"As the only one of the leaders of the 'False Movement' still alive, I realize that Nastassja Kinski should have been better protected at the time. For that, Nastassja, I apologize without any ifs or buts."
Wim Wenders has announced that, after days of pressure and debate in Germany, his 1975 film "False Movement" will no longer be shown, at least for the time being.
The controversy erupted over a scene in the film in which Kinski, then thirteen, is shown shirtless and wearing only panties while playing the mute teenager Mignon. A man slaps her and then caresses her face.
For years, Kinski, now 65, said, she had been asking Wenders to remove the scene, which lasted about two minutes and had caused her great distress throughout her life. "Even though I didn't know much about it at 13, I already realized it wasn't right," she told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Last week, at the German Film Awards, Wenders stated that "I would never do a scene like that again today." He seemed to be making a point about the need to avoid erasing anything, fueling a nationwide discussion.
Now, however, the decision has been made to temporarily “cancel” the film and initiate a discussion “with the German Film Academy, the German Film Institute and the Film Museum, other film heritage institutions and intergenerational groups” and, only “after presenting a consensual solution, also in agreement with Nastassja Kinski,” re-release the work.
(Unioneonline/D)
