WINGS OF DESIRE (Der Himmel Uber Berlin) (1987) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Wim Wenders

Written by - Wim Wenders, Peter Handke, Richard Reitinger

Starring - Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk

"Wenders’ work of love for Berlin is one of the most charming and intelligent works that cinema has ever seen. Out of the difficult late Cold War era, Wings of Desire is set in a Berlin still split up by that symbol of isolation and segregation – the wall.

And out of this cold and desolate setting a story with the charm of classic cinema is born, of Capraesque sentiments. One of the angels that wonders the city falls for a human woman whom he looks upon protectively. This leads him to want to kill himself, in order to be re-born as a mortal and meet his one true love - as well as awakening to the things we humans overlook that are also the finer things in life.

Wim Wenders’ film is distinctively poetic, with precious imagery that plays stylistically with feelings of vintage and modern. The black and white photography films the setting in the most compelling and deepest of ways, with lights and shadows casting new meanings of tenderness and connection whilst providing a whole wrapping of nostalgia, if not downright melancholia, for times that were and times that never were.

But the artistic creativity is not constricted to the same old structural nature, and it just so happens that even the subplots are intriguing and interesting. One instantly comes to mind, and feature Peter Falk, playing himself playing Columbo – the only one who seems to be able to see the central angel and communicate with him. The flow of the film is hypnotic and draws you in with ease.

On top of that, the performances are amazing – soft spoken and skilled. Hope, love and life springs in an understated celebration of sentimentality in general. A masterpiece of German cinema, with a timeless appeal, that speaks universally through the language of cinema old and new."

Drama, West Germany/France