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Nick's Film (Lightning Over Water)
Simultaneously a love letter and a farewell, this documentary charts the last few months of acclaimed director Nicholas Ray through the eyes of Wim Wenders.
Director: Nicholas Ray and Wim Wenders
Overview
Wim Wenders first met the legendary maverick director Nicholas Ray when he cast him in The American Friend. Their friendship developed and when it became clear that Ray's cancer was terminal, he agreed to make a film with his young director friend. What transpired now stands as a tribute to a great filmmaker and one of Wim Wenders’ most personal films.
Like the themes explored in Alice in the Cities and Kings of the Road, Nick’s Movie (Lightning Over Water) marks the terminal decline of one age of cinema. Nicholas Ray stood for rebellion against a system that often served him badly. However, on the occasions when Ray was permitted to pursue his vision, the results (Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar, The Lusty Men and Bigger Than Life) were remarkable. Blurring the line between fiction and documentary, real life and celluloid fantasy, this documentary is a moving record of the power and allure of cinema.
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