Another kind of magical realism.

A film so realistic that it captures those magical moments between two strangers becoming more than that.

Once again, expatriates roam European cities and existential territory, but this time, moving through the latter all happens naturally and implicitly. The film grapples with the ideas of human belonging, connection and responsibility but always keeps them in the concrete forms of characters’ actions and interactions; it’s practically all “show” and little if any “tell” with regards to the psychology of the characters. Moments when Philip and Alice yell at each other or become distracted or try to share things with one another, these slivers of time are inhabited by personality traits pushed and pulled out of the psyche and into reality by the vicissitudes of their journey.

I hope Alice In The Cities soon joins the other films of Wim Wenders available in the US from The Criterion Collection.