Rating: 
Summary: Heavenly!
Review: This is one of the most original and most unusual movies you will ever view. Watching this movie was a sychronistic event indeed. I went to Blockbuster Video one evening without having any idea at all about what to watch...but, as I love Peter Falk and was unfamiliar with this particular role, I decided to give Wing's of Desire a try. From the first seconds of this movie I knew I was about to experience something new and profound. The voice over of Bruno Ganz is hypnotic as is the soundtrack and the theme of this movie. What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Why am I me and not you? Why does one person appreciate their life, while another throws it away? This is beautifully illustrated through the angel's eyes as they follow and guide their human charges. When seeing through the eyes of the angels, all is seen in black and white. When we are with the humans...all is in vivid color. When Bruno Ganz begins to fall in love with one of his human charges, things begin to radically change. Will he remain an angel and immortal, or will he become human and face what all humans face? Is love worth it? This plot would be enough to make the movie well worth the watching, but the added subplots really make this movie a gem. Peter Falk plays Peter Falk...but with a real suprise twist that will grab you. There is also an elderly Jewish "story teller" who drifts in and out of the movie, adding another dimension to this already multi-layered cinematic dessert. This will not be everyones cup-of-tea, I admit. If you can't stand subtitles for one, stay away. Although, this movie is so ingrossing that I suspect you will forget that you are reading. There are a lot of twists and turns that will make you use your brain cells, but if you like that sort of thing, then you will love this movie. I place this film in my top 10 all time favorites list. You will either absolutely love it, or it will leave you absolutely cold. This is not a movie anyone could possibly feel neutral about. It generates very strong feelings from those who view it. My strong feeling about it is that it's a masterpiece...pure and simple. Do yourself...not to mention, your brain cells...a favor. Buy this movie, or at the least rent it, then decide for yourself. My hunch is that you will agree with the majority and give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Wings of Desire-visual,verbal masterpiece.
Review: They took me kicking and screaming.I was board ,no plot .That was my first impression of this film.I CANT LIVE WITHOUT IT NOW.Bruno Ganz that face,you could write a map on it.Who is Homer? The library scene.NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS WOW!!!! COLUMBO. PETER FALK.This film is in my opinion a combination of EXPRESSIONISM and IMPRESSIONISM, The German and the French.The contrast of black and white/color,expresses it visually.The dialogue expresses it verbally, slow and methodicaly like an opera.I can go on and on about this film but time is short ,buy it ,because its like a book you will find something new each time you view it .It takes place in Berlin before the Eastern European revolultions of the early 90's.Berlin beautiful but dark a divided city,Solveig Dommartin is always veiwed in color,french expressionism.This film views our complex lifes in our world ,the modern world .It trys to view our lifes through these angels,sometimes answers are given sometimes just posed.Feel it ,Visualise it. TURFFLLES
Rating:
Summary: Next Stop, Wenders' Land
Review: For the first half hour of Wim Wenders "Wings Of Desire", black-clad angels with a distinct "Armani" look (these aren't your father's angels) hover over Berlin, embarking on "field trips" into the psyches of everyday citizens,objectively monitoring their wishes, hopes, dreams,quiet desperation... all captured in swooping, fluid "point-of-view" camerawork and breathtaking black-and-white cinematography. If you aren't completely mesmerized at this point in the film, you never will be, I'll have an usher show you to the door, I think "City Of Angels:The Director's Cut" is playing down at the mall, ba-BYE. The rest of you are rewarded with plot development...one of the angels (the amazing Bruno Ganz) is lovestruck with a beautiful, enigmatic trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin,the amazing Mrs. Wenders) and now must choose between Love or Immortality. Without giving too much away, a clever subplot involving Peter Falk (playing himself) is not as out-of-place as it looks on paper. Wender's very humanist film works on many levels, providing new insight with each repeated viewing, but you don't have to be a crystal-gazing Yanni fan to "get" it. A high water mark for both Wender's career and for world cimema in the 80's.
Rating:
Summary: Engel Ueber Berlin! - Angels Over Berlin!
Review: During the 80's and 90's I was lucky to live in Berlin.Now I am back in New Jersey. Sometimes I get homesick. Do you want to know what I do? I shove this movie into the VCR. It gives an awesome view on Berlin and its people. Couldn't have been more realistic.
Rating:
Summary: to love life, every precious minute of it...
Review: If you believe in endless possibilities, and that the physical and spiritual worlds are intermingled, this film is a must. The cinematography by Henri Alekan, in both black and white and color, is breathtaking. The Hollywood remake in '98, "City of Angels", used much of the same imagery, but missed the eerie intensity.There are scenes that will be forever embedded in my mind...the short one of the desperate man on the subway, who starts to find a solution within himself as the angel sits next to him...the two angels (magnificently played by Bruno Ganz and Otto Sandler) discussing life starting from when "history had not yet begun", and so many more. The score by Jürgen Knieper (who did the haunting music for "The River's Edge" in '87) is fabulous, and the performances are great, notably by the stunningly beautiful and graceful Solveig Dommartin, and Peter Falk. Though some may find it slow, or too abstract, I think most will see it as a film that inspires one to appreciate how precious being alive is, and to make the most of every day. I'm not sure what made me purchase this, as I was not familiar with Wenders' work, but it arrived from amazon at a somber time in my life, and it was like a poetic ray of light, a life-affirming gift from God. Yes, angels are among us.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Brilliant
Review: This is the first 5-star rating I have given, and I'd really like to give this movie 10. It is perfection. Mesmerizing from the first moment, you are drawn in by the symbolism, the spiritual (not necessarily religious) atmosphere, amazingly creative and artistic filming, brilliant dialog, and above all else, the perfect performance by Peter Falk playing... well... Peter Falk. Watch this movie. Buy this movie. Give this movie as a gift. Perfect for any intellectual on your Christmas list. This is truly the art of cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Review: I saw this movie when I was 28 (12 years ago), and it had a life changing effect on me. Stuck in some kind of morbid quasi-mysticism, I began to view the world as a fallen product of the spirit. This movie changed all that. After seeing this movie, I began to recognize the miracle of being alive and that this world is not fallen but exalted, even in its worst moments. Like the previous reviewer, I, too, was disgusted with the butchered hollywood rendition of this film, "The City of Angels". Thomas Seay
Rating:
Summary: You name it, I've seen it, and this was my favorite
Review: I'm priviledged to have an opportunity to say something in support of this movie. There's more opportunity for You to say something at Yahoo Clubs, just search for Wings of Desire. This movie is sorta slow for most people, but in the end, it is an awesome, inspiring experience for the viewer. The highest art of film.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: Perhaps because I had been so entranced by "City of Angels," the remake of this film, my disappointment is great. This is a somber, dreary film with subtitles that don't seem to make sense in colloquial English. But, then, maybe my disappointment is really over the ending of "City of Angels," because the heroine in "Wings of Desire" was not killed. Why did this happen to Meg Ryan's character in "City of Angels?"
Rating: 
Summary: What's Missing?
Review: Is this MGM 6/2000 print really a re-cut without being clearly marked as such? I'm aware that at least one scene is missing from the original - and I think that is really a tragedy. Has anyone else noticed changes?
|
