Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire ★★★½ Der Himmel Uber Berlin 1988 (PG-13)
An ethereal, haunting modern fable about angels Damiel (Ganz) and Cassiel (Sander), who observe human life in and above the broken existence of Berlin. Their attention is particularly focused on Homer (Bois), an elderly poet, American actor Peter Falk (playing himself), and a lovely French trapeze performer named marion (Dommartin). But the more Damiel observes, the more he longs to experience desire—emotional and physical—as humans do. A moving, unequivocable masterpiece, with as many beautiful things to say about spiritual need as about the schizophrenic emptiness of contemporary Germany; Wenders' magnum opus. German with subtitles, and with black-and-white sequences. 130m/C VHS, DVD . GE Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois; D: Wim Wenders; W: Wim Wenders, Peter Handke; C: Henri Alekan; M: Jurgen Knieper. Ind. Spirit ‘89: Foreign Film; L.A. Film Critics ‘88: Cinematog., Foreign Film; N.Y. Film Critics ‘88: Cinematog.; Natl. Soc. Film Critics ‘88: Cinematog.