Stations

Stations

1982 · 56 min · ★ 6.5 · Fantasy

Stations is an enigmatic, hauntingly vivid work, in which Wilson envisions the daydreams and fantasies of an eleven-year-old boy as a universe both magical and sinister. Resonating with Wilson's precise visual stylization, the tape's pivotal image is a young boy looking through a large window in the kitchen of his home, which becomes the portal for his dramatic, often startling inner fantasies. Fire, metal, wind, glass and water, among other elements, serve as points of departure for a series of elegant pictorial compositions and evocative metaphors. Unfolding without dialogue or spoken language, Wilson's indelible visions articulate the fear and mystery of the internal life of a child, and his relation to the outside world.

Directed by Robert Wilson · Written by Robert Wilson

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

1h 54m together

Both from Robert Wilson.

More from Robert WilsonSee all →

Voom PortraitsVoom Portraits · 2007
Voom Portraits
★ 10.02007
MovieDocumentary
Iconic artist and theater director Robert Wilson has created a series of video portraits of celebrities, ordinary people and animals called "VOOM Portraits." Known for his glacier-paced theatrical productions with Tom Waits and Lou Reed, Wilson's now bringing his aesthetic to a video format. The recent developments in HD technology have allowed Wilson to create something like a precise hybrid of still photography and motion pictures. Actors such as Brad Pitt (as a crazy person on the streets in the rain), Isabelle Huppert (as Greta Garbo), Steve Buscemi (as a mad butcher chewing gum on a variety show), Robert Downey Jr. (as a dreaming corpse in a Rembrandt painting), and Winona Ryder (as Winnie, the main female character in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, buried up to her neck in sand) were asked to “think of nothing" and move slowly and steadily to collaborate in Wilson's vision of who they might be.
Gluck: Orphée et EurydiceGluck: Orphée et Eurydice · 2000
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice
★ 9.52000
MovieMusicDocumentary
Film recording of Robert Wilson’s stage production of the opera by Gluck. John Eliot Gardiner conducts Berlioz’s 1859 revision of Gluck’s opera “Orphée et Eurydice” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Soloists Magdalena Kožená, Madeline Bender and Patricia Petibon are accompanied by Gardiner’s regular chorus, The Monteverdi Choir, and the 19th-century period instruments of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
Robert Wilson and the Civil WarsRobert Wilson and the Civil Wars · 1987
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars
★ 9.01987
MovieDocumentary
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars is an in-depth documentation of Robert Wilson’s ambitious attempt to stage an epic, twelve-hour, multinational opera for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Filmmaker Howard Brookner follows the avant-garde theatre director as he confronts a hectic work schedule, funding difficulties and relentless international travel in attempt to complete his preparations. The film examines Wilson’s unique theatrical style during The Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down, which involves the continual creation of evocative stage sets, owing to a unique juxtaposition of movement, sound, text and image. Known for his precise, painterly images Wilson’s work derives more from visual art than the orthodox literary traditions of theatre. As a result, Wilson often challenges actors to perform in a boldly minimalist style, as well as collaborating with non-actors, such as young autistic poet Christopher Knowles in Einstein on the Beach.
Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of OperaEinstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera · 1985
Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera
★ 9.01985
MovieDocumentary
The creative processes of avant-garde composer Philip Glass and progressive director/designer Robert Wilson are examined in this film. It documents their collaboration on this tradition breaking opera.
Adam's PassionAdam's Passion · 2015
Adam's Passion
★ 8.52015
MovieMusic
Adam’s Passion is the moving first collaboration between two “masters of slow motion who harmonize perfectly with each other” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). In the spectacular setting of a former submarine factory, American director and universal artist Robert Wilson creates a poetic visual world in which the mystical musical language of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt can cast its meditative spell. Three of Pärt’s major works – Adam’s Lament, Tabula rasa, and Miserere, as well as Sequentia, a new work composed especially for this production – are brought together here using light, space, and movement to create a tightly-woven Gesamtkunstwerk in which the artistic visions of these two great artists mirror each other.
Einstein on the BeachEinstein on the Beach · 2014
Einstein on the Beach
★ 8.32014
MovieMusicDrama
This seminal work of avant-garde opera from composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson arrives full-circle, coming to France, the site of its 1976 Avignon Festival world premiere, at the tail end of this 2014 revival tour for a landmark Theâtre du Châtelet production and a first ever filming by award-winning arts filmmaker Don Kent. Eschewing conventional narrative, the opera revolves loosely around pacifist Einstein’s relationship to the creation of the atomic bomb.
Shakespeare’s SonnetsShakespeare’s Sonnets · 2009
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
★ 8.02009
MovieTV Movie
US stage director Robert Wilson has teamed up with pop star Rufus Wainwright to bring Shakespeare’s sonnets to the stage in Berlin. Debuting on Easter Sunday, this highly stylized cross-dressing version of the archetypal love poems went down a storm with the audience.
La mort de MolièreLa mort de Molière · 1994
La mort de Molière
★ 8.01994
MovieTV MovieDrama
A collaboration in which Robert Wilson and Heiner Müller let Molière die, imagine his death in tableaux with text passages recited by Müller himself. "Cinema watches Death at work." Wilson's actors watch Molière die: their vigil is hard work. Müller's comment: "The poem watches a dying man at work, his name is Molière. The poem is not a film. The film watches an actor playing a dying man called Molière."
The Black RiderThe Black Rider · 1990
The Black Rider
★ 7.51990
MovieDramaFantasy
Inspired by the German folktale, Wilhelm, a file clerk, falls in love with a huntsman's daughter. In order to marry, Wilhelm must prove his worth as a hunter and gain her father's approval. Naive and desperate, he makes a deal with a devil named Pegleg.
AlcesteAlceste · 1999
Alceste
★ 7.01999
MovieMusic
John Eliot Gardiner conducts Gluck’s 1776 French version of “Alceste” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter takes the title role of Alceste, Queen of Thessaly, who offers to die at the hands of the gods in place of her husband, Admète (Paul Groves), so that the people will not lose their king. Alceste is then saved from the underworld by Hercule (Dietrich Henschel).
Absolute WilsonAbsolute Wilson · 2006
Absolute Wilson
★ 6.42006
MovieDocumentary
Documentary from Katharina Otto pays homage to famed stage designer Robert Wilson, who overcame childhood learning disabilities growing up in Waco, Texas, and rose to become one of the most respected avant-garde artists in late 1960s New York. As much a tale of social injustice as a portrait of an artist, this mix of interviews and live performance is testimony to how Wilson's early challenges influenced his creative expression.
Deafman GlanceDeafman Glance · 1981
Deafman Glance
★ 6.01981
MovieDramaHorror
A somber, menacing woman washes white dishes and a gleaming carving knife, pours milk into a glass, and then slowly attacks first one young boy and then another. Not a word of dialogue is uttered.
Video 50Video 50 · 1978
Video 50
★ 5.71978
MovieDrama
Produced in an era before 24-hour programming cycles, Video 50 was initially used as a late night filler on TV stations in Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Random, surreal, and unexpected, Video 50 resembles the dream cycle of a dormant TV station after it conscious programming has ceased. Its structure and form anticipate the dissociated sequence of moving images we are now accustomed to encountering on YouTube and social media.
Le TrouvèreLe Trouvère · 2019
Le Trouvère
2019
Movie
"This is a family tragedy, and in many ways, it is a very contemporary story." This is how Robert Wilson described Il trovatore, or Le Trouvère in its French version, commissioned from Verdi after the incredible success of the premiere of his Italian version in 1853. With a few changes and alterations to the original music, this version was first performed in 1857 at the Paris Opera. A light show unique to the stage director unfolds in the cold architecture, creating the perfect framing for Verdi’s music, dramatic and dark in this timeless opera.
Les FablesLes Fables · 2005
Les Fables
2005
Movie
The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin: An OperaThe Life and Times of Joseph Stalin: An Opera · 1973
The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin: An Opera
1973
MovieMusicDrama
A full recording of an all-night performance of Robert Wilson's The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin: An Opera. Recorded on December 21, 1973. In many ways a compilation of all the stage work Wilson had done with the “Byrds,” The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin reworked elements of The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud, Deafman Glance, Overture, and KA MOUNTAIN AND GUARDenia TERRACE into a seven act, 12-hour piece.

