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Staring: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk
Director: J.M. Kenny, Wim Wenders
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Product Details
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780792856160
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792856163
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-07-01
Running Time: 128
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1987

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Editorial Review
Description
From Oscar®-nominated* writer/director Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club) comes this "exhilarating" (Vanity Fair) and life-affirming tale that won him the 1987 Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and inspired City of Angels. Co-written with Peter Handke, this "enchanting" (The New York Times) film about the joy of life is "that rare thing a work of true originality" (Newsweek)! Damiel (Bruno Ganz) is a lonely angel who roams the streets of Berlin providing comfort to mortals in need. But when he is drawn into the life of a beautifuland troubledtrapeze artist, he experiences love for the first time and does everything in his power to be seen, heard and felt by her. Jeopardizing his divine position, Damiel is faced with a most difficult decision: either give up love or lose his eternal wings forever! *1999: Documentary Feature, Buena Vista Social Club

Amazon.com
"There are angels over the streets of Berlin," quotes the movie poster, but these are like no angels you've ever seen. Bundled in dark overcoats, they watch over the city with ears open to the heartbeat of the human soul, listening to the internal musings and yearnings of earthbound humans like existential detectives. In these delicate, astounding scenes we float through the thoughts of dozens Berlin citizens, from the weary and worn to the hopeful and young, as the angels record the magic moments for some heavenly record. But when Damiel (the empathic and sensitive Bruno Ganz) falls in love with an angel of another sort, the lonely trapeze artist Marion (willowy, sad-eyed Solveig Dommartin), he gives up the contemplation and observation of life to experience it himself.

Wim Wenders's most purely romantic film is like poetry on celluloid, a celebration of the transient and fragile moments of being human: the warmth of a cup of coffee on a cold day, the embrace of a friend, the touch of a lover, the rapture of love. Opening with an angel's-eye view of Berlin in silvery black and white (delicately captured by the great cinematographer Henri Alekan, who photographed Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast 40 years earlier), it transforms into a gauzy color world when Damiel "crosses over" by sheer will. Peter Falk plays himself as a fallen angel with a special sensitivity for celestial visitors ("I can't see you, but I know you're there," he proclaims), and Otto Sander, whose smiling eyes brighten a face etched by eons of waiting and watching, is Damiel's partner. Wenders made a sequel in 1993, Faraway, So Close, and Hollywood remade the film as City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

"time heals, or maybe time is the illness", 2010-07-12
Don't be discouraged by the slow pace of the movie. You need to keep in mind when this movie was made and the theories of existence in vogue at the time. Bruno Ganz shines as an angel who listens to peoples' introspection and gets intrigued by the emotions that only humans experience.

Once Henry Van Dyke said:"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but those who love, time is eternity." So will the angel Will the Angel choose eternity in heaven or eternity through love? The journey is you to discover and it is worth the time!

Good DVD & fast delivery, 2010-08-21
My wife and I enjoyed this movie. It was interesting to see Germany and hear the language again since we had lived their many years ago when I was stationed there.

not for me, 2010-08-21
I saw City of Angels, and read that it was based on Wings of Desire which was supposed to be more of an artistic film; the film was in German with subtitles, which I was aware of, but it was just really difficult getting into it and it was very long; maybe in English it would have made a difference.....maybe not!

I love this movie, 2010-05-09
The beautiful idea is that that guardian angels are all around us. When I watch this film, I find myself crying for no apparent reason. Captures the human condition through dealing with the workings of angels.

Underwhelming, To Say The Least., 2010-07-01
I realize I'm treading on thin ice here, as this seems to be one of those movies to which the vast majority of people seem to have a very strong connection, often quite emotional. But try as I might, I just didn't, nay, COULDN'T think that 'Wings of Desire' is the monumental motion picture the general consensus makes it out to be.

My primary criticism is that the movie is just too darn long. At a little over two hours, it could have been trimmed a good 20, even 30 minutes, and been all the stronger for it. I'm not saying it's too long BECAUSE of the fact that it is two whole hours, but because the movie is so friggin' repetitive in both events and structure. For the first half hour or so, I was utterly captivated by the movie, but then it just kept going on and on and on, showing the same thing over and over and over . . . . it was over an hour into the picture before anything resembling a plot (or at the very least something new) began to surface. And even once the more specific plot began to take place and unfold before my eyes, I found myself underwhelmed. And the ending didn't have the effect it was clearly meant to have on me.

All that said, it's far from a bad film. My personal favorite aspect of it was the inclusion of Peter Falk; the twist with his character is a thoroughly wonderful piece of genius. Speaking of genius, the cinematography, costumes, design, acting, the entire look and feel of the film are top-notch in every respect. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. After a while, I was bored, pure and simple. Like I said earlier, the first hour of the film could have been 2/3, or even 1/2 as long as it was. As it is, it's overkill.

Overall, 'Wings of Desire' is far from a bad film, and there were individual moments where I was honestly moved to tears. But on the whole, I failed to find it a very interesting or emotionally satisfying film. But again, I seem to be in the minority in this respect. Put this one on my ever-growing list of films that the rest of the world seems to think are absolutely incredible, but that elicit a much less enthusiastic response from me; instead of saying, "What an extraordinary film!" as the credits rolled, I said, "It was fine."

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