Wenders brings Bono’s script to fruition
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 6, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Lions Gates Films Milla Jovovich, left,
and Jeremy Davies star in Wim Wenders’ "The
Million Dollar Hotel" which combines American and European
influences.
By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Contributor
When esteemed director Wim Wenders recently decided to do a
movie that was co-written by a rock star, he was definitely no
stranger to the unusual.
Even before collaborating with U2 lead singer Bono on his latest
film “The Million Dollar Hotel,” Wenders was well on
his way to living a defiantly out-of-the-ordinary life at a very
young age.
At birth, his name “Wim” was changed to
“Willhelm” on his birth certificate by German
authorities on grounds that it was not proper.
At the age of 23, Wenders was arrested during a protest and was
given a six and a half month suspended sentence for resisting
arrest.
Since then, Wenders has worked hard to become an award winning
independent film director, and is known for extraordinary films
such as “Wings of Desire,” and “Buena Vista
Social Club.”
Becoming a film director, however, was not something that
Wenders considered a likely profession when growing up in war-torn
Germany.
“It seemed very unlikely at the time in Germany where
there was basically no film industry there,” Wenders
said.
 Lions Gates Films Director Wim Wenders
works on the set of "The Million Dollar Hotel," a film written by
U2 frontman Bono. Not one to shy away from the unlikely, Wenders
went to film school in Munich, Germany. He made his first feature
film “Summer in the City,” in 1970 at the age of
25.
Although Wenders stoutly proclaims himself a European director,
he does admit that there are numerous American aspects to his
movies. Many of his earlier films dealt with the
“Americanization” of European culture; a theme that may
have been drawn from Wenders’ childhood in Germany.
“(Germany) was a very down and out place “¦ American
culture sort of became my own private counterculture,”
Wenders said. “All American things seemed to be more
associated with fun.”
Yet there is no denying that his films are very different from
the typical American movie.
“In my films you always see that there is a point of view
that is European “¦ I don’t know how to get rid of
it,” he said.
Wenders’ latest film, “The Million Dollar
Hotel,” displays a mix of European and American elements. The
story revolves around an odd group of characters living together in
a run-down hotel.
“It was shot with an American cast in Los Angeles, but
still it is very European in that (the story) was conceived by an
Irishman and directed by a German,” Wenders said.
This Irishman who conceived of the plot, Bono, was inspired to
write the script while shooting the music video for U2’s
single “Where the Streets Have No Name.” When shooting
part of the music video atop The Million Dollar Hotel in Los
Angeles, Bono spent some time mingling with residents of the
hotel.
“Bono was blown away by the place,” Wenders said.
“Normally when he’s really impressed by something he
writes a song about it, but this time he wrote a story.”
Bono thus developed the characters of the movie out of the
people he met inside the hotel. He came up with the opening scene
after a bet he made with one of the residents about whether or not
he would jump a 12-foot gap between the top of the hotel and
another building.
When Bono turned his experiences into a movie idea, he needed
someone to direct his script. Wenders had previously directed some
of U2’s music videos and Bono contacted him with questions
about how to go about making his ideas a reality.
Rather than asking Wenders directly to work on the movie,
however, Bono tricked his friend into directing the movie.
“(Bono’s) a smart man and didn’t come to me
directly,” Wenders said. “He tricked me.
“He had all these questions and he’s a good friend
and I didn’t want to give him bad advice, so I made some
suggestions,” Wenders continued. “When I saw the
strange smile on his face “¦ I knew that I was
duped.”
But then again, Wenders has always been a chance-taker with a
propensity for the unusual.
FILM: “The Million Dollar Hotel” is
now playing at the Mann Criterion located at 1313 Third Street
Promenade, Santa Monica. For showtimes call (310) 395-1599.
