Review of Wings of Desire (1987) by Alex S — 07 Dec 2009

You better believe if I could see angels, the first thing I would do is ask one if I could try his/her halo on without lighting myself on fire. That never once comes up in this movie that basically amounts to "Peter Falk sees angels and hey, Berlin is lovely at this time of year, especially if you want to fall in love with a traveling trapeze artist.

" Actually, that sums up the majority of the film quite nicely but that also belittles it the point where I would not be surprised if Wim Wenders wanted to fly over here and swat me upside the back of the head for good measure.

Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander are two of the many angels that chill about Berlin (before the wall is down, mind you). They listen in on the interior conversations of anyone (and discover that most of us worry needlessly) and one day, Ganz falls in love with a trapeze artist in a traveling circus troupe.

Then Peter Falk shows up because he's shooting a movie on location and after some conversations and observations (between the three of them - indirectly in Falk's case... and then...), Ganz decides it would be a good idea to give up the wings and become mortal to feel what it is like to be alive.

And, you know, get the trapeze girl. So we have a cool hook and a cool presentation (apparently, angels see in black and white) but you could just as well argue that the landscape of Berlin plays a much larger role than anyone onscreen in this.

Make no mistake about it - there are some jaw-droppingly beautiful shots in this that really make you appreciate all the effort that went into making this. Yeah, it drags a bit and yeah, Nick Cave is kind of out-of-nowhere, sort of like the last big conversation, but this is a solid movie that will effect everyone who watches it differently.

Me? It made me want to seek out pawn shops for next year's Halloween costume (and give the proprietor a piece of my mind for taking advantage of spiritual beings).