FAR AWAY SO CLOSE
A film review by Lon Ponschock
Copyright 1995 Lon Ponschock
Written and directed by Wim Wenders Starring Otto Sander, Peter Falk, Nastassja Kinski, Bruno Ganz, Willem Dafoe, and Solveig Dommartin 146 mins.
"You, you whom we love
you do not see us
You do not hear us
You imagine us
in the far distance
yet we are so near.
-- from FAR AWAY, SO CLOSE --
The signature quotation you see at the bottom of these pieces is from another Wim Wenders film: UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD. And his PARIS TEXAS is another extraordinary piece of filmmaking and look at life. In WINGS OF DESIRE and FAR AWAY SO CLOSE Wenders explores the lives of Angels. Angels are quite popular these days. There are scads of books on the subject.
From the first frames of FAR AWAY SO CLOSE, a film which was the grand prize winner at Cannes in 1993, I was enthralled with its approach.
Cassiel (Otto Sander) becomes human when he cannot bear to see a child die needlessly and his adventure as a human begins. Funny thing is that as you watch and listen to him with his fears and isolation he actually speaks from our own hearts. This is my take on it anyway.
"They say time is money, but they're
wrong Karl. Time is the *absence* of money."
FAR AWAY features an all-star cast. Lou Reed and Peter Falk have cameo roles. Solveig Dommartin I remember from UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD and she is wonderful once again in this work. Nastassja Kinski is Raphaela, a companion angel and Bruno Ganz plays Damiel. Damiel's story is told in WINGS of DESIRE. Willem Dafoe is ... what? a devil? a bad angel ... something that wants to see the new 'Karl Engel' destroyed? Even after the film I am uncertain.
The camera work in FAR AWAY is extraordinary in that it accomplishes so much with so little. This is not a big budget film. Wenders can get away with merely suggesting all that an angel is with the camera and a few simple props.
And I believed it.
There is great humor in the film as well. And the story is a complex one of a long search and finally a rescue.
With its companion piece, WINGS OF DESIRE, FAR AWAY SO CLOSE presents us with images that refresh the spirit and strengthen our hopes in the future. That's what the little signature file which closes these pieces is about.
"We are messengers who bring closeness to those who are distant. We are messengers who bring the light to those who are in darkness. We are messengers who bring the word to those who question. We are neither the light nor the message We are the messengers We are nothing. You are for us ... everything.
-- from FAR AWAY, SO CLOSE --
-- lon "I did not know the cure for the disease of images, but I believed in the healing power of words and stories." - Until the End of the World
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