Forum / Wim Wender's Wings of Desire

whatwouldbukowskido
Jun 27, 05:15pm

First saw it at the Prytania Theater in New Orleans in 1988. Watching it again on Hulu.com.

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"Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are angels who watch over the city of Berlin. They don't have harps or wings (well, they usually don't have wings) and they prefer overcoats to gossamer gowns. But they can travel unseen through the city, listening to people's thoughts, watching their actions and studying their lives. While they can make their presence felt in small ways, only children and other angels can see them. They spend their days serenely observing, unable to interact with people, and they feel neither pain nor joy. One day, Damiel finds his way into a circus and sees Marion (Solveig Dommartin), a high-wire artist, practicing her act; he is immediately smitten. After the owners of the circus tell the company that the show is out of money and must disband, Marion sinks into a funk, shuffling back to her trailer to ponder what to do next. As he watches her, Damiel makes a decision: he wants to be human, and he wants to be with Marion, to lift her spirits and, if need be, to share her pain. Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire is a remarkable modern fairy tale about the nature of being alive. The angels witness the gamut of human emotions, and they experience the luxury of simple pleasures (even a cup of coffee and a cigarette) as ones who've never known them. From the angels' viewpoint, Berlin is seen in gorgeous black-and-white -- strikingly beautiful but unreal; when they join the humans, the image shifts to rough but natural-looking color, and the waltz-like grace of the angels' drift through the city changes to a harsher rhythm. Peter Falk appears as himself, revealing a secret that we may not have known about the man who played Columbo, and there's also a brief but powerful appearance by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Wings of Desire hinges on the intangible and elusive, and it builds something beautiful from those qualities. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi"

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I'd love to have a copy of the script.

One lone poem.

whatwouldbukowskido
Jun 27, 06:04pm

I was that listening angel, come to life, once.

Perhaps it'll happen again.

David Ackley
Jun 28, 01:54am

A great film, graced by the deeply soulful Bruno Ganz.

Charlotte Hamrick
Jun 28, 03:35am

An acquaintance is always referencing this film. I think I need to watch it.

Sally Houtman
Jun 28, 04:45am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NBaksgcFE

Sally Houtman
Jun 28, 10:24am

Damn!! Looks like the movie's subtitled, so...it's out for me (*sneer*grumble*growl*).

But I've been hunting down bits of the screenplay.

Now *this* - *THIS* is PURE POETRY:

CASSIEL: And today, on the Lilienthaler Chaussee, a man, walking, slowed down, and looked over his shoulder into space. At post office 44, a man who wants to end it all today pasted rare stamps on his farewell letters, a different one on each. He spoke English with an American soldier--the first time since his schooldays--and fluently. A prisoner at Plotzenzee, just before ramming his head against the wall, said: 'Now!' At the Zoo U-Bahn station, instead of the station's name, the conductor suddenly shouted: 'Tierra del Fuego!'

DAMIEL: Nice.

CASSIEL: In the hills, an old man read the Odyssey to a child. And the young listener stopped blinking his eyes.... And what do you have to tell?

DAMIEL: A woman on the street folded her umbrella while it rained and let herself get drenched. A schoolboy who described to his teacher how a fern grows out of the earth, and the astonished teacher. A blind woman who groped for her watch, feeling my presence.... It's great to live only by the spirit, to testify day by day, for eternity, to the spiritual side of people. But sometimes I get fed up with my spiritual existence. Instead of forever hovering above I'd like to feel there's some weight to me. To end my eternity, and bind me to earth. At each step, at each gust of wind, I'd like to be able to say: 'Now! Now! and Now!' And no longer say: 'Since always' and 'Forever.' To sit in the empty seat at a card table, and be greeted, if only by a nod.... Whenever we did participate, it was only a pretence. Wrestling with one of them, we allowed a hip to be dislocated, in pretence only. We pretended to catch a fish. We pretended to be seated at the tables. And to drink and eat.... Not that I want to plant a tree or give birth to a child right away. But it would be quite something to come home after a long day, like Philip Marlowe, and feed the cat. To have a fever. To have blackened fingers from the newspaper.... To feel your skeleton moving along as you walk. Finally to *suspect*, instead of forever knowing all. To be able to say 'Ah!' and 'Oh!' and 'Hey!' instead of 'Yes' and 'Amen'.
…..
oh.......my.............God..........
.....
And this monologue:

MARION: It's time to get serious.... I was often alone, but I never lived alone. When I was with someone I was often happy. But I also felt it's all a matter of chance. These people are my parents, but it could have been others. Why was that brown-eyed boy my brother, and not the green-eyed boy on the opposite platform? The taxi driver's daughter was my friend, but I could just as well have embraced a horse's head. I was with a man. I was in love. But I could just as well have left him there, and continued on with the stranger who came toward us.... Look at me, or don't. Give me your hand, or don't. No, don't give me your hand, and look the other way.... I think there's a new moon tonight. No night is more peaceful. No blood will be shed in the whole city.... I never toyed with anyone. And yet, I never opened my eyes and thought: 'This is it.'... It's finally getting serious. So I've grown older. Was I the only one who wasn't serious? Is it our times that are not serious? I was never lonely. Neither when I was alone, nor with others. I would have liked to be alone at last. Loneliness means at last I am whole. Now I can say it because today I am finally lonely. No more coincidence.... The new moon of decision. I don't know if destiny exists, but decision does exist. Decide. Now we are the times. Not only the whole city, but the whole world is taking part in our decision. We two are more than just two. We personify something. We are sitting in the People's Plaza, and the whole plaza is filled with people, who all wish for what we wish for. We are deciding everyone's game. I am ready. Now it's your turn. You're holding the game in your hand. Now or never. You need me. You will need me. There's no greater story than ours. That of man and woman. It will be a story of giants. Invisible, transposable. A story of new ancestors. Look. My eyes. They are the picture of necessity, of the future of everyone on the plaza. Last night I dreamt of a stranger. Of my man. Only with him could I be lonely. Open up to him. Completely open, completely for him. Welcome him completely into myself. Surround him with the labyrinth of shared happiness. I know it is you.
.............................

I have GOT to get my hands on a copy of that script!!! If I find it, I'll post a link here.

whatwouldbukowskido
Jun 28, 04:00pm

When Marion disrobes
I can see where
her wings used
to be. I love
that place.

Ann Bogle
Jul 01, 04:42am

I saw Wings of Desire. My idea of a great film is Nebraska. Another is March of the Penguins. I like The Artist. All Through the Night is great as well. I saw it at risk to my autonomy. The ad exec who showed it to me in his loft expected sex after the film, and I provided. Later he sent me an email retracting my consent in email. It is difficult to describe my horror at his authority. Film noir is not horror.

Nonnie Augustine
Jul 01, 04:47pm

Wings of Desire—I've only seen it once and I'll have to fix that.

Oliver Hunt
Jul 07, 09:19pm

I was reminded of this film recently while watching Autoluminescent, the documentary about Roland S. Howard. The Crime and the City Solution footage. It added to the heartbreak of Howard's death, I think.
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