I confess that I downloaded this film primarily because it tells the story of a beautiful 9-year-old girl who gets abandoned by her mother with a random adult man, and the two go on a road trip together.

But beyond being an entry in my collection of pedocore films, I found a more lasting appeal in the theme it conveys. The film follows 31-year-old German magazine writer and amateur photographer, Philip, who at the start of the film is taking a road trip across America struggling against writer's block to finish a story on a deadline. In a conversation with a friend he says that he has become "estranged from himself" and is told: "Why do you take so many pictures? It is because you need proof of your own existence, proof that your experiences happened." (I've paraphrased for brevity.)

For years I've felt adrift, unsure of who I am, and lately have taken to things like sharing poetry, blogging and photography to show others that I still exist. Even this film review it would seem, is that. Here I leave a little proof that I saw this film, that it moved me. When Philip becomes burdened with looking after Alice, the two go on a long trip seeking her grandmother's house, based only on her hazy memories and a few photographs. Whether or not they find her grandmother, it would seem that Philip does eventually find in Alice a more lasting proof of his existence. We are left with the impression that their road trip has cured his writer's block. But Alice's nonverbal answer the question "What are you going to do [when you get to Munich]?" leads us to wonder if Alice has become estranged from herself.

Like the other Wim Wenders films I've seen (Paris, Texas and Perfect Days), Alice in the Cities is slow-paced and wistful while still managing to be impactful. The events of the film unfold calmly amidst masterfully shot scenery, and the film does feel a bit like a dream. But unlike a dream, it will not soon be forgotten.