Review #201: 'Wings of Desire' (1987)

In West Berlin, still surrounded by the Berlin Wall, angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) spend their time observing human life and comforting those in need of it. They compare their observations, and marvel at the joys, quirks and special moments that are experienced by humans. When Damiel overlooks lonely trapeze artist Marion (Solveig Dommartin), he falls in love, and the desire to leave his observational duties behind overwhelms him, and he ponders the idea of 'taking the plunge' and becoming re-born himself. He and Cassiel have also taken a special interest in visiting actor Peter Falk (playing himself) who is in town to shoot a World War II movie.

The opening half an hour of this film is simply one of the most beautiful openings to a film I've ever seen. It is incoherent, and drifts seemingly randomly from person to person, as we hear their inner thoughts and experiences. Damiel and Cassiel drift around a busy library that is full of fellow angels comforting those studying and seeking answers. Even those in distress seem to please Damiel, as it is one of the things that makes us human. His life so far has been full of mere observation, and he longs for pain, worry, or fear, or something that will finally allow him to actually feel something. As much as this film is about humanity, it is equally about war.

As Damiel and Cassiel walks the streets of the still war-scarred Berlin, they discuss how they witnessed the First Days. They saw the first river reach it's shore, and the very first animals appear. They talk about they both laughed when the first human appeared, being born in their image, and opening it's mouth to say its first word. Was it 'oh' or 'ah', they try to recall. But then they stopped laughing when the humans discovered war. The Berlin in Wings of Desire is still full of rubble and half-destroyed buildings, and the inhabitants are still very much effected by the war. Cassiel takes a special interest in an old man named Homer, who is looking for Potsdamer Platz. Laid to waste during war and still lying desolate, the man only finds a chair in a field and graffiti-stained walls. He wishes for an 'epic of peace'.

But as well as portraying the dark side of humanity, it also celebrates the best of it. When Damiel comes across Peter Falk at a coffee stand, Falk feels his presence. He talks about how when he is cold, he rubs his hands together to warm up, and how good it feels. Damiel watches him in awe, and longs for the taste of coffee and a cigarette. When Damiel finally takes the plunge, the film turns from beautiful sepia monochrome into fully-realised colour. It's the same effect done in A Matter of Life and Death (1946). It's a simple yet beautiful statement about how we can miss the things that are right in front of us, if we fail to just open our eyes.

It's a sentimental film that if anybody else's hands may have come across as patronising or whimsical. But Wenders directs with such as beauty and a poetry that it never feels preachy. He focuses on the basic human emotions and dissects them in such a complex way that is rarely seen in cinema - he also did a similar thing with his powerful Paris, Texas (1984). An absolutely wonderful film that is truly one of the most moving and beautiful I've ever seen, and a true and a honest depiction of the human spirit.


Directed by: Wim Wenders
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk
Country: West Germany/France

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie