of the impending mystery are provided early on…but after the initial reveal of Stiller’s perceived “condition”, the film dives headfirst into a painfully repetitive string of character interactions, extremely tight zooms and stiff performances by most of the supporting cast. I understand they’re supposed to be artificial inhabitants of a virtual world, but it weighs heavy on a story that didn’t need such explicit reminders. Luckily, Klaus Lwitsch’s performance and his character’s perspective help to keep this film’s head above water, even when so many other aspects of this production threaten to sink it.

Criterion’s Blu-Ray release of World on a Wire follows the film’s restoration and unveiling at Berlin’s 2010 International Film Festival and a limited theatrical run. It presents this flawed but fascinating film in its best possible light, pairing a strong technical presentation with a few appropriate extras.

Karl-Heinz Vosgerau as Herbert Siskins (l) and Kurt Raab as Mark Holm (r) – Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

Quality Control Department

Video & Audio Quality

Recently unearthed and restored by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer of World on a Wire is uniformly excellent. The 16mm source obviously shows a healthy amount of film grain, the stylized color palette is represented well and digital imperfections are basically absent. A handful of specks, vertical lines and other print damages appear to be source material issues. Overall, it’s an impressive visual presentation from start to finish.

Similarly, the LPCM 1.0 audio track (presented in the original German, with optional English subtitles) also holds up nicely. There’s a surprising thickness to the dialogue; it’s very crisp and well-defined, even though a number of scenes seem to have been dubbed in post-production very badly. Obviously there isn’t much dynamic range or any attempts at atmospheric effects, but what we get here is certainly ideal under the circumstances. Again, a top-notch effort that fans should be pleased with.

Menu Design, Presentation & Packaging

Seen above, this disc is packaged in Criterion’s standard “stocky” Blu-Ray keepcase, which includes attractive double-sided artwork and a Booklet with an essay by critic Edward Halter. The menu designs are clean and concise, everything loads quickly and this disc is locked for Region “A” playback only. This 205-minute feature is divided into a generous 31 chapters; each half is also playable separately.

Bonus Features

Just a few extras, and only one is exclusive to this Criterion release: it’s a newly-recorded Interview with film scholar Gerd Gemunden (36 minutes), who provides a nice overview of the film’s impact and its place in Fassbinder’s prolific collection of work. We also get a recycled Featurette entitled “World on a Wire: Looking Ahead to Today” (50 minutes), directed by Juliane Lorenz. The featurette’s most valuable contributor is cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who goes into modest detail about the film’s careful restoration and visual themes. Last but not least is a Theatrical Release Trailer (2 minutes) from 2010.

All bonus features are presented in 1080p and include English subtitles for translation purposes only.

Final Thoughts

With such prophetic source material as its backbone, first-time viewers will expect to be blown away by World on a Wire…but the film’s repetitive, heavy-handed visual themes and lukewarm second act make it more of an exercise in patience. Even so, there’s a certain charm to Klaus Lwitsch’s performance as the strapping, likable Fred Stiller, and it’s his descent into perceived madness that creates the film’s most engaging moments. Criterion’s Blu-Ray release is a well-rounded effort, pairing a strong technical presentation with a few thoughtful bonus features. Overall, it’s a fine package for Fassbinder disciples, but new viewers may want to approach this expensive release with a bit of caution. Rent It.

France’s Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said the pair had been fleeing a bombardment in the besieged rebel city of Homs when they were killed. “It’s absolutely overwhelming, terrible,” he said.

Colvin was a renowned reporter who had covered countless conflicts over 30 years and wore a distinctive eye patch after she was wounded in Sri Lanka. 

She was voted Foreign Correspondent of the Year in the 2010 British Press Awards.

Ochlik was a 28-year-old photographer represented by the IP3 agency, which he co-founded in Paris, who quit his studies aged 20 to report on Haiti and has since covered many of the recent upheavals in the Arab world.

Separately, the French daily Le Figaro said one of its reporters, Edith Bouvier, had been among three journalists wounded in the same incident.

“I received two calls from Homs this morning to tell me that Edith was wounded in the legs. We’re trying to organise her evacuation,” foreign editor Philippe Gelie told AFP in Paris.

The bombardment of Homs continued for a 19th straight day Wednesday, activists said, while calls mounted for a truce to allow in humanitarian aid.

The latest barrage came a day after security forces killed at least 68 people across Syria, bringing the overall death toll of violence since March 2011 to 7,636 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The toll includes 5,542 civilians, 1,692 soldiers and police, and 400 rebel fighters, the head of the Britain-based rights monitoring group, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

Activist Omar Shaker from inside Baba Amr told AFP that two Western journalists were killed and three others wounded as a shell crashed into a makeshift media centre set up by anti-regime militants.

The area remained the target of random shelling, blocking attempts to remove the bodies, the activist said.

France said one of the journalists killed was a French national, as the Syrian Observatory said the two journalists killed were an American woman and a French man.

French television reporter Gilles Jacquier was killed in Homs last month as a shell exploded amid a group of journalists covering protests in the city on a visit organised by the Syrian authorities.

Despite a plea by activists to allow women and children to flee Homs’s besieged Baba Amr neighbourhood, more troops were sent Tuesday to the outskirts of the restive city, monitors and activists said.

A call by the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) for a two-hour truce daily to deliver aid to afflicted areas gained support from the United Nations, as well as from the United States and Russia.

The call came a day after the ICRC said it was in talks with Syrian authorities and rebels to halt the violence.

Syria’s main opposition group, meanwhile, demanded the international community create “safe havens” in the country and called on Russia to force the regime to allow access for humanitarian convoys.

At a news conference in Paris, the Syrian National Council said it would attend a summit of the countries known as the “Friends of Syria” and ask for safe zones to protect civilians and allow the opposition to organise.

The head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, has welcomed the humanitarian truce call but voiced doubts that the “criminal” regime would abide by a ceasefire arrangement.

And the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, called on Syria to allow aid groups unimpeded access to the country.

“This is a major human rights crisis that is now moving into significant humanitarian consequences,” Amos said.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said “we support calls for ceasefires to allow for the provision of humanitarian supplies to Syrians who desperately need it.”

“Reprehensible actions taken by the Assad regime have led us to a situation where basic supplies, humanitarian supplies are very scarce.”

Moscow, a staunch ally of the Syrian-regime, on Wednesday also supported the ICRC call for a truce, expressing “serious concern” about the humanitarian situation, according to foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

And although top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, has said it was “premature” to arm Syria’s opposition, top Republican Senator John McCain called again for the outgunned rebels to be supplied with weapons.

But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said “from our perspective, we don’t believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarisation of Syria.

“What we don’t want to see is the spiral of violence increase. That said, if we can’t get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures,” she said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syria was increasingly under pressure.

The Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis on Friday will “demonstrate that Assad’s regime is increasingly isolated and that the brave Syrian people need our support and solidarity,” she said.

Clinton will take part in the meeting, the State Department announced Tuesday.

Russia announced that it will not take part in the meeting because it was being convened “for the purpose of supporting one side against another in an internal conflict,” the foreign ministry said.

China, meanwhile, refused to commit to attend the meeting.

The Friends of Syria group will meet for the first time after being created in response to a joint veto by China and Russia of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the bloody crackdown.