More Like This

Wings of DesireWings of Desire · 1987
Wings of Desire
★ 7.81987
MovieDramaFantasy
Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.
Waking LifeWaking Life · 2001
Waking Life
★ 7.52001
MovieAnimationDrama
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Freddy's Dead: The Final NightmareFreddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare · 1991
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
★ 5.31991
MovieHorrorFantasy
Just when you thought it was safe to sleep, Freddy Krueger returns in this sixth installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, as psychologist Maggie Burroughs, tormented by recurring nightmares, meets a patient with the same horrific dreams. Their quest for answers leads to a certain house on Elm Street -- where the nightmares become reality.
DreamDream · 2008
Dream
★ 6.62008
MovieDramaMystery
In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.
The Jungle BookThe Jungle Book · 2016
The Jungle Book
★ 6.92016
MovieAdventureFamily
After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan, Mowgli, a man-cub fostered by wolves, is forced to flee the jungle, and he embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the help of the panther, Bagheera, and the free-spirited bear, Baloo.
Allegro non troppoAllegro non troppo · 1976
Allegro non troppo
★ 7.11976
MovieFantasyAnimation
An enterprising producer believes he has hit upon a winning concept: a program of original animated shorts set to classical music. Undeterred by warnings that this has already been done by an American named 'Prisney,' he rallies an orchestra of geriatric women, a bullish conductor, and an animator that he keeps locked in the dungeon. What could go wrong?
The Princess BrideThe Princess Bride · 1987
The Princess Bride
★ 7.71987
MovieFantasyComedy
In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.
The Science of SleepThe Science of Sleep · 2006
The Science of Sleep
★ 7.02006
MovieComedyDrama
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
The Bothersome ManThe Bothersome Man · 2006
The Bothersome Man
★ 7.12006
MovieComedyDrama
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out. Andreas meets Hugo, who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack. Maybe it leads to "the other side"? A new plan for escape is hatched.
The NinesThe Nines · 2007
The Nines
★ 6.02007
MovieDramaFantasy
A troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways.
Un Chien AndalouUn Chien Andalou · 1929
Un Chien Andalou
★ 7.41929
MovieFantasyThriller
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz · 1939
The Wizard of Oz
★ 7.61939
MovieAdventureFantasy
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
The BFGThe BFG · 1990
The BFG
★ 6.41990
MovieAnimationFamily
Sophie is snatched from her orphanage early one morning by the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), whom she witnesses engaged in mysterious activities. She is soon put at ease, as she learns that BFG's job is to collect, catalog and deliver pleasant dreams to children. She joins him that night, but a mean giants follow them, planning to eat the children of the world.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter