German auteur Wim Wenders is now in Thiruvananthapuram as part of his

India tour

organised by the

Film Heritage Foundation

(FHF). Speaking to us about his first India visit, the

Perfect Days

director says, “ When Shivendra (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder FHF) invited me to India when we met in Bologna, I said I cannot come unless I can see the whole country as I have saved this trip for so long. He said, ‘Then, let’s see the whole country’, and here we are!”
‘I love Europe because of its diversity & India is just as diverse’
I wasn’t aware of how many languages there are in India. That was the first thing I really discovered. There is a richness of cultures and languages. Of course, I have seen it in Europe, but those are different countries altogether, while India is one country with different languages and cultures. I love Europe because of its diversity, and India is just as diverse. I have to continue travelling to all the regions, get to know more people in order to have a first impression. Now, I am a little overwhelmed. I love what I’ve seen of Kerala. I feel very much at home. I like the weather, the light... everything is more relaxed.
Mumbai is a little speedy. I like speedy cities, harbour cities, especially. I have shot in many harbour cities like San Francisco, Lisbon, Hamburg, etc. And Mumbai is a busy harbour city, reminding me very much of Palermo in Italy, where half my family is from.

‘3D is the most poetic medium for films’
I know from film history that some early inventors had patents for 3D. The idea for 3D was on the table from the very beginning. At the end of the 19th century, 3D photographs became very popular. However, it was more complex to represent films in 3D, so the idea was dropped. It only started in a relevant way after digital cinema. But unfortunately, it became popular for the wrong kind of movies. Films in 3D have enormous capacity for people to see more. It’s a more intense way to be involved in a film. In order to see space in a 3D movie, your brain works harder. Your engagement is also comparatively more. When I did my first 3D film, Pina, almost 12 years ago, I felt this was the art form I was waiting for. Now, I am at my tenth film in 3D. Not many have stuck to it. James Cameron does. He is a great master of the art form. I think 3D is the most poetic medium for films. It is suited for reality-driven films rather than action and fantasy. I feel it’s an abuse of the medium (to use it for the latter). I need to see your first 3D film (My Dear Kuttichathan).

‘For me, the history of movies means a lot’
There was a time in my life, 10-15 years ago, when I realised that I have made all these movies and that there is a young audience who don’t know much about the history of movies. For me, the history means a lot; I love it. It’s such a treasure and there is so much to discover - culturally, too, not only in Europe, but all over the world. It’s an enrichment in anyone’s life. Some of my films were obsolete as they only existed as prints. Their survival depended on a decent restoration. You can restore your films in a really good way or in a really lousy way and I feel the digital version should be at least as good as your first print. I felt some of my films have become an entity of their own and they didn’t need me anymore. They could only have a future if they are beautifully restored. I didn’t want to own them anymore as they were ‘adults’. They wouldn’t belong to any company, archive or a conglomeration. The foundation (

Wim Wenders Foundation

) was the right way to go.
‘Music is as important as the image & characters in films’
I don’t ‘use’ music; rather, it is an element of my films. Music is as important as the image, rhythm, characters, etc of a film. I don’t think I would want to make movies if I don’t have access to music. Music, for me, is very elementary and I don’t think I would ever make a film without it. When I am writing or not involved with a movie, I listen to a lot of music. It is the energy of my life.
I love a lot of Indian music, too. In the ‘60s, I collected a lot of vinyl records of Ravi Shankar. When George Harrison (Beatles) began playing the sitar, I was very excited. I felt it was a sound missing from blues. In the hotel we stayed at in Mumbai, someone will play sitar (my first time hearing it live) and flute on alternate days and I would sit and listen.

‘I want my films to be contemporary’
I became a filmmaker because films have the ability to express the temperature of the present times. The world was different in the ‘60s, in the ‘70s. The way people enjoyed themselves was very different to how it is now. Now, in the digital age, people live faster lives. They communicate in such complex ways, but they are also lonely in very complex ways. They are also often desperate and cut off from reality. I want my films to always be contemporary.