Some archival controversies arise from the usual arguments about art, context, and changing standards. This one is more troubling and reflective of where culture has shifted in recent years. Wim Wenders has withdrawn his 1975 film “Wrong Move” from circulation after renewed criticism over a topless scene featuring Nastassja Kinski, who was 13 at the time of filming.
The German filmmaker apologized to Kinski and said the film will no longer be available through current distribution channels, including streaming, television, and other exhibition partners (via AP). The Wim Wenders Foundation, which owns “Wrong Move,” said the film will remain unavailable until a mutually agreed-upon solution is found.
READ MORE: The Essentials: The 10 Best Wim Wenders Films
“As the only person responsible at the time for ‘Wrong Move’ who is still here, I recognize that Nastassja Kinski should have been better protected back then,” Wenders said in a statement. “For that, I apologize to you, Nastassja, unreservedly, no ifs or buts.”
Kinski, now 65, recently told the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that she had been trying for years to get Wenders to address the scene. “That was my first film, he was my first director, and he didn’t protect me,” she said. “Even though I didn’t know much aged 13, I knew that that was not ok.”
“Wrong Move” marked Kinski’s screen debut and was the second entry in Wenders’ “road movie trilogy,” arriving between “Alice in the Cities” and “Kings of the Road.” Written by Peter Handke and loosely inspired by Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship,” the film stars Rüdiger Vogler as an aspiring writer traveling through Germany, with Kinski playing a mute teenage acrobat he encounters along the way.
Wenders, who went on to direct “Paris, Texas,” “Wings of Desire,” “Buena Vista Social Club,” and “Perfect Days,” had previously suggested that revisiting the film raised complicated questions about altering older works. At the German Film Awards last week, he said he would not shoot the scene the same way today, but warned that retroactively editing films could create a difficult precedent for other filmmakers. Those remarks drew criticism in Germany, and Wenders has now reversed course.
The filmmaker also said the controversy should lead to a broader conversation about how cinema handles troubling material from earlier eras. That discussion, he said, should include Kinski, the German Film Academy, and other film organizations.
Kinski later reunited with Wenders for “Paris, Texas,” his Palme d’Or-winning 1984 drama, and appeared in “Faraway, So Close!” in 1993. But her comments about “Wrong Move” make clear that the beginning of that collaboration has remained unresolved for decades. For now, Wenders’ decision removes the film from public view while he and Kinski determine what happens next.
