Wings Of Desire
1987
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One of the angels wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist. Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the transformation by explaining the simple .. Read more
| Starring | Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin, Curt Bois |
|---|---|
| Director | Wim Wenders |
| Genres | Documentary, Drama |
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Wings Of Desire
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One of the angels wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist. Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the transformation by explaining the simple joys of a human experience, such as the sublime combination of coffee and cigarettes. Simultaneously sentimental and cerebral.
| Starring | Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin, Curt Bois, Otto Sander, Nastassja Kiniski, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Udo Kier, Ronee Blakley, Lisa Kreuzer, Dean Stockwell, Rudiger Vogler, Hans Christian Blech |
|---|---|
| Director | Wim Wenders |
| Studio | ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 2 mins Blu-ray: 2 hrs 2 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Documentary, Drama |
| Language | DVD: German Blu-ray: German |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 14 Jul 2008 Blu-ray: 22 Feb 2010 Production year: 1987 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Mystic style matters more than emotional substance in a fable from German director Wim Wenders about two angels visiting present-day Berlin and encountering the past — and love. One angel (Bruno Ganz) decides he wants to be human because he's fallen for a circus performer (Solvieg Dommartin) but passing through from the other side is more difficult than it seems. TV actor Peter Falk wanders into the action as aimlessly as the progress of the plot which, even though it's magnificently photographed, never gets airborne as an idea about ongoing reality.
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"...[WINGS OF DESIRE] has a loveliness of conception that, for a time, keeps it as feathery as an angel's wings....Wender's mpst ambitous effort yet, and [it] certainly radiates immense promise..."
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Most helpful member's review
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27 out of 31 people found this review helpful
pretentious, moi ?
I love Wim Wenders, and Paris Texas still stands as a classic European view of American society's interesting underbelly.
I watched Wings of Desire last in 1987 when it first came out and thought it was a work of genius - deep, philosophical, meaningful, well photographed, etc etc.
I watched it again last night and found it still interesting - but for other reasons. The Berlin Wall features a lot in the movie, representing a physical barrier not unlike the barrier between the spiritual and material worlds represented by the angels and humans. I never really noticed that before.
Also there's a strong sense of the mid 80's German Zeitgeist - lots of existential angst, guilt about the war, confusion as to their identity as a nation split in half by the wall.
The musical interludes which were avant garde at the time look and sound frankly loopy now (what were we thinking back then ?)
There are some lovely, subtle ideas in this movie, but it's about 40 minutes too long - there's so much ethereal deep and meaningless monologue you just feel like saying ok,ok now get on with it.
Peter Falk brings a sense of reality and much needed humour to an effort which without him was in serious danger of disappearing up itself.
What I used to think was profound in this now looks dated and somewhat pretentious (like most of Peter Greenaway's work). This movie is hard work - however a definite German art house classic. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Highbrow, arthouse, poetic
A real 1980's European arthouse piece.
Angel's witness and testify events all around them in Berlin; though they appear to focus on quite eclectic events (eg 'a man walking in the rain folds up his umbrella and continues to walk'. You see nice black and white shots while this kind of poetry flows past.
The actual story is that the main angel in the story wishes to give up eternity watching event and to become mortal and take part.
Peter Falk is great as Peter Falk the former angel.
Nick Cave is great as Nick Cave playing a gig (with The Bad Seeds) in one scene (2 full songs), -
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Wings Of Desire - BLU-RAY Version
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One of the angels wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist. Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the ...
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Wings Of Desire
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One of the angels wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist. Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the ...
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