VHS : The End Of Violence [1998]

Rating: - LA techno thriller that's more than it seems.
Misunderstood ? Yes. Pretentious ? Maybe. Compellingly watchable ? Definitely. On the surface, this appears to be the average techno thriller, but as is typical with Wim Wenders, he steps outside the rules and gives you something else. Visually, this film is stunning. The music, provided by Ry Cooder, is excellent - as is the rest of the soundtrack, which features U2, Eels and Tom Waits. The main story is about Bill Pullman's abuduction/salvation and the subsequent police investigation. Wenders then takes the elements typical in such films and plays with them : whether it's Loren Dean's good-guy cop or Gabriel Byrne's troubled research scientist, the lives of the characters are linked by one thing : violence. And the most striking thing about this film is that there is very little violence in it -in fact, it all takes place off screen. While the stories may seem to hang together perhaps a little too loosely, which some may find unsatisfying, this is a 'cool' film like "Nikita" or "Leon" (minus the violence, of course!). It's intelligent, quirky, very stylish, and a film that leaves you with some unforgettable images.