''World on a Wire'' (german: Welt am Draht) is a 1973

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television serial In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of ...

, starring

Klaus Löwitsch Klaus Löwitsch (8 April 1936 – 3 December 2002) was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series ''Peter Strohm''. He appeared in several films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, beginn ...

and directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

. Shot in 16 mm, it was made for German television and originally aired in 1973 in ARD as a two-part miniseries. It was based on the 1964 novel '' Simulacron-3'' by

Daniel F. Galouye Daniel Francis Galouye (11 February 1920 – 7 September 1976) was an American science fiction writer. During the 1950s and 1960s, he contributed novelettes and short stories to various digest size science fiction magazines, sometimes writing ...

. An adaptation of the Fassbinder version was presented as the play ''World of Wires'', directed by

Jay Scheib Jay Scheib (born October 6, 1969) is an American stage director, playwright and artist, noted for his contemporary productions of both classical and new plays and operas. Scheib is a Professor for Music and Theater Arts and director of the Progra ...

, in 2012. Its focus is not on action, but on

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

ic and

philosophic Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some s ...

aspects of the human

mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

, and the role of

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

. A movie based on the same novel entitled '' The Thirteenth Floor'' starring

Craig Bierko Craig Philip Bierko (born August 18, 1964) is an American actor and singer. Early life Bierko was born in Rye Brook, New York where his mother Pat ran The Harrison Players, a local community theatre. After graduating Blind Brook High School, ...

was released in 1999.

Plot

In the present day, Cybernetics and Future Science's (Institut für Kybernetik und Zukunftsforschung) new

supercomputer A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...

hosts a

program that includes an artificial world with more than 9,000 "identity units" who live as human beings, unaware that their world is just a simulation. Professor Vollmer (

Adrian Hoven Adrian Hoven (18 May 1922 – 28 April 1981) was an Austrian actor, producer and film director. He appeared in 100 films between 1947 and 1981. He was born in Wöllersdorf, Austria as ''Wilhelm Arpad Hofkirchner'' and died in Tegernsee, Ge ...

), who is the technical director of the program, is apparently on the verge of an incredible secret discovery. He becomes increasingly agitated and anti-social before dying in a mysterious accident. His successor, Dr. Fred Stiller, has a discussion with Günther Lause, the security adviser of the institute when the latter suddenly disappears without a trace before he is able to pass on Vollmer's secret to Stiller. More mysterious still is the fact that none of the other IKZ employees seem to have any memory of Lause. Meanwhile, one of the identity units in the simulation attempts suicide. This unit is deleted by Stiller's colleague Walfang to keep the simulation stable. To investigate the reasons for the suicide, Stiller enters into the simulated world to interview the contact unit. The unit, called Einstein, is the only identity unit that knows the "world" is a simulation, and this is necessary to run the program. In an attempt to become a real person, Einstein switches his mind into Walfang's body while Stiller is in contact with the simulated world. Einstein gives Stiller an explanation for the mysteries, vanishing memories, and vanishing persons, telling him that Stiller's "real world" is nothing but a simulation of the real world, which is one level above. This knowledge causes Stiller to slip into insanity. The other "real" people interrogate Stiller and he is threatened with death, incarceration, and involuntary commitment. Stiller is finally able to convince Hahn, the IKZ psychologist, of his theory. The latter soon dies in an accident that is pinned on Stiller, marking him as the suspected murderer of both Hahn and Vollmer. Stiller flees and searches for the necessary contact unit who can connect his "real" world with the real world, a level above. He survives several assassination attempts and discovers the contact is Eva, who was projected into the simulation after Vollmer's death (as his non-existent daughter). Stiller accepts her presence, believing they once had a romance. Eva tells him he was modeled on the real Fred Stiller, a person whom Eva loved, but who went mad with power from directing the simulation in the world above. While Stiller is programmed to die in an ambush, Eva switches the minds of the two Stillers and brings the simulated Stiller into the real world.

Music

The martial folk song "Westerwaldlied" and standard German love song "

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troop ...

" are both featured in an extended scene in which Stiller seeks temporary respite in a cabaret. During the Siskins house party scene early in the movie,

Ingrid Caven Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones * 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid * InGrid, the grid computing pr ...

sings the song "The Boys in the Back Room". "The instrumental "

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

" by

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

plays during the credits of both parts, as well as a scene in Part 2.

Cast

as Fred Stiller * Mascha Rabben as Eva Vollmer *

Karl-Heinz Vosgerau Karl-Heinz Vosgerau (Kiel, 16 August 1927 – 4 January 2021) was a German actor, mostly in television. Selected filmography * ' (1970, TV miniseries) * ''Eight Hours Don't Make a Day'' (1972, TV series) * ''World on a Wire'' (1973, TV film) ...

as Herbert Siskins *

as Professor Henry Vollmer *

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitskij; 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a Chinese-born actor of Russian descent. Early life Desny was born in Peking, China. Career Desny was a film actor. Bilingual in French and German, he acted ...

as Günther Lause *

Barbara Valentin Barbara Valentin (born Ursula Ledersteger; 15 December 1940 – 22 February 2002) was an Austrian actress. She worked in film, often with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Biography Valentin was born in 1940 as Ursula Ledersteger in Vienna, Austria. He ...

as Gloria Fromm *

Günter Lamprecht Günter Hans Lamprecht (21 January 1930 – 4 October 2022) was a German film and stage actor, best-known internationally for his leading role in the Fassbinder miniseries '' Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1980) and as a ship captain in the epic war f ...

as Fritz Walfang *

Margit Carstensen Margit Carstensen (born 29 February 1940) is a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Theater career Carstensen, the daughter of a physician, was born and rai ...

as Maya Schmidt-Gentner * Wolfgang Schenck as Franz Hahn * Joachim Hansen as Hans Edelkern *

Gottfried John Gottfried John (; 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A long-time collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in nine of the filmmaker's projects between 1975 and 1981, the year befor ...

as Einstein *

Rudolf Lenz Rudolf Lenz (25 May 1920 – 12 July 1987) was an Austrian actor. Selected filmography * '' The Forester of the Silver Wood'' (1954) * '' Victoria in Dover'' (1954) * '' The Dairymaid of St. Kathrein'' (1955) * '' Forest Liesel'' (1956) * '' The ...

as Hartmann *

Kurt Raab Kurt Raab (20 July 1941 – 28 June 1988) was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 31 ...

as Mark Holm *

Karl Scheydt Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

as Detective Stuhlfauth * Ernst Küsters Bodyguard * El Hedi ben Salem Bodyguard * Rainer Hauer as Inspector Lehner *

Ulli Lommel Ulli Lommel (21 December 1944 – 2 December 2017) was a German actor and director, noted for his many collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his association with the New German Cinema movement. Lommel spent time at The Factory and was ...

as Rupp * Heinz Meier as Von Weinlaub * Peter Chatel as Hirse *

as Uschi *

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Edward Israël Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of se ...

as Man in car *

Rainer Langhans Rainer Langhans (born June 19, 1940 in Oschersleben) is a German writer and filmmaker who is primarily known for his membership of Kommune 1 Kommune 1 or K1 was a politically motivated commune in Germany. It was created on 12 January 1967, ...

as Waiter at party

Release

A completely restored version was shown at the

60th Berlin International Film Festival The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama ''Apart Together'', in comp ...

in 2010. It was also released on Region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Kinowelt/Arthaus as part of the Arthaus premium series and by Second Sight in the UK. It has since screened at the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...

, New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, Rochester, NY's

Dryden Theatre The Dryden Theatre is located at the George Eastman Museum, near Rochester, New York in the United States. The theater is the primary exhibition space for showcasing the museum's collection of motion pictures, recent restorations, as well as travel ...

, the

Harvard Film Archive The Harvard Film Archive (HFA) is a film archive and cinema located in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of film, the HFA houses a c ...

, San Francisco's

Roxie Theater The Roxie Theater, also known as the Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie, is a historic movie theater, founded in 1912, at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. It is a non-profit community arthouse cinema. History The Roxie is o ...

, the

Cleveland Cinematheque The Cleveland Cinematheque is an alternative film theatre located in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1984, it is a part of the Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focuse ...

, Nashville's

Belcourt Theatre The Belcourt Theatre is a nonprofit film center located in Nashville's Hillsboro Village district. History The theater was opened in 1925 as the Hillsboro Theatre by M.A. Lightman Sr. of Malco Theatres and his father Joseph Lightman. It was a ...

, the University of Colorado at Boulder's International Film Series, and the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

in 2010 and 2011, as well as at The

New Beverly Cinema The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California. Housed in a building that dates back to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region. Since 2007, it has been owned by filmmaker Quentin Tara ...

in 2022. The series was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and two-disc DVD by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

in February 2012. The Criterion release is slowed down to 24 frames per second. It was released on limited edition Blu-ray by Second Sight in February 2019, running at the original speed of 25 frames per second.

References

External links

* * *
Welt am Draht
page a
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation

Release information by Kinowelt [in German]

''World on a Wire: The Hall of Mirrors''
an essay by

Ed Halter Ed Halter is a film programmer, writer, and founder of Light Industry, a microcinema in Brooklyn, New York. He currently teaches at Bard College, where he is Critic in Residence. Criticism His writing has been featured in ''Artforum'', '' The ...