- The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty
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The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Directed by Wim Wenders Produced by Peter Genée
Thomas SchamoniWritten by Peter Handke
Wim WendersStarring Arthur Brauss Music by Jürgen Knieper Cinematography Robby Müller Editing by Peter Przygodda Distributed by Bauer International (U.S.) Release date(s) February 19, 1972 Running time 101 min. Country West Germany, Austria Language German Budget DEM 620,000 (estimated) The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty (German: Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter; also known as The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick) is a 1972 German language drama film directed by Wim Wenders. It was adapted from a novella by Wenders' long-time collaborator Peter Handke.
Plot
A goalkeeper is sent off during a game for committing a foul. He spends the night with a cinema cashier, whom he afterwards kills. Although a type of detective film, it is more slow moving and contemplative than other films of the genre. It explores the monotony of the murderer's existence and, like many of Wenders' films, the overwhelming cultural influence of America in post-war West Germany.
Origin of the title
Late in the movie, the goalkeeper and a local policeman attend a football game, and witness a penalty kick. The goalkeeper describes what it is like to face a penalty: should he dive to one side, and if he does will the kicker aim for the other? It is a psychological confrontation in which each tries to outfox the other. In parallel with this the goalkeeper, rather than go on the run, has returned to his home town and is living in plain sight. He doesn't know if the police are looking for him in particular, and the police are not necessarily looking for someone who isn't trying to hide. His friend the policeman is on the lookout for the suspect in the murder, but there are no eyewitnesses who can link the goalkeeper to his victim. He might be a suspect, but only if he acts like one.
External links
- Official website
- The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty at the Internet Movie Database
- The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty at AllRovi
Films directed by Wim Wenders 1970s Summer in the City (1970) · The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty (1972) · The Scarlet Letter (1973) · Alice in the Cities (1974) · The Wrong Move (1975) · Kings of the Road (1976) · The American Friend (1977)1980s Lightning Over Water (1980) · Room 666 (1982) · Hammett (1982) · The State of Things (1982) · Paris, Texas (1984) · Tokyo-Ga (1985) · Wings of Desire (1987) · Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989)1990s Until the End of the World (1991) · Faraway, So Close! (1993) · Lisbon Story (1994) · Beyond the Clouds (1995) · A Trick of Light (1995) · The End of Violence (1997) · Buena Vista Social Club (1999)2000s The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) · Ten Minutes Older (2002) · The Soul of a Man (2003) · Land of Plenty (2004) · Don't Come Knocking (2005) · Palermo Shooting (2008)2010s Pina (2011)Cinema of Germany 
Film chronology · German Empire 1895–1918 · Weimar Germany 1919–1933 · Nazi Germany 1933–1945 · East Germany (1945–1990) ·
(West) Germany 1945–present · 1945-1959 · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s · 2010s
Actors · Directors · Films A–Z · Cinematographers · Festivals · Producers · Composers · ScreenwritersCategories:- German-language films
- 1972 films
- Austrian films
- 1970s drama films
- Films directed by Wim Wenders
- Films based on novels
- Films set in Germany
- German films
- Association football films
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