Sophie's Choice (Chinese Edition)

I've just finished watching "Wings of Desire" for the second time and feel my initial review may have been a bit too harsh. I still don't like the movie and won't be watching it again but I must admit that it does have a few redeeming qualities.
The three main actors are wonderful; I especially liked Bruno Ganz's portrayal of the weary angel Damiel. Damiel has been observing the earth since time began and longs to do more than just observe. During his conversations with fellow angel Casiel (Otto Sander) he expresses his dream to experience life and free will: to feel rain on his head, taste coffee, smoke cigarettes and even do something bad! Casiel is a bit more accepting of his lot but we can see as the film progresses that he too feels unfulfilled. When Damiel gets his wish and becomes human Casiel gets to experience his joys second hand and we can see that it is just a matter of time before Casiel too will take the plunge (see the sequel, "Far Away, So Close" for Casiel's story) Solveig Dommartin plays the beautiful circus performer that Damiel falls in love with which gives him the final incentive to give up his angelic existence. Peter Falk's portrayal of himself as a former fallen angel was surprisingly good and the idea of an angel becoming an actor is perfect! What better profession for an angel who has spent eternity observing the best and worst of the human condition!
The cinematography was exceptional. There were moments of real emotion in the film: Damiel's encounter with a man in a subway train and Casiel's attempt to prevent a suicide, Damiel comforting a hysterical woman in labor. The occasional flashbacks to World War II footage of Berlin and photographs of Nazi atrocities provide ample evidence of the bad side of humans. I wish we had been shown more of the good side though.
For me, the movie seemed to drag on. Scenes were too long, soliloquies were endless, and points were made and remade. The library scene would have been more effective if we had been given some idea of what the people were reading (why no subtitles in that scene?) I probably would have appreciated spending so much time listening to Nick Cave if I liked that kind of music. Marion and Damiel's first meeting in the bar spent too much time on her musings while Damiel stood there with his head down, I wish he had been given some lines to say! There seemed to be too many depressing scenes and not enough uplifting or joyous, I wanted to see something that would give me a reason for wanting to be human.
The movie had outstanding acting, cinematography and an original idea. I personally didn't enjoy it but others obviously love it so what do you have to lose? Buy the film and judge for yourself, you may find a new favorite!

The beautiful idea is that that guardian angels are all around us. When I watch this film, I find myself crying for no apparent reason. Captures the human condition through dealing with the workings of angels.

what to make of this beautifully shot, very strange movie? something is going on here but you don't know what it is, do you mr.jones? let see, angels observe and empathize with the modern german citizens of berlin. one angel falls in love and wants to be one of the said citizens. an american jewish ex-angel blesses the proceedings while making a movie about world war two and thinking about his dead german grandma (huh, how can an angel have a grandma?). the angels remember and contemplate mankind's many wars. the movie message seems to be; if angels can love us and forgive our follies (we're only human after all), why can't we love and forgive ourselves? besides, it's a new day and peter falk wished us well! seriously though, this very strange movie is some kind of attempt to come to terms with and move on from germany's nazi past. it's a plea for germans to forgive themselves and start over. of course, with the fall of the berlin wall for better or worse they have.

Perhaps because I had been so entranced by "City of Angels," the remake of this film, my disappointment is great. This is a somber, dreary film with subtitles that don't seem to make sense in colloquial English. But, then, maybe my disappointment is really over the ending of "City of Angels," because the heroine in "Wings of Desire" was not killed. Why did this happen to Meg Ryan's character in "City of Angels?"

I am writing this after my second viewing. The movie is a successful piece of art in many levels: photography, storytelling, acting and simple yet smooth transition between scenes. It will take you back to few fundamental wonders that you felt as a child and still continue to feel. It will encourage you think about love as only humans can experience, it will call you to join the world, and to be a part of it, in the midst of all its happiness, sorrow, dirt, wanted as well unwanted parts. Wonderful movie. I do not normally buy DVD, but if I do, this will be in my permanent collection.
This was my first Bruno Ganz movie, and he is a first class artist.
Whoever wrote the script, I encourage him/her to publish then entire script as a poetry book, if that has not already been done.
Watch it, you will love it.

If you like slow-paced, subtitled, mostly black & white, studies of the human-angel condition - this movie is for you. In that tradition, the movie is powerful with that great "euro" cinematography and Peter Falk is great. Not my thing, however...

This is a strange movie. The German title is "Der Himmel über Berlin", which can be translated as "The Heavens Over Berlin", and it features Bruno Ganz as an angel in 1980s Berlin, Solveig Dommartin as the circus acrobat he is smitten by, and in a curious plot twist, Peter Falk (Columbo!) as himself. It's mostly shot in hazy black-and-white (who knew that angels are monochromats?) and offers a surreal depiction of angels watching over mortals, in a style reminiscent of Andrei Tarkovsky, with the camera often slowly panning in long languorous takes as the movie progresses.

The first time I saw this movie, one scene in particular - at the Berlin state library when Ganz and Otto Sander wander the aisles reading the thoughts of humans - haunted my thoughts for a long time. It's not a fast-paced movie, and it's certainly a cerebral film, but there is something very fundamentally basic, very human about this movie that makes one want to watch it again and again.

This movie is nothing like "City Of Angels" with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage, which was supposed to be a remake, but in reality is an abomination.

It's often difficult to discern when entertainment becomes art, and vice versa. With some films however, there's never a doubt. Wings of Desire is such a film. This is not empty, trite entertainment. It's not junk food that pleases for a moment, it's a gourmet meal that nourishes the mind, body and soul. It's fine wine that improves with age. We have enough conventional films and narratives. They saturate every nook and cranny of filmdom. Give me something original, abstract, and intriguing. Give me grace and poignancy. Demand my attention. Astound me with staggeringly gorgeous visuals. Captivate me with resonate, rich cinematography. Engross me in a mesmerising, rhythmic narrative. Move me with lyrical, humanistic, philosophical themes. Wings of Desire provides a wealth of these things. It's a work of elegantly refined, untouchable artistic beauty that will endlessly reward attentive viewers.

