Wings of Desire (Widescreen Special Edition)

Some facts about this film...It was begun as Wim Wender's tribute to Berlin. Filmed in 1987 before the fall of The Wall, it was almost entirely unscripted when production began, so the film evolved as it was being created. It is really interesting to see Berlin just before the fall of The Wall. The cinematography is magnificent. Alternating between BW and color, it takes on a dreamlike quality the is no less than stunning. Much dialog in the film is voice-over, adding to the other worldliness of it.

Additionally. the packaging is really worthwhile with neat extras. The menu page is even beautiful.

Now a disclaimer. Wings of Desire is not a Hollywood blockbuster that is going to hit you over the head with blatant scripting, plot progression and tidy resolutions. (And I am not blasting Hollywood.) It is a German film, in German, French and English, that is over two hours long. The stellar reviews of this film may incite you to expect too much. This film is a poem - sit back relax, let it settle into you and don't try to figure it out.

I can give this no less than 5 stars, because it is truly the closest that I have seen to cinema fully realized. (I can say this about only a handful of films.) The photography, editing, script - or lack of it, casting, understated performance, composition all seem to work together with a magical synergy, not to mention the fact that it is absolutely beautiful to watch.

Buy, rent, or borrow this film. If you read the reviews and have an inkling that it is for you, then it probably is. Wings of Desire will stay with you for a long time to come.

In the end it's not just about requited loves and hopes, it also carries a heady undercurrent of other notions: displacement and the natural yearning for emotional connections that transcends humans; the unification of a divided Germany and of a divided race; and, probably above all, about the universality of cinema and its ability to allow people to live multiple lives (from multiple cultures) at the movies.

When I first saw this, I thought the film's fatal flaw was its anti-climactic conclusion. Now I realise that it may be the best part of my favourite film of all time.

One caution to buyers about the DVD. Many bits of the film are in German, but my DVD had no subtitles. All the gorgeous imagery (in noir-ish black and white) was thus somewhat frittered away.

But it surely did make me want to see what Berlin must really be like. If you like your movies laid-back and reflective, this comes highly recommended from me.