Wings of Desire (1987)

There are angels on the streets of Berlin.

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

Directed by: Wim Wenders

Written by: Peter Handke, Richard Reitinger, Wim Wenders, Bernard Eisenschitz

Music by: Jürgen Knieper

Starring: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk, Hans Martin Stier, Elmar Wilms, Sigurd Rachman, Beatrice Manowski, Bruno Rosaz

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Released: 1987-09-23

Runtime: 128 minutes

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Wings of Desire (1987): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• French producer Anatole Dauman did not see a large budget as necessary, and the project was funded with 5 million DM.
• The film finished its run in North America on 11 May 1989, having grossed $3.2 million, or possibly nearly $4 million, a positive investment for Orion.
• After living and working in the United States for eight years, director Wim Wenders returned to his native West Germany and wished to reconnect to it with a film about his favourite part of it, West Berlin.
• On reflecting on Solveig Dommartin's death in 2007, Der Spiegel recalled the film as a poetic masterpiece.
• Inspired by art depicting angels visible around West Berlin, at the time encircled by the Berlin Wall, Wenders and author Peter Handke conceived of the story and continued to develop the screenplay throughout the French and German co-production.
• In 2000, Variety calculated that it was 48th in the top 50 highest-grossing foreign language films ever released in the U.S., and one of only three in German, along with Das Boot and Run Lola Run.
• Although the circus scenes required extensive and risky acrobatics, Dommartin was able to learn the trapeze and rope moves in a mere eight weeks, and did all the work herself, without a stunt double.
• Planning to make Until the End of the World in 1985, he realised the project would not be ready for two years, and wishing to return to photography as soon as possible, he considered another project.
• The Wim Wenders Foundation produced a digital 4K restoration using the original black-and-white and colour film stock.
• The website's critical consensus reads, "Beyond ravishing, Wings of Desire is Wim Wenders' aching and heartbreaking exploration of how love makes us human."
• The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 1987.
• One of the angels, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist, played by Solveig Dommartin.
• The film was shot by Henri Alekan in both colour and black-and-white, the latter being used to represent the world as seen by the angels.
• In 1990, numerous critics named Wings of Desire as one of the best films of the 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia

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