It's true that this film has almost no plot. It's more of a meditation on the ephemeral nature of the human existence. The small things in life we all take for granted. These small nothings become enlightening miracles when filtered through the eyes and minds of these sympathetic Angels. Much of the first half is spent wandering around Berlin, listening to the thoughts of its inhabitants through the minds of these angels. Berlin is indeed another character itself: brought to life by the exquisite black & white (and later, color) cinematography of Henri Alekan. A fun trick is to randomly pause the film at almost any moment and study the frozen image. Almost every scene is capable of evoking the same mystique as all great visual artistic works can. No plot emerges until one angel, Damiel (played to subtle perfection by Bruno Ganz) falls for a vibrant trapeze artist named Marion (played to subtle perfection by Solveig Dommartin).

Those looking for a conventional, easy narrative should avoid this film. Those looking for a film of unrivaled visual beauty, a poetically rich, lyrical narrative, and subtle, abstract philosophical themes should definitely make Wings of Desire a top priority. It perfectly captures the beauty of what it is to be human through the eyes and minds of those who are not. For open minds and hearts it can be a profoundly moving experience. I'll leave you with my favorite quote from Damiel himself;

"It's great to live by the spirit, to testify day by day for eternity, only what's spiritual in people's minds. But sometimes I'm fed up with my spiritual existence. Instead of forever hovering above I'd like to feel a weight grow in me to end the infinity and to tie me to earth. I'd like, at each step, each gust of wind, to be able to say "Now." Now and now" and no longer "forever" and "for eternity.""

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.

Nothing else like this. Certainly not the insipid American remake, City of Angels, whose director, believe it or not, is included in those interviewed as part of the extras here (and it's pretty amazing to see that he speaks very intelligently--so how did his remake turn out so dumb?)

OK, enough of that. Wings of Desire is brilliant, inspiring, serious, contemplative, lyrical, and flat out astonishing. Though hardly scripted at all--made up largely of interior monologues supplied in great part by famed German novelist Peter Handke (The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick)--it has a beauty that derives from its willingness to move inside, to take the quiet moments many of us have and expose them, bring them out to reveal desperation, hope, confusion, despair, frustration, regret, loss, understanding.

If you were an angel whose mission was to watch over humans and you began to feel, after hundreds of years, that you needed more than the ethereal "contact" you have on a daily basis, would you forsake your eternal status to live life in the flesh for a limited span of years? That's the premise here and while this description of it could sound cliched, the director, Wim Wenders, makes this anything but. Seamlessly fusing the love of his favorite city, Berlin, with a love story that brings to the fore the humanity we all must feel and express to be, in essence, counted as human, he's crafted a masterpiece of cinema that at once tells us something substantial about why we live.

In the hands of many other directors, this could have been a pompous piece of work, full of overblown sentiment. But Wenders' intelligence is astonishing. His subtlety--even in how he's shot the film--is what captures us. Cinematography was done by the great Henri Alekan, 80 years old at the time of the shoot, the same cinematographer who shot the Cocteau film Beauty and the Beast in 1947, and as Wenders explains in the great featurette included here, Angels Among Us, Alekan made use of a decades-old technique that lends the film an oneiric quality which one wonders would have been possible without. The technique? Using Alekan's grandmother's silk stocking over the camera lens during the shoot. Fragile and delicate itself, the stocking filter provides a visual feel that connects to our sense of how fragile we are as human beings. A marvelous device.

What we can experience in absorbing this film is the sense that we have a unique status as humans here and how it may be possible to take advantage of that. One of the characters played by another octagenarian, Curt Bois, muses to himself about how fleeting peace is, spending his time either at the huge Berlin library poring over globes and books about the cultures of the world, or walking through what was then a barren Berlin (1987), remembering what used to be.

This is a film that does more than resonate. It permeates, it transforms. During the featurette, Wenders talks about how he received hundreds of letters telling him how this one film changed the lives of the letter writers dramatically. Completely understandable.

A film to own, to watch and re-watch. A film to cherish. A film to share.

Two unhappy angels, Damiel and Cassiel, hang out together and compare notes on their observations of human behaviour. Being immortal, without physical substance, they can't experience the things humans do. They comfort people in pain, hang out in libraries helping readers.
One day, Damiel sees Marion, a French circus trapeze artist, and falls in love with her. He further tells Cassiel that he is fed up with his spiritual existence, of forever hovering alone. He wants to give up his eternity and "to conquer a history for myself"; he wants to become human.
There's also Homer, the aging Jewish poet and storyteller of humanity. In one heartbreaking scene, he is trying to find Potsdamplatz, where he was able to have coffee until the Nazis came in. He thinks "No one has succeded in singing an epic f peace. What's wrong with peace?" and "If mankind loses its storyteller, mankind loses its childhood." Another painful scene is Cassiel as he tries to stop a young man from committing suicide... and fails.
There's interesting commentary on human nature and history. One is from a elderly car driver. There are more borders than ever, such as that between streets, stores, and individuals. "Every proprietor or every tenant sticks up his nameplate like a coat of arms and studies the morning paper as if he were a world leader... Each one takes his own with him and demands a toll when another wants to enter... One can only enter each state with the password. The present-day German soul can only be conquered by he who arrives at each small state with the password. Fortunately, no one is now in this situation [a reference to Hitler?]" The other is Damiel and Cassiel reminiscing about man's first appearance on Earth: "As long as he ran straight ahead, he seemed free and we could laugh with him. But then suddenly, he ran in a zigzag and stones flew. With his flight began another story. The history of wars. It is still going on."
Marion's declaration of love at the end really shows a credible human character. At one point in her speech, we get a closeup of her beautiful face, and it's as if she's speaking not only to the other person, but to all of us. "We are now the times. Not only the whole town, but the whole world is taking part in our decision. We two are now more than us two. We incarnate something. We are sitting in the place of people, and the whole place is full of people who are dreaming the same dream. We are deciding everyone's game. I am ready. Now it's your turn. You hold the game in your hand. Now or never." For her, "there's no greater story than ours" i.e. of two people coming together to forge a history together.
There are three musical numbers here. One is Crime and the City Solution performing the slow stoner jangly gothic number "Six Bells Chime" which Marion grooves to. The other is Nick Cave and the Dolls doing the post-punk "The Carnival" and "From Her To Eternity."
The B&W parts of the movie reflects the angels' point of view but also the bleak, depressing industrial urban landscape of Berlin as does the cello in Jurgen Knieperfs musical score. It comes in colour from the human point of view, in most cases Marion.
Bruno Ganz gives a strong characterization as Damiel--his reactions to discovering his humanity is simply joyful, and Solveig Dommartin's Marion is one of the most interesting, dynamic, prettiest movie characters I've ever witnessed. Marion is the typical example of the free but lonely soul who's aching for someone, and her thoughts make her a captivating person. Her point that loneliness makes her whole once she's sharing herself with that special someone, makes an interesting point.
Peter Falk has a very special role in here--no, not Columbo, but as himself. There's a funny scene where he tries to find a hat to fit the face, so he can appear an anonymous German. But there's a more heartwarming and special scene as well.
One of my all-time favourites and a very special film, which left me asking myself questions posed in the movie: "Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here and not there? When did time begin, and where does space end? Isn't life under the sun just a dream? Isn't what I see, hear and smell just the mirage of a world before the world?"

