Kings of the Road

Wim Wenders’ 1976 movie about two guys traveling around West Germany is a portrait of a time still haunted by the dark legacy of the recent Nazi past. Kings of the Road, a film by Wim Wenders from 1976, opens with a startling event. Bruno, a traveling movie projector repairman played by Rüdiger Vogler, is shaving next to his parked van when he sees a Volkswagen zoom off the road and into the Elbe River at top speed. If this is a suicide attempt, it’s a failure, because the car floats, and its driver, Robert (Hanns Zischler) sheepishly wades to shore.…