Lightning Over Water (1980)

Directors:

Nicholas Ray
Wim Wenders

Writers:

Nicholas Ray (writer)
Wim Wenders (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 1981 (West Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

Plot:

Director Nicholas Ray is eager to complete a final film before his imminent death from cancer. Wim Wenders...

Plot Keywords:

Terminal Illness | Film Making | Video Footage | Avant Garde | Friendship

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Gerry Bamman	...	Himself
Ronee Blakley	...	Herself
Pierre Cottrell	...	Himself
Stefan Czapsky	...	Himself
Mitch Dubin	...	Himself
Tom Farrell	...	Himself
Becky Johnston	...	Herself
Tom Kaufman	...	Himself
Pat Kirck	...	Himself
Edward Lachman	...	Himself
Martin Müller	...	Himself
Craig Nelson	...	Himself
Nicholas Ray	...	Himself
Susan Ray	...	Herself
Timothy Ray	...	Himself
Martin Schäfer	...	Himself
Chris Sievernich	...	Himself
Wim Wenders	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Nick's Film - Lightning Over Water (West Germany)
Nicks Movie (West Germany)
Lampi sull'acqua - Nick's movie (Italy) [it]
Nick's Film - Lightning Over Water (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
Nick's Film - Lightning Over Water (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Nick's Movie (France) [fr]
Nicks Movie (Hungary) [hu]
Relámpago sobre el agua (Spain) [es]
Salama veden yllä (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Villanás a víz felett (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

91 min | USA:116 min (original version)

Country:

Sweden | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Brazil:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-3 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Movie Connections:

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Toutes les histoires (1988) (V)

Soundtrack:

Lightning Over Water

Beware: two versions exist, first is better

Two video versions of this film exist, both roughly the same length. The first was released by Pacific Video on VHS in 1987, the second just this month (1/03) by Anchor Bay on DVD. According to Kathe Geist's book "The Cinema of Wim Wenders: From Paris France to Paris Texas," Wenders was so depressed by the filming of "Lightning" and Ray's death that he handed the footage over to his editor, Peter Przygodda, who spent a year fashioning it into a version shown at Cannes; apparently this is also the version released by Pacific Video in 1987 and which I first saw around that time (and have watched many times since). Wenders supposedly found this version obscure and depressing and re-edited, adding a voiceover (his own) and superimposing passages from Ray's diary; this is the version just released on DVD, and is considered by some the definitive edition. But I find Wender's criticism of the initial cut confusing, for it's the LATTER cut (his own) which is murky and depressing. Nick Ray's final scene, for example ("Cut...Don't Cut.") is tortuous (we're watching a man dying), and there are sequences edited so bizarrely as to be almost incomprehensible. The first cut, in contrast, has a narrative flow and progression that make it easier to absorb, though it's still tough going as we witness Nick Ray's suffering. Also, Wender's narration in the 2nd version (absent in the initial cut) actually adds little to the film. The first version is unfortunately out of print but is worth tracking down because it's the superior one.