The actual title of this film is Der Himmel über Berlin--Skies over Berlin. Not as enticing as Wings of Desire, but I think more to the point of Wim Wenders vision for this film.

It is beautiful in every way. Has been reviewed many times on the store, so I won't go into great detail, but I love the story, cinematography, writing and acting in this film. One thing I love about this film is that the cinematographer is Henri Alekan, who was absolutely remarkable. He also was the cinematographer for La Belle et La Bette, Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast. An absolute master. All of the beauty of Wings of Desire was created using very intricate lighting and camera technique (Alekan actually shot all of the B&W footage through a special, one-of-a-kind filter that he developed using a stocking that came from his grandmother). He would set up hundreds of lights in very intricate ways to get the ethereal beauty of some scenes. It is a treasure to behold in this age of plastic computer wizardry.

I was sad to learn of Solveig Dommartin's untimely death. She was so talented and underrated. This, to me is her best performance. She also was a screen writer of merit.

I love that great care was taken in creation of this DVD. Wonderful extras, lovely design, everything one would expect. Just beautiful in every way.

Wim Wender's best film is a glorious cinematic experience, a film that dazzles the eye, challenges your mind and touches your heart. In other words, a rarity. No other film that I can think of (save perhaps Woody Allen's Manhattan)better captures the spirit and feel of city than this one's portrait of Berlin does. The film follows two angels who roam around Berlin listening to the thoughts of people and observing, only observing. Except for young children who can sense thier presence, the angels remain invisible to everyone and cannot intervene in earthly matters. When one of the angels (Bruno Ganz) sees a trapeze artist(Solveig Dommartain) in a small circus he becomes entranced and eventually falls in love with her. So much that he yearns to give up the eternal life and become mortal to be with her. Oh, but there's so much more to this film than this sketchy summary. This is also a film about a city, the once divided Berlin and its past. Its about loneliness and alienation, about what it means to be human and so much more. This is just a wonderful film, the best movie released in the 1980's. I've seen this countless times and I never tire of watching it. There are moments in this film that will always stay with me: Ganz's angel perched on the shoulder of a statue, the angels congregating in the Berlin Library, the angels comforting a suicide victim, the brief flashes of color as Ganz becomes more and more human, Peter Falk, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and so much more. This needs to be released on DVD now. A GREAT film.

Wim Wenders' reflective, ethereal masterpiece is a provocative tale of love and longing, an observation about life as we suspect it may be, embedded in a culture that has become increasingly compartmentalized.

Expertly weaving in Peter Handke's "Song of Childhood" throughout the story, Wenders' protagonist, the angel Damiel, observes the cycle of human life: the children (who see the angels) and know what adults can no longer see or embrace; the aging man silently noting the course of human history in an empty lot in Berlin...through the lens, Wenders is searching, for that something intangible that has the ability to connect one person to another and another.

I have watched this film over and over and pay less attention to the plot each time, looking for meaning, as Wenders seems to be, in the margins. "When the child was a child..." Handke's poem reminds us, everything was new, and existential wonder spurned a thousand questions that as adults, were replaced by routines that nurture little more than our basic needs.

Wenders' point of view, though is hopeful and inspires the viewer to find the child that lives in all of us. Peter Falk's cameo role is indispensible in that regard as he helps to facilitate a turning point in Damiel's heavenly life. In the end we see the birth of a man infused with the untainted spirit of a child, a man who lives as, I believe, life should be lived.

The angels in "Wings of Desire" are not guardian angels, placed on Earth to look after human beings. They are witnesses to human history, and they have been watching us since the beginning of creation. This group of angels located in Berlin recall that it took a long time before the creation of human civilization, having watched us since the dawn of time. They are a reflection of the solitude of God, who created everything and the role of these angels is to witness, and document his creation. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are angels who watch over Berlin. They don't have wings but can travel unseen throughout the city, listening to intimate human thoughts, watching their actions, and studying their lives. Angels have been envisioned in many forms, but Wim Wenders envisions them as sympathetic, long-haired men in overcoats, gliding through a beautiful black-and-white Berlin on the lookout for human suffering. While they can make their presence felt in small ways, only children and other angels can see them. They spend their days, and nights observing, but are unable to interact with people, they feel neither pain nor joy. They move invisibly through the city of Berlin, watching, listening, and comparing notes on the humans they observe. Often they observe humanity from high places, yet sometimes they descend to comfort an accident victim or to put a hand on the shoulder of a young man considering suicide. They are powerless to change events but are empowered to implant the possibility of hope, and the feeling that we are not alone. Sometimes the angels appear gloomy; this resulting from their powerless position as eternal beings that cannot change fate, and can only witness how it affects human life. It is this helplessness as well as a longing to experience an awareness of sensation, and emotions that ultimately gives an angel named Damiel (Bruno Ganz) a longing to experience human existence.

One day, Damiel finds his way into a circus and sees beautiful, Marion (Solveig Dommartin), a beautiful high-wire artist, and he is immediately infatuated with her. After the owners of the circus tell the company that the show is broke and must disband, Marion sinks into depression, shuffling back to her trailer to think over about what to do next. As he watches her, Damiel wonders if he wants to be human, to be with her, share pleasure, and pain as a mortal human being till the end of their lives. It is a wonderful tale about simply being alive, the pleasure of existence, and the transient and temporary nature of our very own existence. There is a cameo appearance by American movie actor Peter Falk, playing himself, "I can't see you, but I know you're here he tells the angel," How can Falk sense him? Children can see angels, but adults are supposed to have lost the facility. And does it matter anyway in this wonderful film that reminds us that we as humans live within a known and limited time span. This is a beautiful film, photographed by the talented cinematographer Henri Aleman, as he shows the point of view of the angels in a kind of blue-tinted monochrome. Then looking through human eyes shoots in muted color. His camera seems like it too has wings; as it floats over the city. It does not intrude; rather it observes both angelic and human events as they happen. ''Wings of Desire'' is still one of Wenders's best films to date, a wonderful film that should stand the test of time for generations to come, and one of my personal favorite films.

If the POWERS THAT BE pay any attention to these, please put this on DVD!!!
ADDENDUM:
Ah! HERE it is! Nice. This is a wonderful film - forget that Hollywood City Of Angels knockoff. We all know the Angels in this film are not the angels that frequent Los Angeles.
Anyway, this is filmmaking at its best. A great tale about the angels who watch over us every day, and one particular lonesome angel who is more than divinely interested in a circus girl - and then finds out he is not as alone as he thought.
The opening sequences of this movie are among the most poetic and beautiful of any ever captured as we are gradually let in on the idea that the angels are privy to man's every hope and desire (they stand by in libraries as silent men and women's thoughts come across as whispers, they lay their heads on the shoulders of grieving men, they compare notes on events which really struck them - little slices of humanity that are fantastically concieved) Its really heartbreaking - a wonderful look at the diversity and dignity of man and a compelling treatment of faith and love.
Nick Cave makes a brief appearance.

Frankly this is a sweet, slow paced, somewhat plodding film that is genuine and lovely. In mostly German and black and white, Berlin is featured as the setting for a world not only of Berliners struggling and curious about life, but a population of angels, offering assistance, observing in meditation, discussing among themselves the nature of existence.

Damiel is one of these angels, who with fellow angel Cassiel, makes the rounds of Berlin. Conscious of the brilliance inherent in everything, aware of the children who can see them, aware of the depth of each and every soul, present on the shoulders of the loneliest, oldest, most heart-broken and reverent, these angels serve humanity. But when a lovely, lonely, powerfully angelic high-wire/trapeze/circus performer named Marion catches the heart of Damiel, he realizes that to be an immortal angel has had it's draw backs, and mortal life's short lived, but vital intensity is greater, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

Such is the basic Wings of Desire. Truly a lovely film, distinct in it's spirituality and meditative quality. Slow at times, especially in the middle, before it becomes apparent that something is going to happen.

I understand too that this film inspired City of Angels. I haven't seen that film, but would be surprised if Hollywood could match this film's nature.

The angels in "Wings of Desire" are not guardian angels, placed on Earth to look after human beings. They are witnesses to human history, and they have been watching us since the beginning of creation. This group of angels located in Berlin recall that it took a long time before the creation of human civilization, having watched us since the dawn of time. They are a reflection of the solitude of God, who created everything and the role of these angels is to witness, and document his creation. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are angels who watch over Berlin. They don't have wings but can travel unseen throughout the city, listening to intimate human thoughts, watching their actions, and studying their lives. Angels have been envisioned in many forms, but Wim Wenders envisions them as sympathetic, long-haired men in overcoats, gliding through a beautiful black-and-white Berlin on the lookout for human suffering. While they can make their presence felt in small ways, only children and other angels can see them. They spend their days, and nights observing, but are unable to interact with people, they feel neither pain nor joy. They move invisibly through the city of Berlin, watching, listening, and comparing notes on the humans they observe. Often they observe humanity from high places, yet sometimes they descend to comfort an accident victim or to put a hand on the shoulder of a young man considering suicide. They are powerless to change events but are empowered to implant the possibility of hope, and the feeling that we are not alone. Sometimes the angels appear gloomy; this resulting from their powerless position as eternal beings that cannot change fate, and can only witness how it affects human life. It is this helplessness as well as a longing to experience an awareness of sensation, and emotions that ultimately gives an angel named Damiel (Bruno Ganz) a longing to experience human existence.

One day, Damiel finds his way into a circus and sees beautiful, Marion (Solveig Dommartin), a beautiful high-wire artist, and he is immediately infatuated with her. After the owners of the circus tell the company that the show is broke and must disband, Marion sinks into depression, shuffling back to her trailer to think over about what to do next. As he watches her, Damiel wonders if he wants to be human, to be with her, share pleasure, and pain as a mortal human being till the end of their lives. It is a wonderful tale about simply being alive, the pleasure of existence, and the transient and temporary nature of our very own existence. There is a cameo appearance by American movie actor Peter Falk, playing himself, "I can't see you, but I know you're here he tells the angel," How can Falk sense him? Children can see angels, but adults are supposed to have lost the facility. And does it matter anyway in this wonderful film that reminds us that we as humans live within a known and limited time span. This is a beautiful film, photographed by the talented cinematographer Henri Aleman, as he shows the point of view of the angels in a kind of blue-tinted monochrome. Then looking through human eyes shoots in muted color. His camera seems like it too has wings; as it floats over the city. It does not intrude; rather it observes both angelic and human events as they happen. ''Wings of Desire'' is still one of Wenders's best films to date, a wonderful film that should stand the test of time for generations to come, and one of my personal favorite films.

If the POWERS THAT BE pay any attention to these, please put this on DVD!!!
ADDENDUM:
Ah! HERE it is! Nice. This is a wonderful film - forget that Hollywood City Of Angels knockoff. We all know the Angels in this film are not the angels that frequent Los Angeles.
Anyway, this is filmmaking at its best. A great tale about the angels who watch over us every day, and one particular lonesome angel who is more than divinely interested in a circus girl - and then finds out he is not as alone as he thought.
The opening sequences of this movie are among the most poetic and beautiful of any ever captured as we are gradually let in on the idea that the angels are privy to man's every hope and desire (they stand by in libraries as silent men and women's thoughts come across as whispers, they lay their heads on the shoulders of grieving men, they compare notes on events which really struck them - little slices of humanity that are fantastically concieved) Its really heartbreaking - a wonderful look at the diversity and dignity of man and a compelling treatment of faith and love.
Nick Cave makes a brief appearance.

Frankly this is a sweet, slow paced, somewhat plodding film that is genuine and lovely. In mostly German and black and white, Berlin is featured as the setting for a world not only of Berliners struggling and curious about life, but a population of angels, offering assistance, observing in meditation, discussing among themselves the nature of existence.

