WINGS OF DESIRE
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1988 Jeff Meyer
See at the Seattle Film Festival: WINGS OF DESIRE (West Germany, 1987) Director: Wim Wenders Screenwriters: Wim Wenders and Peter Handke Cast: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk, Otto Sander
I see a lot of films -- particularly at the Festival -- which try to induce a surrealistic, dream-like state upon the viewer. Very few of them come close to succeeding. WINGS OF DESIRE is 2 hours and 10 minutes long, and for 85% of that time its attempts to lull me into such a state were entirely engrossing and stimulating. This is a lyrical film: lyrical in its story, its photography, and in particular the original conception of its setting. Wenders portrays divine characters in a manner that is extremely innovative, at least to film, and when he lays out his world before us, divided into earthly and ethereal halves, it is a new world.
The film opens up with East and West Germany below us, in black and white. We see an angel (Ganz) looking down on the city; he has wings, but they disappear, and he floats through the city, intercepting the thoughts of people all over the city. Only an occasional rare child actually notices that he is there. The by-play of the voices and the "floating" camera is excellent; you let it wash over you, and it is quite an experience. Eventually, he meets and talks to another angel (Sander) about his experiences, and how he yearns to be human and sample what humans feel, in particular the actual progression of time, which immortals cannot feel. Angels all wear long coats, have pony tails, and while they cannot interfere in what happens, their presence (particularly their touch) can bring hope and health back to their spirits.
After this point, the film begins to rotate around three other characters. One, and old man, is observed by both Sander and Ganz; he is a survivor of the Holocaust, and is often thinking back on it, and what it means about humanity as a whole. The second is a circus aerialist (Dommartin), a sad, beautiful girl who loves her trapeze work but is lonely, and who Ganz falls in love with (she senses his presence somehow, though not explicitly). The final one is a kick: Peter Falk, playing Peter Falk (he's shooting a detective/WW II movie in Berlin). He really *does* sense Ganz's presence, and for good reason, too -- he's a former angel who decided to become human years ago (to play Columbo, I guess). It's a delightfully strange performance, and Falk gives Ganz the courage he needs for the final plunge: humanity.
The film ends concentrating on Ganz and Dommartin; both Falk and the old man are phased out (it's a bit annoying, but not very). It also gets a bit too longer here -- there's about twenty minutes here that could be trimmed without anything being hurt (the bar scene, for those of you who've seen it). But it's a wonderful love story, the kind of dreamy, philosophically-drenched romance I dote on, and it's one of the two best films I saw at this year's festival. Ganz is excellent; the man has the kind of gentle, old-wise-innocent face an angel would have; Dommartin is excellent at the subject of his love; Falk is the occasional kick-in-the-butt the film needs for plot advancement -- and besides, he's damn fun to watch.
I should point out, though, that you shouldn't expect to be seeing a "romance" or a "comedy" or anything of that sort. I'd put it down as more of a surreal experience, very pleasant and not at all disorienting, combined with romantic and philosophical elements. If that sounds at all appealing (for a little over two hours), I strongly suspect you won't want to miss the film. Technically, the film is marvelous; why I don't understand all of the changes from B&W to color and back, they fit in with the feel of WINGS OF DESIRE. The script is very good; Wenders' and Handke's ideas for what angels talk about (and listen to) is delightful (Stanley Kauffmann of THE NEW REPUBLIC said this is one of the few scripts he'd almost prefer reading than watching). Overall, it could use a little more editing at the end; but a success all around, I think.
Rating: Not for everyone, but if the synopsis above sounds appealing , you definitely should not miss it.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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