World on a Wire (Criterion Collection)

Klaus Lowitsch, Barbara Valentin. With dashes of Stanley Kubrick, Kurt Vonnegut, and Philip K. Dick, as well as a flavor entirely his own, Rainer Werner Fassbinder tells the noir-spiked tale of a reluctant action hero, Fred Stiller, a cybernetics engineer who uncovers a massive corporate conspiracy. At risk? (Virtual) reality as we know it. Originally made for German television, this recently rediscovered, three-and-a-half-hour labyrinth is a satiric and surreal look at the weird world of tomorrow from one of cinema’s kinkiest geniuses. In German with English subtitles. 2 DVDs. 1973/color/212 min/NR/fullscreen.