Damiel is one of these angels, who with fellow angel Cassiel, makes the rounds of Berlin. Conscious of the brilliance inherent in everything, aware of the children who can see them, aware of the depth of each and every soul, present on the shoulders of the loneliest, oldest, most heart-broken and reverent, these angels serve humanity. But when a lovely, lonely, powerfully angelic high-wire/trapeze/circus performer named Marion catches the heart of Damiel, he realizes that to be an immortal angel has had it's draw backs, and mortal life's short lived, but vital intensity is greater, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

Such is the basic Wings of Desire. Truly a lovely film, distinct in it's spirituality and meditative quality. Slow at times, especially in the middle, before it becomes apparent that something is going to happen.

I understand too that this film inspired City of Angels. I haven't seen that film, but would be surprised if Hollywood could match this film's nature.

The film defies description. Any attempt a synopsis would be futile and diminish this breathtaking adventure. I could try to touch on some of the themes; angels over the city of Berlin, the importance of storytellers, extra people, two halves, the deepest love, a fractured city and our fractured world, Berlin itself and The Wall, the Nazi past, longing, wholeness in solitude, fate, a greater power, a search for the past, childhood innocence, the presence of angels around us, love and the future, but I am sure that you will see many other themes that I have not mentioned.

Some facts about this film...It was begun as Wim Wender's tribute to Berlin. Filmed in 1987 before the fall of The Wall, it was almost entirely unscripted when production began, so the film evolved as it was being created. It is really interesting to see Berlin just before the fall of The Wall. The cinematography is magnificent. Alternating between BW and color, it takes on a dreamlike quality the is no less than stunning. Much dialog in the film is voice-over, adding to the other worldliness of it.

I can give this no less than 5 stars. The photography, editing, script - or lack of it, casting, understated performance, composition all seem to work together with a magical synergy, not to mention the fact that it is absolutely beautiful to watch. This film is a poem - sit back relax, let it settle into you.

Buy, rent, or borrow this film. If you read the reviews and have an inkling that it is for you, then it probably is. Wings of Desire will stay with you for a long time to come.

This film is the best portrayal of the inner monologues of ordinary people as they go through their day-to-day lives. Each of us knows our own thoughts -- often masked by a cheery exterior -- but what are other people really thinking? Two angels who live in Berlin have the ability to listen to what people say to themselves as they go through their daily lives. They can occasionally comfort, but can never physically act to engage people and have little ability to affect the sometimes tragic outcomes. Very few persons have the psychic ability to recognize that the angels are there.

Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander are perfectly cast as angels, and Solveing Dommartin is the beautiful trapeze artist who strikes the right notes of sadness and wistfulness. Peter Falk provides an interesting counterpoint. But the real star of this film is Berlin itself, and it is right that the DVD provides as an "extra" a description of the various places where the movie was made. As the film was made in 1987, the Berlin wall is seen from many angles. There is an amazing scene where the angels go through the Berlin wall (covered with graffiti on one side, barren on the other.)

This is visually the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. What makes this film special is the incredible, dreamlike photography. We see Berlin from all angles. The fact that it is filmed primarily in black and white only adds to the somber, but surreal feeling. Where the film falls down a bit is in the plot, which sometimes lags. But it is impossible to walk away from it without thinking about, and rejoicing in, what makes us human. Given a choice, would we prefer to be angels, who can see all, but cannot act? Or would we choose to be human, and bear the traumas that come with it? This film is definitely worth seeing.

If you don't like long, slowly paced movies steer clear of "Wings of Desire". This is not a film you watch in the conventional sense, looking for plot-relevant action after action. It takes a much more impressionistic approach to its story. In a lesser director's hands the film would simply be rambling, aimless and dreadful, but the end result is anything but. I am hard pressed to think of five films that contain such full-bodied, interesting characters.

The voice-over in the film is beautifully written and interspersed, but it's not voice-over as instructional narration; think of it as a stream-of-conscious device: the characters' thoughts, their observations and ruminations, are heard in the soundtrack as if leaking out unknowingly, allowing the viewer to eavesdrop. This could have easily left the viewer to a type of scientific voyeurism, but far from that it gives the characters a humanity that might not otherwise come out. The V.O. isn't contrived or stilted, it's a sort of semi-realist mental drip with a poetic bent, but it doesn't feel forced at all. It expresses the frustration and isolation of being trapped in ones own head, the seemingly inescapable prison of the intellect and emotions, and on top of that having to contend with the outside world and reconcile yourself with it. This is something better seen than explained.

I talk about this aspect of the film so much because it's symptomatic of the nature of the film: meloncholic and whimsical. But for all of it's meloncholia it never felt bleak or joyless to me; perhaps I was too enamored with the characters and the lyrical cinematography. If this stuff isn't your cup of tea it will seem like a three hour water drip, I suppose. I think to take the angel's predicament seriously is to miss the point of the film, which is to say it has no "point" or lesson at all, but then none of the films I like do have a pedantic bent. This movie is just an extended observation into a collective consciousness, which makes it sound pretentious but it's really anything but. Instead by the film's end I feel a bit uplifted and assured, as if the beauty of inner life did not go by unnoticed or unfelt. I think this a film you must take to on a personal level to really appreciate it

This review is an excerpt from my book “Killer B’s: The 237 Best Movies On Video You’ve (Probably) Never Seen,” which is available as an ebook on the store. If you enjoy this review, there are 236 more like it in the book (plus a whole lot more). Check it out!

WINGS OF DESIRE: Angels walk among us. Innocent children sometimes see them. The angels listen in on our whispered inner monologs, often offering a comforting touch. One among them, Damiel (Ganz), is tired being a disembodied spirit, envying us our ability to touch, to feel, to love. When he becomes enamored of lonely French trapeze artist Marion (Dommartin), he decides to trade an eternity of observation for a few short mortal years of living experience. But first he must locate the missing Marion. Will destiny—or a guardian angel—allow their paths to cross again?

Discussion: Would you trade eternity for love? Renounce immortality for a transient, yet sensory, life? Evidently many angels do, as the lightness of their ethereal existence contrasts with the weight of their burden of separation. They speak, appropriately enough, in a kind of Rilkean poetry, and seeing the world through their eyes, as they pass through a library or a train car, allows us a glimpse of the ineffable sadness and longing that is our condition and their perception.

With his world-weary face and deep, soul-filled eyes, Ganz makes a perfect angel, and a fine human, too, responding with childlike delight to the mundane—colors, coffee, cold—and leaving us with one final question: Is it possible that a mortal life lived in love and wonder can transcend even an angelic existence? A lovely, somber dirge, filled with vivid imagery and a deep appreciation of the fleeting.

FILM COMMENTS
Probably Wim Wenders' most beloved film, "Wings of Desire" is one of those movies that works on a emotional -- rather than intellectual -- level. Interesting, since it's based on the dense -- though lovely -- poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, and sure ain't light on long, ponderous, wordy monologues. What captivates is Henri Alekan's absolutely unparallelled cinematography, and the way Wenders can move from high-minded seriousness to heartbreaking simplicity -- sometimes within a single scene.
The story is spare and simple. There are guardian angels, we learn,walking invisibly among the people of Berlin, spending their time listening to mortals' thoughts and occasionally attempting to make their presence felt in desperate situations (in order to avert a suicide, for instance). One of the angels is growing tired of his eternal, weightless existence. When he falls in love with a human trapeze artist, he decides to become irreversibly mortal to pursue her
This will sound familiar to fans of the U.S. film "City of Angels." That's 'cause "CoA" is based on "Wings." But unlike "CoA," "Wings" is far less concerned with plot (which doesn't fully kick in until the final hour of the film) and far more enthralled by his main character -- the city and people of Berlin.
Henri Alekan's camera literally soars around the city, giving us an angel's-eye view of its places and inhabitants. He races alongside cars. He floats into and out of apartment windows. He hovers around a huge public library, tracking from intent readers, over railings, out into space. He leaps from one side of the Berlin wall to the other (the film was shot in the late eighties, before the wall miraculaously came down). He weaves through the crowd at a nightclub, and becomes tranfixed by gothic balladeer Nick Cave belting out a tune onstage. It's all shot in glorious, almost luminescent black-and-white -- I can't think of a single film that looks even remotely like this.
And meanwhile, thanks to Wenders' conceit by which angels hear thoughts, we can listen in on the intimate musings of random passerby. A family man curses women as his wife punches him hysterically in the arm. A guy on a train mourns the emptiness of his life... then suddenly experiences a wave of hope as an angel touches his shoulder. Actor Peter Falk (playing himself, wonderfully) wonders if he can get a good plate of pasta in Germany.
It's these beautifully photographed "eavesdropping" moments, and the delight the angels take at the small, strange pleasures of mortalness (one angel yearns to feel what it's like to wiggle one's toes) that connect so powerfully with audiences.
In between, however, there's a lot -- a LOT -- of talk. Most of it reverberates poetically, and even the most impenetrable monologues are helped along by Alekan'sphotography. But occasionally, the film stumbles from poeticism into pretension. This is a movie where, just before a climactic, long-delayed kiss, a character has to pause to deliver a solioquy about lonliness. SHUT UP AND KISS, you know?!
Ultimately, though, this is a great film to throw on when you've grown tired of the standard cynical, noisy Hollywood film, and are ready to reflect quietly on something truly beautiful.
DVD COMMENTS
This "special edition" DVD has plenty of fine extras -- including deleted scenes (at least one of which really would have improved the orginal cut of the film) and an interview documentary in which Wenders, writer Peter Handke and others discuss the unorthodox way the film was put together (no script!).
But unfortunately, someone decided the movie itself needed new English subtitles, AND THEY ARE AWFUL -- overly literal, not to mention a grammatical nightmare. Which makes the film's already difficult, poetic language even harder to grasp. What's weird is that the aforementioned documentary features clips from the movie, and those clips feature the OLD, BETTER subtitles!
I don't know if the previous DVD release of "Wings" features the original celluloid release's subtitles, but if it does -- and you have the cash -- I'd recommend getting this version for the extras, and the old version for simple language comprehension.

More appropriately titled Skies over Berlin, Wim Wender has created an elegy to the once divided city, as seen from the point of view of two angels. It is a beautiful film, so rich in imagery and so evocatively told. Wenders has never been able to quite match it in later works, although the theme continues to haunt him. One of the angels follows the troubled life of a trapeze artist as she contemplates her death. The film moves effortlessly between color and b&w as the view shifts from the angels' perspectives to that of the trapeze artist. Peter Falk gives a memorable performance as "Columbo," but it is Bruno Ganz' haunting performance that will remain in your mind for years to come. He captures all the empathy of the descending angel, searching out the trapeze artist now that he decides to live his life on earth. The sequel to this film, Far Away, So Close, provides a light hearted counterpoint to Wings of Desire.

What an absolutely haunting delight. With its introspective pacing, which some may find slower than their cinematic taste allows, the film takes its own sweet time setting things up but it is one of the most mind-boggling romantic tropes you will see in cinema.
In the end it's not just about requited loves and hopes, it also carries a heady undercurrent of other notions: displacement and the natural yearning for emotional connections that transcends humans; the unification of a divided Germany and of a divided race; and, probably above all, about the universality of cinema and its ability to allow people to live multiple lives (from multiple cultures) at the movies.
When I first saw this, I thought the film's fatal flaw was its anti-climactic conclusion. Now I realise that it may be the best part of my favourite film of all time.
One caution to buyers about the DVD. Many bits of the film are in German, but my DVD had no subtitles. All the gorgeous imagery (in noir-ish black and white) was thus somewhat frittered away.
But it surely did make me want to see what Berlin must really be like. If you like your movies laid-back and reflective, this comes highly recommended from me.

Though some can argue about Paris, Texas or the likes of Faraway, So Close!, I believe this to be Wim Wenders' best film.

It serves as not only a poem of romance, but as one for life and love of the city of Berlin. The plot follows a lonely angel who falls in love and wishes for life, even knowing all the hardships and heartbreaks that are included.

Wenders paints a beautiful picture with the words and actions of the characters. A truly uplifting film.

The DVD includes a Wenders commentary, deleted scenes with commentary, a documentary and trailers.

One of the best movies of all time.

Must See.

Contemplation can be a reflection of now while in the now someone might reflect on the past, as the past and now will later help further pondering for the future. Powerful is the mind when past experiences help guide the person in the now while the now turns into the past providing new experiences for the individual. The now offers many unique experiences for individuals who pay attention to the small things in life such as a look, a nice comment, warm hands in pockets, and the smell of coffee among endless numbers of other experiences. Uniqueness is discovered through senses in the moment, as they help provide an emotional value to each experience. Previous experiences help guide the individual through feelings and rational thought. If it is a new experience then this experience will acclimate with previous experiences, which will help in future contemplation. Human thoughts are sometimes eased into motion by feelings inhabiting the mind derived from previous experiences, while current events bring new experiences that propel the emotional state in a direction, maybe, based on previous experiences. In essence, this is metacognition - a thinking of thinking.

Wim Wenders' film Wings of Desire takes place in Berlin during the mid-80s where the audience can experience angels that exist in the world of mankind, but not on the physical plane of mankind. These angels exist in a world illustrated in black and white where they drift around while listening to human's thoughts while looking at them. Through a conversation between two angels the audience learns that they have been on the earth since the beginning of the world, as they function as observers for the higher power. Freely the angels drift through the divided city of Berlin, which was divided into east and west. Standing on high locations the angels view the city from above while descending on random people in order to watch and listen. Occasionally, the angels find a lost soul that seems to have drifted astray in their thoughts, which frequently is colored with darkness and a sense of lost hope. However, the angels seem to have the power to help restore the hope and desire to live through a simple touch, yet they are not always successful.

The film slowly wanders in multiple directions, as the audience is allowed to follow two angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander). These two angels drift through a wide range of thoughts and characters. Wender's direction creates an atmosphere similar to being at big party where a large number of guests are deeply engaged in personal monologues where the audience can walk by anyone while tuning in and out from different monologues whenever they desire. Some of these characters in the film that the audience overhears are a man who recently lost his mother that does not feel grief, an underage prostitute that is worried about being discovered, parents being troubled by their son's music interest, and a woman giving birth. This kaleidoscope of thoughts provides a fragmented depiction of the thought, as it only allows the audience to see a small part of the thought. However, the film is interested in the source of where the thought begins, which is suggested in the opening scene when the hand writes in German and the narrator says, "When the child was a child I did not know it was a child."

Most of the time Wings of Desire misleads the audience through a number of interesting scenes and thoughts that are depicted through the many characters. One of changing moments in the film comes when Damiel listens and watches a trapeze artist in her mobile home when she is in deep thought. She first asks herself "How should I live?" to which she counters to herself by thinking that it might be the wrong question to ask. The question that changes the tone of the film is her second question, "How should I think?" When Damiel hears this, curiosity seems to grow within him, as he leans closer to her. She discloses how the world around her influences her thinking and she must close the eyes behind the eyes to truly be able to think.

Another sequence that pushes the story along is when Damiel intends to listen to Peter Falk, the real actor, who directly talks to him. Initially, Damiel is astounded, but it ebbs out while Peter Falk tells him how good it is to feel things such as rubbing the hands together and feeling the warmth, being able to taste coffee and cigarettes, and to share the moment. This moment seems to urge Damiel to seek what he cannot experience - feeling.

Wender does a brilliant job depicting the scene when Damiel turns into human, as Damiel reveals to Cassiel that he wants to experience the feeling of a bath and shave while being massaged. Color is coming to Damiel's face and they discover that he has left footsteps in the sand where mines have been concealed, which is followed by him passing out. Cassiel recognizes the danger and brings him to the Westside of Berlin where he is allowed to experience these feelings. When Damiel awakens the world is no longer black, white, or gray. Berlin has now colors, as Damiel begins to take his first steps as a naïve adult. Daniel seeks out Peter Falk who informs him that he must learn through his own experiences.

Cinematography is brilliant in this film, which helps to develop some of the film's symbolism. The method of using color for a human vision while using black and white for angels' sight adds more expressiveness to the film. Imponderably the camera flows through windows and rooms while illustrating how the angels drift from place to place.

Ultimately, Wings of Desire offers complex symbolism in a cerebral journey that opens and ends where thought begins. Hopefully, many see this wonderful story. The story's diverging and fragmented storyline is essential for the audience to participate in the film, as it otherwise would be too easy to come to the end. It should be a struggle to see this film. Wisdom is not acquired the way knowledge is acquired, but more through how one applies knowledge. The film is only a beginning for a life long journey full of experiences and thoughts colored by feelings, which eventually leads to wisdom.

In director Wim Wenders' universe, we are all observed by silent, eternal angels who are invisible to all but children. They wander through the world like ghosts, privy to our thoughts but unable to participate in the world. The first two thirds or so of this film shows us what this existence is like. There is virtually no plot; rather, we are treated to evocative visuals while the thoughts of various Berliners unfold on the soundtrack--sometimes they are intriguing non sequiturs and sometimes fascinating philosophical questions. This is the strongest part of the film. When the angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz) assumes mortality out of love for a beautiful trapeze artist, the ensuing romance seems rather abrupt and unconvincing. To be continued...

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2
The world's three great religions incorporate angels as real, created entities, messengers between the world of mortals and God. And movies about angels, both good and bad, will always be messengers of film entertainment.
Wim Wenders' 1988 WINGS OF DESIRE Special Edition arrives on DVD with a making-of documentary, extensive interviews, over 30 minutes of deleted footage and a commentary from Wenders. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) is a lonely angel. He roams the streets of Berlin and provides comfort to needy humans. But when he is drawn into the life of a sad-eyed trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin), he experiences love for the first time and does everything in his power to be seen, heard and felt by her. Jeopardizing his divine position, he must decide: give up love or lose his wings forever.

Imagine a two hour dream. Imagine hearing the unspoken fears and hopes of ordinary people as they make their way through life. The good and the bad. The simple joy of living. This is what Mr. Wenders captures on the big screen. Shot in black-and-white for the first hour and a half, but switching to vivid color for the ending . . . when Damiel, the central angel, falls to live an ordinary life of pain and, finally, bliss . . . when he finds his angel. Make no mistake, this is a masterpiece. The dignity of man is found is the simple hum drum existance of bleeding, thinking, loving. There are angels over the streets of Berlin.

Several of the other reviews do an accurate job of describing the film, although be forewarned that some of the suspense (to the degree there is much) will be ruined by reading them. A few additional points I believe are worth adding. First, the Rilke poem at the beginning is striking and wonderful and the opening montage does a wonderful job of conveying the message of the common bonds of humanity in all of us. That message is emphasized by the clever mechanism of allowing children to see angels, when adults can't. Second, the DVD extras are really pretty good and do add to the quality of the product. This is a cult film and those who love the film will love the extras. Nice long interviews including with Peter Falk, both of the main angels, who it turns out are good friends who have worked together for years, and most of all an interview with Wim Wenders who describes the process of putting the movie together. The process borders on anarchy and it's amazing to hear how this process came together. It's also clear how much Berlin means to Wenders and that while the movie on one level is about universal themes such as the humanity in all of us and how truly wonderful it is to be alive, that at another level it is a poem in praise of Berlin. Definitely worth a look.

This movie is my all time favorite. A great story with beautiful filming. I have never been disappointed by any of Wim Wenders films. Bruno Ganz has a stellar performance in this excellent film of angels over Berlin. Definitely good for anyone looking to get into German movies, or just for anyone who wants to see how a real movie is made.(Don't see the awful hollywood spin off of this movie, City of Angels. The lighting and camera work in this movie is incredible to the point of perfection. The raw emotion you feel for the angels in this movie is astounding. Definitely a must see.

This movie (Wings of Desire) is about hope. Hope after war and hope that even angels wish to feel and have the desires that mere mortals experience. The imagination that Wim Wenders shows us is extraordinary. Angels on earth and Peter Falk involved in the mix: I laughed out loud when I understood that twist.
Without saying too much, the story makes you want to believe it all and with hope. To top it all off is the fabulous music including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds who are also an integral part of the story line.
This movie works on so many levels and I highly recommend it.

This movie may be worth five stars. Maybe three. I can't decide, so split my indecision and call it four. I'm pretty sure this is one of those films that I'll never forget, like Ran, or Russian Ark, or The Draughtsman's Contract, or Koyaanisqatsi -- but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is great. I can't help but resist being pushed into accepting the film's self-importance. Wenders tries too hard to be great here; if he has succeeded, I don't want to admit it.

Wings of desire tells a moving and meaningful story, one in accord with my own world-view. That story takes about ten minutes to tell. The movie is about two hours and ten minutes long; so what happens in the extra two hours? Stunning, beautiful, and disturbing views of Berlin -- a city draped in a black overcoat. Scenes of brooding angels (all acquainted with Duerer's "Melencolia"). Listening in to the absurdly profound thoughts of the common Volk. A nifty, symbolic love story. The story-telling grandpa from Rob Reiner's Princess Bride shows up, too, and even before he became famous for that role (angels can do that). Hilariously dated stage antics by a rock singer. Very brief view of white wings ("Columbo" does mean "dove"). That's it, mostly. A circus packs up and goes away. An oath of love, the verbiage of which would choke Immanuel Kant.

If you want to know what it's like to watch this movie, and if you already own City of Angels, then you should go to Home Depot and buy yourself a two-by-four, have them cut it to about 30 inches long; paint the letters A, R, T on it, in bold yet subtly understated black, then turn your television screen's saturation setting to minimum and watch City of Angels while a friend or spouse beats you over the head with the board. Instruct your partner to keep striking until you admit that it IS a great movie.

This is a great film. It has a glorious theme. It is extremely compelling to watch, and beautiful in its simultaneously starkly gritty and dreamlike way. I could not stop watching, right to the end. There are several really memorable scenes: the angels congregating in the library; the angel marvelling at the colors of graffiti on the Wall; the angel declining to shake Peter Falk's hand. But still -- if this film is really what human life is like, I think I'd rather be an eternally dreary angel and watch it from the outside.

To experience how a similar theme (starring a god instead of an angel) can be presented simply, briefly, elegantly, and with a light hand, go to your library's children's section and check out the picture book Temple Cat, by Andrew Clements and Kate Kiesler. That's what life is really like.

I first watched "Wings of Desire" four years ago, while taking a German cinema class in college. Most of the films we watched were thoroughly depressing ("The Marriage of Maria Braun", sorry, all you Fassbinder fans) or outright demented ("The Tin Drum". 'nuff said). Then we watched "Wings...". Have you ever had an experience where something you watch changes you, somehow? Sure, some of the speeches are a bit long-winded, and sometimes you're not quite sure why the characters do what they do (or, you're not sure what they're doing, period), but the overall tone of this movie is absolutely gorgeous in its celebration of the human experience. Humans are portrayed as messy and complex, from the down-and-out guy on the train to the woman about to give birth to the young prostitute on the corner...but hey, we ARE messy and complex. Deal with it. The angels, despite their ability to bring quiet comfort to those they interact with, are invisible to all but children who, with their predilection for magical thinking, not only see them but accept them without question. I love the sense of longing Bruno Ganz (Damiel) brings to the screen--he simply wants to enjoy all the things we take for granted, even if it's eating an apple or having newsprint on his fingers after reading the paper. Never before have I seen a movie that made me appreciate the small things that being human entails, and I've not seen anything since that has spurred me on to such personal fits of philosophy. Shame on Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage for getting involved with the shabby Hollywood remake! (Plus, "Wings..." has the absolutely brilliant Peter Falk in it. How groovy can one movie get?) Bruno is my hero, Otto Sander is steadfast in his quiet observance, and Solveig Dommartin is perfect as the woman drifting, alone, aware of her power while looking for something she can't quite describe. All in all, it's a delicious movie, one I will watch time and again to uncover the subtleties I've missed previously.

Angel sees a cute trapeze artist, gets tired of being a spectator and decides to become a participant. That pretty much sums up the plot. Wasn't that easy? Explaining exactly what this movie actually is about is a tad more challenging. It is mesmerizing, it is frustrating, and it seems much much longer than it actually is. It drives me crazy watching it, but every few years I am drawn back to it, just to see if I can mine a few more nuggets from it. Then it drives me crazy all over again.

It drives a lot of other people crazy, and bores them as well. As a viewer, one drifts along through the movie, waiting for something to observe something actually happening. It's not far removed from what the angels are experiencing. Perhaps the movie is intended to help us understand what these immortal angels are going through. Lucky us --- unlike Damiel & Cassiel, we get to write the store reviews and vent our frustrations.