Film director Wim Wenders had been away from his country of Germany for eight years when he returned to try and flesh out his favorite city, a still divided Berlin. In his search for a protagonist as guide he came up with the unique idea of using angels who could cover the city free of barriers.
In Wings, angels invisibly flood Berlin, eavesdropping and providing comfort for a cross section of Berlin. Children can recognize them but adults lost in thought and task cannot. Two in particular, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Stander) are focused upon as they listen and support locals in libraries, subways and throughout the city, "The Wall" no impediment. While Cassiel is content to be the cold dispassionate observer, Damiel yearns to get in the game and opts out and into the human race.
The first hour of Wings of Desire is a sublime B&W journey of unique perspective with the angels in the midst of the mundane and tragic of everyday Berlin given the freedom to go where they please. Powerful moments of incessant interior monologue are mixed with whimsical along with the brilliant thought behind and casting of Peter Falk, playing the movie star unable to see but feel the ethereal creatures presence. The second half slows after Damiel's transition and relationship with a trapeze artist begins to blossom and the celluloid turns to color but by then Wenders idea either has you hooked or disappointed. In my case it is one of the finer films of the 1980s.
In Wings, angels invisibly flood Berlin, eavesdropping and providing comfort for a cross section of Berlin. Children can recognize them but adults lost in thought and task cannot. Two in particular, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Stander) are focused upon as they listen and support locals in libraries, subways and throughout the city, "The Wall" no impediment. While Cassiel is content to be the cold dispassionate observer, Damiel yearns to get in the game and opts out and into the human race.
The first hour of Wings of Desire is a sublime B&W journey of unique perspective with the angels in the midst of the mundane and tragic of everyday Berlin given the freedom to go where they please. Powerful moments of incessant interior monologue are mixed with whimsical along with the brilliant thought behind and casting of Peter Falk, playing the movie star unable to see but feel the ethereal creatures presence. The second half slows after Damiel's transition and relationship with a trapeze artist begins to blossom and the celluloid turns to color but by then Wenders idea either has you hooked or disappointed. In my case it is one of the finer films of the 1980s.