The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
A dismissed goalkeeper drifts through Vienna, searching for connection while everyday reality becomes increasingly unstable and opaque.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- austere
- contemplative
- paranoid
- solitary evening
- arthouse cinema night
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Josef Bloch leaves football after being sent off and wanders through Vienna without a clear purpose or emotional anchor.
Josef’s identity as an experienced goalkeeper collapses into solitary observation, irritability, and uneasy encounters with women.
The narrative follows Josef between a cheap hotel, trams, streets, and a cinema as he wanders aimlessly through Vienna.
The goalkeeper’s penalty-kick predicament functions as a concentrated image of hesitation, judgment, and impending consequence.
Films like The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, and why
Alice in the Cities
shared alienated protagonist, existential disquiet, sparse urban observation, and european art-house drama
The State of Things
shared austere pacing, psychological estrangement, fractured communication, and new german cinema sensibility
The Passenger
shared emotionally detached outsider, urban wandering, minimalist storytelling, and modernist european drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Wim Wenders
- Release Date
- 1975-11-05
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (49)
Cast
- Arthur Brauss
- Kai Fischer
- Erika Pluhar
- Libgart Schwarz
- Marie Bardischewski
- Michael Toost
- Bert Fortell
- Edda Köchl
- Mario Kranz
- Ernst Meister
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick about?
- A dismissed goalkeeper drifts through Vienna, searching for connection while everyday reality becomes increasingly unstable and opaque.
- What is The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick as mild.
- Which films are like The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick?
- Films with a similar feel include Alice in the Cities, The State of Things, and The Passenger.
- How long is The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick?
- The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick runs 101 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick?
- In United States, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick streams on Criterion Channel.
