Review of Wings of Desire (1987) by John H — 07 Oct 2014

"The film evokes a mood of reverie, elegy and meditation." Said by reviewer Roger Ebert who believes that the movie "Wings of Desire" by Wim Wenders deserves four stars for its excellence of being a great movie. In contrast, is the film also excellent in confusing its audience? It is almost a guarantee that whoever views this film for the first time will not understand the actual perspective of the director. From the perception of displaying the movie in black and white to the angels that are watching over the city, and no, these are not the same angels with the golden halos and majestic arrays of white happening all around them either. This gives the audience a perspective of life through the eyes of an angel.

The movie begins by introducing two angels, Damiel and Cassiel played by Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander, following these two spirits as they watch over the city of Berlin. Their overall characterization would have been misinterpreted if it were not for the beautiful white wings that were being shown on Damiel's back as he was looking over Berlin. It is strange to classify them with the name angels seeing that no human can be saved by their presence. They can only observe and arrive at the times where hope seems to be obsolete. Such as the trapeze artist being afraid of falling, or when there was a man shown jumping from the side of the building. Their dull characteristics exemplify how they are not merely two guardian angels that are full of life and happiness; their only agenda is to observe. Noticing how their characters are not speaking when they come across the humans, only being able to speak to one another in the German language implies the notion of the two angels portraying the feeling of a dead spirit among the humans.

The projected setting for this movie was superb in coinciding with the mood the director wanted the audience to feel. Dating the movie back to the time where Berlin was battling through the Holocaust and other historic tragedies, displayed a city that was distraught and in dire need of rescuing. The rough streets and buildings that are in the process of rebuilding or construction show the struggle that this city was going through. Therefore, stresses directly towards Damiel and Cassiel's performances in only being noted as spectators to what the world is coming to. Their bland facial expressions towards every occurrence in the movie assure that they have seen it all and now Damiel is ready to feel what it is like to be human. This was due to the switching of the film showing in black and white to color during the movie. This switch allowed the audience to see a glimpse into the vision of what these particular angels would see if they were human. Showing emphasis that they are merely dead spirits that see in black and white. Having that change of scenery was a sure indication that there is still life to be found in this film.

The one area where the movie explores its complexity was in the plot. There is no designed plot for this film. That could easily be depicted through the cinematography work for this film. Showing floating views over cities, the fast angle changes for a particular scene, in addition to the glides through certain areas. "It does not intrude; it observes" Roger Ebert states in amusement to this area of the film. The plot of this story grows old and slow, but the audience could never become impatient because no one can predict the next possible stage in the movie. So many instances happen in "Wings of Desire" that one can become clueless to what may happen next. From the amount of camera changes and scene switches, it seems as if they are showing a normal day in Berlin, Germany. This is what makes the plot intriguing yet complicated to those watching.

There is no possible way that you cannot be engaged into this film because of the amount of complex symbolism and difficult comprehension it possesses. It is as if you are seduced into this movie. It draws in a crowd by forcing one to think for a deeper meaning in the director's intentions of the film with an intellectual mindset.