Wim Wenders’ classic is a must-see. Wings of Desire is about two angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sanders) who spend their eternal lives (along with many other angels) tuning in to peoples’ most secret thoughts and desires. Most of the humans they tune into in Berlin are unhappy, depressed, even suicidal, except for children who occupy a special place in this film along with its several references to how children see life and the big questions they ask.
It is Damiel who is closest to children and who becomes attracted to circus life and a trapeze artist played by actress Solveig Alekan (she trained as a trapeze artist in order to play this role) who is restless in her own life to acquire purpose and a significant other. Damiel falls in love with her and desires to give up his eternal angelhood for all the possibilities–good and bad– of human life in order to win her love. Surprisingly and humorously, Peter Falk, of Columbo fame, is the guest star who assists in the process of Damiel’s transition and introduction to human life.
Wings of Desire is an odd existential view of human life that poses larger questions of consciousness and identity that are open for any adult. Back of that, though, there is also a charming child-like awareness reflected by Damiel’s character and both his and the trapeze artist’s inner-child quests. It is through the sensibility and consciousness of children that these two characters find purpose, each other, and a life together that works which angels like Cassiel can never experience (presented in vivid color segments), only vicariously or second-hand (represented by pale black-and-white segments).
The visual style of the film is thoroughly engaging and intriguing with much easy camera movement to show the angels moving at ease among humans. The sound and music of the film is bizarre on the metallic atonal side, culminating in a weird live performance by Nick Cave and The Seeds. The music adds an odd, but appropriate strangeness to the worlds depicted in the film from such unconventional points of view.
Overall, despite the many realistic, bleak human and angel lives depicted in the first part of the film, Wings of Desire remains an optimistic, occasionally humorous film about the many possibilities most of us take for granted or have never even considered. Highly recommended on the themes of death, life, love, risk, choices, and childhood perspectives.