The End of Violence

Celebrated director Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire) brings Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, and Gabriel Byrne together in an electrifying suspense-thriller that is an "audacious and seductive" (Los Angeles Times) tale of paranoia and murder that Gene Siskel calls "one of my favorite filmsof the year!" Manufacturing on-screen violence has created an entertainment empire for fast-lane Hollywood producer Mike Max (Pullman). But when Max comes into possession of details concerning a top-secret, anti-crime satellite surveillance system, the information turns this master of imaginary mayhem into a real-life victim. Escaping into L.A.'s shadowy underworld, Max is forced into a heart-stopping confrontation with forces beyond his comprehension and violence beyond his deadliest fictional creations. Is this the end of violence...or just the beginning?

If Wim Wenders falls prey to overambition in this sprawling story of identity, conscience, and voyeurism in modern Los Angeles, it pays off in a richness absent from so many of Hollywood's safe, sterile films. Bill Pullman is the ostensible hero, a Roger Corman-like producer abruptly kidnapped by a pair of dim thugs who prepare to kill him in the shadow of the L.A. freeway. Gabriel Byrne watches, powerless, from on high, a meek Big Brother wired up through surveillance cameras hidden throughout the city. When Pullman disappears into the faceless population of L.A., adopted by a family of Hispanic gardeners, he begins his own covert investigation in parallel with the official inquiry conducted by movie-buff cop Loren Dean. Ostensibly a thriller, the film has little onscreen violence, but shadowy threats prowl around the edges, and echoes of unseen murders permeate the picture. The narrative is a tangle, neglecting characters and leaving the vast conspiracy more a suggestion than a fully conceived plot, possibly the victim of last-minute reworking after a disastrous showing at Cannes. But Wenders's unerring eye for image and color creates a stunning, often startlingly beautiful film of unsettling menace and haunting mystery, and his generosity of character fills this world with vivid personalities. Cult director Sam Fuller and character actor Henry Silva have small roles, and Traci Lind costars as a young stuntwoman with ambitions of an acting career. As always, Ry Cooder's score is superb. --Sean Axmaker