Wings of Desire15A128 min
Synopsis
Wings of Desire tells the story of two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, who observe the people of Berlin. Damiel, however, begins to wonder what it might be like to be human. Drawing on an extraordinary script by Nobel-Prize winning Austrian novelist, Peter Handke, this is one of the most original, ambitious, and best films to come out of Europe in past half century. Wings of Desire, is a meditation on innocence and experience; a portrait of a still divided Berlin; a meditation on personal and collective memory; a love story; and a humanist hymn, which extols life's simple pleasures. It is also a dazzling technical exercise. Shooting in both black and white and colour, Wenders and veteran cinematographer Henri Alekan find a magic space between realism and something almost transcendental. The performances are also wonderful, but the prizes must go to Bruno Ganz as the conflicted Damiel, and to Peter Falk, playing an unexpected variation on himself.