The End of Violence (1997)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Nicholas Klein (story) &
Wim Wenders (story) ...

Release Date:

12 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Nothing Lasts Forever

Plot:

Mike Max is a Hollywood producer who became powerful and rich thanks to brutal and bloody action films...

Plot Keywords:

Typewriter | Observatory | Lost Identity | Surveillance Camera | Film Making

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Traci Lind	...	Cat
Rosalind Chao	...	Claire
Bill Pullman	...	Mike Max
Andie MacDowell	...	Page
K. Todd Freeman	...	Six O One
Gabriel Byrne	...	Ray Bering
Chris Douridas	...	Technician
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Frank Cray
John Diehl	...	Lowell Lewis
Soledad St. Hilaire	...	Anita
Nicole Ari Parker	...	Ade (as Nicole Parker)
Daniel Benzali	...	Brice Phelps
Samuel Fuller	...	Louis Bering (as Sam Fuller)
Marshall Bell	...	Sheriff Call
Frederic Forrest	...	Ranger MacDermot

Also Known As:

Am Ende der Gewalt (Germany) (informal literal title)
Am.Ende.der.Gew@lt. (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

France | Germany | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hungary:14 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

There is a scene in the film where we see a live recreation of the painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Page is holding Mike at gunpoint she holds the gun upward with the bottom of the handle facing outward and the ammo clip is clearly missing. Yet when Mike exits through the patio door she fires the gun and shatters the glass.

Quotes:

Mike Max: Perversely. That's one thing I think I can define now. It's when things are upside down and you start to like 'em that way.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Edward Hopper (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Me Estas Matando

The State of Control

I watched this movie a few times, and I have met very few people who liked it as much as I did. I see it as an artful expression of all the critical thoughts in philosophy, sociology etc. that show how genocide, ultra-violence and fascist methods of population-control can develop out of all the promises of order, justice and peace the the modern state makes to its citizens. Also, the dialogue has absolutely superb moments, as when Mike the fugitive of the state says to his wife confronts his ex-wife with the words "Who can I turn myself into? Well I see who you turned yourself into...". A lot of people seem to dislike the loose ends and unexplained shifts that the characters make - but I say, in that very absence of rigid structure the film makes a parallel to the manifest ambivalence of modern life as a citizen: Our greatest protector is also our greatest threat.