Wings of Desire (1987)
- Original title
- Der Himmel über Berlin
- Directed by
- Wim Wenders
- Genre
- drama film, fantasy film
- Country
- Germany, France
- Runtime
- 2h 08m
- Rated
- PG-13
- Rating
- 7.8 of 10 from 1,504 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Angels live invisibly among humans in Berlin, listening to their thoughts and offering comfort in moments of distress. One angel falls in love with a lonely trapeze artist and chooses to give up his immortality to experience human life, including love, sensation, and everyday pleasures.
contemplativepoeticdreamlikemelancholictenderslow-burnromanticmeditative
What happens
Wings of Desire (German: Der Himmel über Berlin, pronounced [deːɐ̯ ˈhɪml̩ ˈʔyːbɐ bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ; lit. 'The Heaven/Sky over Berlin') is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones. One of the angels, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist, played by Solveig Dommartin. The angel chooses to become mortal so that he can experience human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one, and so that he can discover human love with the trapeze artist. Inspired by art depicting angels visible around West Berlin, at the time encircled by the Berlin Wall, Wenders and author Peter Handke conceived of the story and continued to develop the screenplay throughout the French and German co-production. The film was shot by Henri Alekan in both colour and black-and-white, the latter being used to represent the world as seen by the angels. The cast includes Otto Sander, Curt Bois and Peter Falk. For Wings of Desire, Wenders won awards for Best Director at both the Cannes Film Festival and European Film Awards. The film was a critical and financial success, and academics have interpreted it as a statement of the importance of cinema, libraries, the circus, or German unity, containing New Age, religious, secular or other themes. It was followed by a sequel, Faraway, So Close!, released in 1993. City of Angels, a U.S. remake, was released in 1998. In 1990, numerous critics named Wings of Desire as one of the best films of the 1980s. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
City of Angels (1998)
Maschenka (1987)
The Distant Land (1987)
O Desejado (1987)
La vallée fantôme (1987)
In der Wüste (1987)
Tommaso Blu (1987)
Days to Remember (1987)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.