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Wings of Desire
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by Orion Studios (Old Label)
Sales Rank: 21626
Price: $19.98
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"There are angels over the streets of Berlin," quotes the movie poster, but these are like no angels you've ever seen. Bundled in dark overcoats, they watch over the city with ears open to the heartbeat of the human soul, listening to the internal musings and yearnings of earthbound humans like existential detectives. In these delicate, astounding scenes we float through the thoughts of dozens Berlin citizens, from the weary and worn to the hopeful and young, as the angels record the magic moments for some heavenly record. But when Damiel (the empathic and sensitive Bruno Ganz) falls in love with an angel of another sort, the lonely trapeze artist Marion (willowy, sad-eyed Solveig Dommartin), he gives up the contemplation and observation of life to experience it himself. <p> Wim Wenders's most purely romantic film is like poetry on celluloid, a celebration of the transient and fragile moments of being human: the warmth of a cup of coffee on a cold day, the embrace of a friend, the touch of a lover, the rapture of love. Opening with an angel's-eye view of Berlin in silvery black and white (delicately captured by the great cinematographer Henri Alekan, who photographed Jean Cocteau's <I>Beauty and the Beast</I> 40 years earlier), it transforms into a gauzy color world when Damiel "crosses over" by sheer will. Peter Falk plays himself as a fallen angel with a special sensitivity for celestial visitors ("I can't see you, but I know you're there," he proclaims), and Otto Sander, whose smiling eyes brighten a face etched by eons of waiting and watching, is Damiel's partner. Wenders made a sequel in 1993, <I>Faraway, So Close</I>, and Hollywood remade the film as <I>City of Angels</I> with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I>
Viewer Reviews
I was under the impression that "Wings of Desire" was a unique love story and I guess it is. However that aspect of the film was almost a distraction compared to the real nature of the movie. For me, "Wings of Desire" is a brilliant cinematic concept of angels in the world around us. If that sounds overly religious or unappealling, hold on. The way director Wim Wenders brings his vision to life is the essential beauty of this movie. We almost get the impression that these angels punch in and punch out. They are sincere and they do what they can to help whenever they see the appropriate opportunity. However, they are angels; not God. We see efforts that succeed and efforts that fail and we realize that these angels can influence but not prevent. We see, through their eyes, the beautiful and the banal. Not all is good and not all is bad yet, when properly focussed, all is unique. The story follows one particular angel who falls in love and wants to experience mortality in order to experience romantic love. This is not Clarence (from "It's a Wonderful Life") but an angel who is tired of seeing and wants to actually experience. There is an interesting role played by Peter Falk that may be his best performance. In the end, of course, the angel gets his wish and his girl but I, frankly, thought that sequence was too overdone. I was still mesmerized by director Wim Wenders's concept of angels among us.
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