Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire
Name	Wings of Desire
Caption	Theatrical release poster
Director	Wim Wenders
Producer	Wim Wenders, Anatole Dauman
Writer	Wim Wenders, Peter Handke
Starring	Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk
Music	Jürgen Knieper
Cinematography	Henri Alekan
Editing	Peter Przygodda
Studio	Road Movies Filmproduktion, Argos Films
Distributor	Basis-Film-Verleih (West Germany), Orion Classics (United States)
Released	1987, 05, 17, Cannes, 1987, 09, 23, West Germany, 1988, 04, 29, United States
Runtime	128 minutes
Country	West Germany, France
Language	German, English, French, Turkish, Hebrew
Budget	5 million DM

Wings of Desire is a 1987 West German-French romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders and co-written with Peter Handke. The film is set in Berlin during the Cold War and follows two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, who invisibly observe the city's inhabitants, listening to their thoughts and offering comfort. The narrative explores themes of existence, mortality, and human connection, culminating in Damiel's decision to renounce his immortality to experience life as a human. It is celebrated for its poetic narrative, philosophical depth, and distinctive visual style, blending black-and-white cinematography with moments of color.

Plot

The story unfolds in a divided Berlin, where the angels Damiel and Cassiel wander unseen, listening to the inner thoughts of the city's diverse populace, from a dying man at the Berlin State Library to a pregnant woman on the U-Bahn. Damiel becomes increasingly fascinated by the tangible world, a longing intensified when he encounters a lonely trapeze artist, Marion, performing at a circus near the Berlin Wall. His desire to experience human sensation—from the taste of coffee to the feeling of pain—grows, a sentiment echoed by the actor Peter Falk, playing himself, who is revealed to be a former angel. After witnessing human struggles and joys, Damiel chooses to fall to Earth, becoming mortal. He finds Marion at the Lindy Hop bar Die Weltzeituhr, and their meeting suggests a hopeful, shared future built on love and embodied experience.

Cast

* Bruno Ganz as Damiel, an angel who yearns for human life. * Solveig Dommartin as Marion, a French trapeze artist working in a Berlin circus. * Otto Sander as Cassiel, Damiel's fellow angel, who observes with melancholic detachment. * Curt Bois as Homer, an elderly poet searching for a place of peace in the modern city. * Peter Falk as himself, an American actor filming a movie in Berlin who senses the angels' presence. * Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds appear as themselves, performing at a concert in West Berlin.

Production

The film was conceived by director Wim Wenders and author Peter Handke, drawing inspiration from the celestial figures in Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies and the atmospheric paintings of Walter Spies. Principal photography took place in various iconic and mundane locations across Berlin, including the Berlin Victory Column, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and the then-abandoned Anhalter Bahnhof. Cinematographer Henri Alekan, known for his work on Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête, employed a distinctive visual strategy: the angels' perspective is filmed in shimmering black-and-white, while the human world bursts into color when experienced subjectively. The score by Jürgen Knieper and the inclusion of music by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Crime & the City Solution are integral to the film's haunting texture.

Themes and analysis

The film is a profound meditation on the dichotomy between the eternal and the ephemeral, exploring the angelic state of pure observation versus the messy, sensory richness of human life. Central themes include the redemptive power of love, the weight of history—particularly German history and the Holocaust as sensed by the angels—and the search for narrative and connection in a fractured world. The setting of Berlin, a city physically and ideologically divided by the Berlin Wall, serves as a powerful metaphor for spiritual and emotional separation. The angels' inability to interact physically symbolizes a state of compassionate paralysis, while Damiel's "fall" is portrayed not as a loss but as a gain into the realms of choice, memory, and mortality, celebrated in the film's closing lines from Peter Handke's poem "Song of Childhood."

Reception

Upon its premiere at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, where Wim Wenders won the award for Best Director, the film was met with widespread critical acclaim. It was praised for its ambition, visual poetry, and philosophical heft, with particular commendation for the performances of Bruno Ganz and Solveig Dommartin, the cinematography of Henri Alekan, and the contemplative screenplay. It won several prestigious awards, including the Bavarian Film Award for Best Direction and the European Film Award for Best Cinematographer. While a major success in Europe, its American release through Orion Classics found a dedicated arthouse audience, cementing its status as a landmark of New German Cinema.

Legacy

The film is regarded as a masterpiece of European cinema and a defining work of Wim Wenders's career. Its direct influence is seen in the 1998 Hollywood remake City of Angels, starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, which transposed the story to Los Angeles. The film's imagery and themes have resonated deeply in popular culture, referenced in music videos, literature, and other films. It is frequently studied in film courses for its narrative structure, philosophical inquiries, and its evocative portrait of Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The character of Damiel, portrayed by Bruno Ganz, remains an iconic figure in film history, embodying a universal longing for connection and the courage to embrace the human condition.

Category:1987 films Category:West German films Category:French films Category:German-language films Category:Romantic fantasy films