Satyajit Ray is one of the few filmmakers I looked up to: German director Wim Wenders

Recalling his early cinematic explorations, Wenders recounted how he first encountered the world of movies in Paris, and being introduced to Indian cinema and Ray’s work there.

Mumbai: German filmmaker Wim Wenders, known for classics such as “Paris, Texas”, “Wings of Desire” and "Perfect Days", shared his deep admiration for India and filmmaker Satyajit Ray at a masterclasss here, where he described the country as a "beautiful myth".

Wenders, who is in on his maiden trip to the country as part of the five-city ‘King of the Road - India Tour’ that will see the screening of 18 of his films, spoke about his admiration for Ray and India during a discussion on Thursday evening at the packed 1000-plus seater Regal cinema in South Mumbai.

Recalling his early cinematic explorations, the director recounted how he first encountered the world of movies in Paris, and being introduced to Indian cinema and Ray’s work there.

“I started to watch movies at the Cinemathèque because it was the cheapest cinema... So, first I saw one film, then two films a day, and finally, I saw everything they had, and it was the entire world cinema. I saw a huge dose of Indian films with subtitles. Later on, I realized Satyajit Ray was one of the great filmmakers of his generation, and he was still alive,” Wenders said.

File Photo: Wim Wenders poses on the red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 10, 2024.

Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) in association with the Wim Wenders Stiftung and Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai has organised the retrospective on the legendary filmmaker, who will travel to different cities in India and interact with fans.

Wenders said he met Ray at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival, where the latter’s movie, “Ashani Sanket” (‘Distant Thunder’), was screened.

The 79-year-old director, who has garnered acclaim for his films such as “Paris, Texas”, “Wings of Desire” and “Pina”, said he literally “looked up to” Ray.

“I met him, and I was amazed at how tall he was, he's one of the few filmmakers I had to look up to,” Wenders said, adding, that he had a long talk with Ray – whom he described as “gentle and kind” -- at the festival.

“He was very kind and gentle, looking down at me, and answering all my questions. My heart was beating, but I was amazed that he answered all my questions.

"He was such a gentleman. I saw his film, it was playing the next day, and when he won the film, I was very proud that I had spoken to him. I had made ‘Alice in the Cities’, so I felt I was a filmmaker already.” Wenders said he faced challenges in accessing Ray's films back in the day as video rentals and streaming services were not so common.

“It was very difficult to see more of his work,” he said, adding he had to travel and attend retrospectives and collect Ray's movies through various formats -- from cassettes to VHS, DVD and Blu-ray.

“…To see more of Satyajit Ray wasn't that easy, but I saw a lot of his film, I bought it in every shape it came in.” For Wenders, India has always represented a “beautiful myth”. The filmmaker said he had been toying with the idea of visiting the country, and when FHF reached out to him he couldn’t say no.

“India is such a myth for me, and there’s another myth that I followed was America, which indeed was a myth, and I was scared that the other myth would turn out such a failure. So, I kept India's beautiful myth in my head and said, ‘One day I’ll go (to India)’.

And then you (Shivendra Dungarpur) showed up. I realised that I had to follow that. India is so mythical for a German boy, who read Rudyard Kipling when he was 10, so India was a big thing for me. I was shy and scared; I was hoping that myth would not explode like others.” Wenders also spoke highly about his admiration for American filmmaker James Cameron, particularly for using technology in filmmaking. He said that Cameron's groundbreaking work in 3D cinema, especially with his 2009 science fiction film, “Avatar,” helped to reshape his understanding of storytelling in a three-dimensional space.

“James Cameron showed a lot, he went also for action, and there are a lot of wars going on in ‘Avatar’ at the end, at least. And I was p***ed off at him that he couldn't think of a better way to end the story of these beautiful people, the blue guys and girls.

"In the end, it was ‘Star Wars’ once all over, and I was a little p***ed off at him, but I still think he's a fantastic filmmaker. Even the continuation of ‘Avatar 2’, it’s a movie on education, how to deal with your teenage children that is what the film is about. It's courageous, and he showed the poetry that 3D is capable of,” Wenders said.

The director’s exploration into 3D filmmaking was motivated by a 2008 concert film featuring the rock band film, “U2 3D”. The film provided him insight into how space could be utilized to enhance the storytelling of his 2011 film, “Pina,” a tribute to the German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch.

“After watching the stupid film, I figured I could also use it to make a movie with Pina and at the end of that film, I called Pina, and said, ‘Now, I know how to do it’, and she said, ‘yes’,” the director said.

The retrospective, which will run from February 5 to 23 across five cities from the filmmaker's vast filmography, will celebrate the extraordinary career of Wenders.