Review of Wings of Desire (1987) by Dan S — 05 Jul 2011

A beautiful, haunting, atmospheric drama concerning two angels (Bruno Ganz and Otto Sandler) who wander amongst the streets of Berlin undetected, and how one of them (Ganz) falls in love with a trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin) and starts to ponder about the opportunity of becoming human in order to be with her.

This is simply a stunning piece of work by director Wim Wenders, as he creates a movie so full of life and mystery but is also able to show the flip-side of these moments of excitement by setting it in the bleak, depressed city of Berlin (with the Wall still standing - another layer of dread and sadness added in to the equation).

While it is part social commentary on the state of Germany after WW2, it's actually more important a love story, and one that has a lot of weight to it surprisingly. Peter Falk's character is also a rarity - and the man nails it.

While the movie really gets interesting in the last half hour, it is still intriguing during its first hour and thirty minutes, as Wenders seamlessly goes between a black-and-white scope with brief instances of color.

A definite must-see just for the sheer atmosphere this movie possesses alone. Without question one of the best dramas ever created, with dialogue so rich it is impossible not to be in awe of it.