Wings of Desire (1987)

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 (screenplay by), Peter Handke (screenplay by)

Stars:

Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 19 wins & 13 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

Visible only to those like them and to human children, Damiel and Cassiel are two angels, who have existed even before humankind. Along with several other angels, they currently wander around West Berlin, generally on their own, observing and preserving life, sometimes trying to provide comfort to the troubled, although those efforts are not always successful. Among those they are currently observing are: the cast and crew of a movie - a detective story set in WWII Nazi Germany - which include a sensitive and perceptive Peter Falk; an elderly man named Homer looking for eternal peace; and the troupe of a financially failing circus, which has closed early for the season because of those financial problems. One day, Damiel tells Cassiel that he wants to become human, to feel not only the sensory aspects of physical beings, but also emotional aspects. He embarks on this thought with the full realization that there is no turning back if he decides to do so. His thoughts are largely ...

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | library | inner monologue | mortality | film set | 

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Taglines:

There are angels on the streets of Berlin.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The poem recited throughout movie is "Lied Vom Kindsein (Song of Childhood)" by Peter Handke.

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Goofs

The end credits that list who played the angels in the library has them credited as "The Angles".

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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

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.24 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Les Filles du Calvaire
by Laurent Petitgand

User Reviews

A Poet re-discovers life, love and beauty

It's amazing that any non-German speakers can even appreciate this movie. True the basic story is universal and beautiful, but it's Peter Handke's poetry that makes it breathtaking. Wenders had done other Handke works in film - Alice in the Cities, The Lefthanded Woman, The Goalie's fear of the Penalty- but this one is very different.

This movie is about giving up the ethereal life of the observer and actually living it. Handke had lived as a hermit after his wife's suicide and raised their child alone for 10 years - claiming all he needs of a woman is a good prostitute every so often. This movie script marks his turn to the pure love of life that this dreary Goth never really displayed, even in his youthful writings. It's the wonder of the child within discovering life in all it's beauty -- in even the most mundane and everyday things.

************ PLOT SPOILER ALERT ***********

The job the angels that nobody seems to have noted here is this: They can exist in all times flowing through one spot (Berlin) and must record instances of Humans

expressing "Spirit".

A damned rare thing, it's true, but they must record it whenever they can.

Hollywood chose to leave that notion completely out of that horrible Nicolas Cage/Meg Ryan "Vehicle" remake.

(Worth it for the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Mick Harvey's Crime and the City Solution alone)

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:

Cinema Paris - Kurfürstendamm 211, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,301, 1 May 1988

Gross USA:

$3,333,969

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,404,057

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color Black and White (partly)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1