Lighting Over Water (1980)

 When German director Wim Wenders came to America he wanted to meet the director Sam Fuller, Wenders meet Fuller and he also meet Nicholas Ray, both Americans had reputations as tough, working men directors, often constrained by budget but with autorist leanings. While Wim liked Fuller, he clicked with Ray, they became fast friends and colaborters, Ray would appear as an actor in Wenders 'The American Friend' and together they would work both behind and in front of the camera in 'Lighting Over Water'.

The two had decided they wanted to co-direct a film together, they had some lose ideas but then Ray got cancer and the film morphed into a highly metatextual work with both directors playing themselves. The film is meandering, improvisory. What story there is concerns Wenders coming to visit Ray at his home in New York, knowing him to be dying they talk, play backgammon, Ray gives a lecture at Vassar, rehearses an actor for a play he'll never see, tinkers with the editing on his unwieldy final film 'We Can't Go Home Again', then he checks into the hospital and dies.

The director Elia Kazan, who had been a friend of Ray's since the 1930's, records in his memorie going to visit Ray in the hospital shortly before his death in 1979. He was disgusted to see Ray's hospital room full of filming equipment, Ray was essentially trying to direct his own death; Kazan was mad at Wenders for permitting this, on further reflection however Kazan realized that this is indeed how Ray would want to go out, a commited filmmaker to the very end.

The finished product, releassed the year after Ray's passing, is understandably unfocused and self indulgent. As a "movie" it's not very good but as a "film" it's documentation worth having around. The interactions with Ray's family are particularly interesting, Ray's cinematographer son Tim is constantly about and there is a scene where Ray's soon to be widow Susan, 40 years her husband's junior, is just watching him talking with one of his grown daughters and it's the emotional highlight of the film to me, she says no words but says so much.

Still 'Lighting Over Water' is mostly a mess and I often had a hard time paying attention. So again while this is worthy as a document, as an engaging watch it is mostly wanting. **