World on a Wire – Part 1

This early, highly complex masterpiece by Fassbinder tells the story of a scientist who attempts to explore the future through computer-simulated humans – only to discover that he and his environment may themselves be nothing more than a computer simulation. Yet the boundaries between the worlds prove to be permeable.

Part I: At the Institute for Cybernetics and Futurology, the Simulacron project has been designed to predict the future of humanity using programmed human models. But unsettling events start of occur: the sceptical head of research, Vollmer, dies suddenly; security expert Günther Lause disappears without a trace and Vollmer’s successor, Fred Stiller, soon finds himself drawn into a web of mystery and intrigue.

Image © Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation