Wings of Desire (1987)
"Der Himmel über Berlin" (original title)

An angel tires of overseeing human activity and wishes to become human when he falls in love with a mortal.

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Wim Wenders, Peter Handke (screenplay),

Stars:

Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 18 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruno Ganz	...	Damiel
Solveig Dommartin	...	Marion
Otto Sander	...	Cassiel
Curt Bois	...	Homer
Peter Falk	...	Der Filmstar
Hans Martin Stier	...	In weiteren Rollen - Der Sterbende
Elmar Wilms	...	In weiteren Rollen - Ein trauriger Mann
Sigurd Rachman	...	In weiteren Rollen - Der Selbstmörder
Beatrice Manowski	...	In weiteren Rollen - Das Strichmädchen
Lajos Kovács	...	Im Zirkus - Marion's Trainer
Bruno Rosaz	...	Im Zirkus - Der Clown
Laurent Petitgand	...	Im Zirkus - Der Kapellmeister
Chick Ortega	...	Im Zirkus - Der Schlagzeuger (as Chico Rojo Ortega)
Otto Kuhnle	...	Im Zirkus - Die Jongleure
Christoph Merg	...	Im Zirkus - Der Jongleure

Storyline

This Wim Wenders film centers around the story of two angels wandering in a mixture of post-war and modern Berlin. Invisible to humans, they nevertheless give their help and comfort to all the lonely and depressed souls they meet. Finally, after many centuries, one of the angels becomes unhappy with his immortal state and wishes to become human in order to experience the joys of everyday life. He meets a circus acrobat and finds in her the fufillment of all his mortal desires. He also discovers that he is not alone in making this cross over, and that a purely spiritual experience is not enough to satisfy anyone.

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Plot Keywords:

angel | circus | desire | love | flashback | 

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Taglines:

There are angels on the streets of Berlin.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

German English French Turkish Hebrew Spanish Japanese

Release Date:

6 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Sky Above Berlin

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Gross:

$3,806,540 (USA) (18 September 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Road Movies Filmproduktion, Argos Films, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Black and White (partly)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Otto Sander is shown riding a bus looking morose, with his head in his hands, was shot that way because the actor had developed a large bald spot on the day of shooting and makeup couldn't hide it.

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Goofs

The position of the trapeze artists' arms change after Bruno stands in her trailer.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[in German, using English subtitles]
Damiel: [voiceover] When the child was a child, it walked with its arms swinging. It wanted the stream to be a river, the river a torrent, and this puddle to be the sea. When the child was a child, it didn't know it was a child. Everything was full of life, and all life was one. When the child was a child, it had no opinion about anything, no habits. It often sat cross-legged, took off running, had a cowlick in its hair, and didn't make faces when ...

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Crazy Credits

Dedicated to all the former angels, but especially to Yasujiro, François and Andrej.

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Connections

Referenced in The Debridement of Rome (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Zirkusmusik"
by Laurent Petitgand

User Reviews

lyrical and haunting work of art

Two angels named Damiel and Cassiel are onlookers on the lives of people in Berlin. Damiel longs to become human mainly because of a trapeze artist he has become drawn to. Both dote on how the world would look if they could see it with color, feel of things, and breathe air. The angels in Wim Wender's "Wings Of Desire" are separated by the rest of the world and see this world in black and white. They look upon the many sad happenings that occur, how people go about their daily lives. The angels take notes and share lifelong memories of people they have looked upon over the years. They can hear people's thoughts and how they feel about their lives. Damiel is the one the movie focuses on more. Cassiel understands Damiel's desire, but doesn't long for humanity iname way. The film isn't coy about the fact that being an angel could be quite lonely and sort of exasperating. The film's dialogue(mostly thought)from the people across Berlin are more lyrical. It's as if their thoughts are a daily constant of Shakespeare..a long tragedy of loneliness among other emotional longings. The trapeze artist, Marion, is quite a thinker and always feels as if someone has always been their to guide her through the paths of life. Peter Falk(Yep, Columbo)appears as himself playing in a film in Berlin. Many address him as that famous detective. He, like the children, can sense the Angels' presense around him..and there's quite an interesting reason why he can. The film is very pondering and haunting. Life is quite bleak. Berlin is a fascinating setting for a film like this. We often see what history has done to Berlin..the scars show such devastation, yet this brings an element that reaches out to you. We see that life goes on around the ruin..the devastation. The angels have seen that ruin first hand. The film has Cassiel following an old dying Jew. There's a particular scene I love which has the old man walking down ruined streets. He says to himself,"This can't be Potsdamer Platz." He continues to walk and remember the places that use to exist where only ruin reveals. This scene, among so many, define the film's elegant melancholy. The film really is an unforgettable gem. Towards the end, our angel Damiel makes a decision to accept a life as a human. This adds to the film's overall dilemma. I asked myself,"Are we taking things like smelling coffee, touching an apple, or simply watching the rain as it slides from a gutter for granted." The opportunities to exist and live should be appreciated somewhat. What if we are on the otherside of the spectrum? What if we had to look at others living and breathing and smelling? *****/*****