Faraway, So Close! (1993)

A group of angels in the German capital look longingly upon the life of humans.

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Wim Wenders (script by), Ulrich Zieger (script by)

Stars:

Otto Sander, Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Otto Sander	...	Cassiel
Peter Falk	...	Peter Falk
Horst Buchholz	...	Tony Baker
Mikhail Gorbachev	...	Mikhail Gorbachev (as Michail S. Gorbatschow)
Nastassja Kinski	...	Raphaela
Heinz Rühmann	...	Konrad
Bruno Ganz	...	Damiel
Solveig Dommartin	...	Marion
Rüdiger Vogler	...	Phillip Winter
Lou Reed	...	Lou Reed
Willem Dafoe	...	Emit Flesti
Monika Hansen	...	Hanna / Gertrud Becker
Günter Meisner	...	Fälscher
Ronald Nitschke	...	Patzke
Hanns Zischler	...	Dr. Becker

Storyline

A group of angels in the German capital look longingly upon the life of humans.

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Plot Keywords:

angel | afterlife | 1990s | berlin germany | germany | 

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Taglines:

Your favorite Angels are back!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German French English Italian Russian

Release Date:

21 December 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Faraway, So Close!

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$10,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$810,455

Company Credits

Production Co:

Road Movies Filmproduktion,Tobis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mikhail Gorbachev only appears because his secretary was familiar with the movies of Wim Wenders and was a great admirer. She talked Gorbachev into giving up a couple of hours to do the cameo as he was on a trip to Germany anyway.

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Goofs

When Karl is lighting the old film to use it as a fuse (simulating old nitrate film which is highly flammable and known to self ignite) you can see the line of gun or flash powder underneath the film when it moves.

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Quotes

Cassiel: Why can't I be good? Why can't I act like a man? Why can't I act like other men can?
Lou Reed: If I knew, I would tell you. Hang in there.

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Crazy Credits

The film is dedicated to actor Curt Bois who worked with Wim Wenders in "Der Himmel über Berlin".

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Connections

Referenced in Begleiter (2006)

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Soundtracks

Berlin
Written and Performed by Lou Reed

User Reviews

comedy about the strange world of humans

It's difficult to make a sequel as good as the original. If it's done in the same style, it becomes a poor shadow. Here, Wim Wenders has made something different than in "Wings of Desire:" what I consider a comedy of a misfit ex-angel, to counter the desire of an angel to become human in the other film.

Near the end of the other movie, we saw one of the angels, Damiel, become human for the love of a beautiful trapeze artist. In this film, we see the other angel, Cassiel, become human by accident as he wanted to help people. As much as he wanted to fit in with our world, the more he tried to do good, the worse trouble actually made of things. He often quotes the Lou Reed song he heard: "Why can't I be good, make something of this life?"

There is a cameo appearance of a world leader, when Mikhail Gorbachev (filmed the summer after resigning as Soviet president) ponders the age-old question about the meaning and purpose of life; or two leaders if counting that the guard dog's name is Khadafy. There are jokes about getting lost between East and West, since the Wall no longer was there as a landmark. But there is the serious side at the beginning, of the war and the Nazi past, which is a little hard to follow. I almost forgot about it as I got caught up in the humor of the fallen angel, but even that had the darker side of an evil angel who was leading him astray. Yet the ending tied everything together nicely.

Like "Wings of Desire," there are nice transitions between black and white, which is how the angels see the world, and color, for how humans see things. There is also a poem started at the beginning, about humans being everything to the angels, when Cassiel looks down from the statue to "you whom we love." The angels are just the "messengers who bring light to those in darkness." The poem is repeated at the ending, adding that the message is love.

The angels lament that humans can only believe what they can see and touch. The Wall fell, the tangible symbol of the division between East and West, yet still one driver whose thoughts we heard couldn't see what the difference was between the two areas; freedom can't be seen or touched. Love, the angels message, can be neither seen nor touched, yet that, and not "blood and steel" (as said the Russian poet and diplomat that Gorbachev quotes), is what is needed for there to be peace.