Until the End of the World (1991)

VHS CASE/SIDE

Length of film: 158 Minutes (Director’s Cut: 287 Minutes) 

Rated: R     

Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Director: Wim Wenders

Starring: William Hurt, Solveig Dommartin, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow, Jeanne Moreau, Alfred Lynch, Chick Ortega, Eddy Mitchell

IMDB Rank: 6.8/10

Part 1 Time:  68 Minutes  (Director’s Cut: 132 Minutes) 

Part 2 Time:  90 Minutes (Director’s Cut: 155 Minutes) 

Where does the first part end? Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) and Sam Farber (William Hurt) leave on a freight boat heading towards Australia.

Final line of dialogue on the first part: 

Theatrical: “Chicos money got them on a Korean freighter going to Sydney. Winter and I already figured out that Sam Farber was going to go to Australia. Claire did not have access to the information we had” narrates Eugene Fitzpatrick (Sam Neill).

Director’s Cut: “I’ll do my best! I hope it has gas in?” Shouts Hotelportier Luther (Diogo Doria).

First line of dialogue on the second part: 

Theatrical: “It’s not the mags, its not the injectors, its not the plugs” states Sam Faber as he fixes a airplane.

Director’s Cut: “Chico’s money got them out of America unnoticed, onto a Korean freighter leaving for Sydney” narrates Eugene Fitzpatrick.

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Minimal/Somewhat- Claire and Sam have been successfully able to avoid the C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) who want to confiscate Sam’s device. (the device is able to record dreams and visions). Sam and Claire head toward Henry’s (Sam’s father) research facility in Australia.

Which part is better? Although significantly longer, the director’s cut not only provides more detail, but also moves at a slower pace giving the audience time to process and understand the events happening within the film. Part one primarily focuses on Sam and Claire’s travel around the world avoiding detection and collecting visions of various places and people using Sam’s device. Part two picks up in Australia where Sam and Claire begin using the device to record their dreams. Part two is given the edge as we begin to see Sam and Claire’s continual usage of the device begin to impact their livelihoods.

Academy Awards:  None