Year: 1987
Director: Wim Wenders
Country: West Germany
Language: German
Wim Wenders belongs to a class of elite New German Cinema film-makers. His peers include the eccentric Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo) and the enigmatic Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Berlin Alexanderplatz) Fortunately he has lived much longer than Fassbinder and lacks the mental health issues that plague Herzog's life. Wenders consistently makes incredible films, the wonderful Pina hit theatres a year ago and was met with great acclaim. His Wings of Desire is an earlier film, made in the middle of his career, the first time that I viewed it I was absolutely amazed.
The film centers around the story of two angels wandering in a mixture of post-war and modern Berlin. Invisible to humans, they nevertheless give their help and comfort to all the lonely and depressed souls they meet. Finally, after many centuries, one of the angels becomes unhappy with his immortal state and wishes to become human in order to experience the joys of everyday life.
Wings of Desire can certainly be considered one of the most spiritual and poetic films ever made. When watching the beauty of the film it quickly gets you seduced under it's spell and you become entranced by its visual beauty and meditating power. Photographed by the legendary cinematographer Henri Alekan, who made the characters float weightlessly in Cocteau's masterpiece Beauty and the Beast. Much of Wings of Desire brings a mood of calm medication as we the audience observe the people and the world they inhabit just as the angels do. Though the story unfolds slowly and the plot doesn't really start taking shape until an hour and a half in the film, the story is very simple and yet profound.
In the closing titles of the film it says: "Dedicated to all the former angels, but especially to Yasujiro, François and Andrei." This is a reference to Yasijuro Ozu, Francois Truffaut and Andrei Tarkovsky, legendary filmmakers who paved the way for Directors like Wim Wenders to make films like Wings of Desire. Wenders' film has a similar pace to that of Tarkovsky and Ozu, slow yet poetic. It's about observing the characters and the environment created for you rather than fast-paced action. If this film has anything to say it's that humans are not alone and there is great hope and love in this world.
In conclusion, Wings of Desire is an experience you'll be likely not to forget. It is a breathtaking film that will fill you with optimism and give you a new outlook on life. It is a kind of visual poetry that seems to be lost most modern films, though at least we still have Wenders to remind us about the beauty of life. Praise it! 5/5
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