The Cinema Girl | Wings of Desire (1987)

Wings of Desire DVD DVD REVIEW | Serena Donadoni | Wings of Desire (Der Himmel Über Berlin, literally The Sky Over Berlin), Wim Wenders's dreamy meditation on guardian angels and the allure of earthly love, is a film that strikes a deep emotional chord with audiences. The clumsy, overwrought American remake, City of Angels (1998), only increased devotion to the elegant original, which was available in a poor quality pan and scan videotape with huge yellow serif subtitles. This special edition DVD from MGM finally puts the film in the best possible light, doing justice at last to Henri Alekan's stunning cinematography, especially his exquisitely gradated black and white sequences, which in movie theaters were bathed in a bluish tint. The extras here are often as heartfelt as the movie, providing insight into the history of Berlin, and chronicling the organic evolution of this haunting film. The 43-minute Angels Among Us shows just how good a making-of documentary can be: interviews with Wim Wenders, writer Peter Handke, actors Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander and Peter Falk, and composer Jürgen Knieper illuminate the details of this cinematic leap of faith. The makers of Wings of Desire combined instinct with determination to create a film that's both timely and timeless: their musings on how angels might view life in the enclosed city of West Berlin both encapsulate an era and serve as a transcendent image of resignation and hope. From the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke that served as inspiration, to the way this poetic film was embraced by audiences, Angels Among Us touches on the key elements and decisions that resulted in a work of true cinematic art. Of course, it didn't look that way at the time. Wenders and company were flying on a wing and a prayer: there was no shooting script; characters were added during filming, including Peter Falk's fallen angel; and crucial decisions (like costume design) were made at the last possible moment. It's no wonder that many of the principals were surprised that the film turned out as well as it did. The fragile nature of this enterprise is epitomized by a story about the famed Alekan, who created Wings of Desire's distinctive glow by using a filter he made by hand in the 1930s from his grandmother's silk stocking. Wenders recalls how this precious relic had to be gently fitted over modern camera lenses every day; a reminder of how individual craftsmanship still factors into this high-tech medium. Interviews with City of Angels director Brad Silberling, rhapsodizing about the original film like a besotted fan boy, effectively summarizes the devotee's passion, but one point of view is sorely missed: that of Solveig Dommartin. In her screen debut, the French actress (who was romantically involved with Wenders) threw herself into the role, learning to master the trapeze in a scant eight weeks, and performing all her own stunts without a net. Cast not only as a woman who could fly, but a human who lured an angel down to earth, it's a shame that her memories of this quintessentially romantic film aren't included. Two other extras are essential viewing for fans: the interactive map of West Berlin details the thorny history of the film's primary locations, which were chosen for their symbolic as well as aesthetic value; and the deleted scenes with Wenders's wry commentary. Much of what didn't make it into the final cut are comedic sequences, where the angels' invisibility is played for laughs. There's even some stunning slapstick — a pie fight! — that seems antithetical to the somber, melancholy feeling which permeates Wings of Desire, but captures the mood of try anything once enthusiasm that fueled this collaboration. There's also a seemingly comic short (without English subtitles, it's difficult to be sure) promoting a Wim Wenders retrospective, and two very different trailers for the film. The German trailer is nearly silent, a hypnotic evocation of the film's mood — grounded yet ethereal — while the American trailer (made by the U.S. distributor, former indie powerhouse Orion Classics) is noisy and cluttered, over-emphasizing Peter Falk's role and the small sections of English-language dialogue while explicitly spelling out the plot. A few notes on the DVD's image and sound: the new, smaller sans serif subtitles (these angels too have lost their wings) are a great improvement; and the German/English soundtrack option does contain subtitles for the German dialogue (the option marked simply as English subtitles is geared for the hearing impaired and subtitles all the dialogue). The thoughtful, detailed audio commentary from Wim Wenders, with Peter Falk chiming in periodically with questions or observations, reveals a gracious filmmaker who wants to let the audience in, revealing the process instead of mystifying it. As Wenders discusses Wings of Desire, which won him the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, he provides an engaging travelogue to the time and place that spawned the film as well as the host of people who journeyed there with him. This was a homecoming, he says, after eight years in America, and also a fluke, the movie he made while waiting for another one to come together. Either way, his timing couldn't have been better. Without realizing that the Berlin Wall would only stand for a few more years, Wim Wenders created an elegiac portrait of a city that existed as a modern fort in the midst of a country divided by the Cold War. What Wenders and his collaborators saw was a place defined by a seemingly impenetrable structure, and populated their isolated, defiant West Berlin with eternal beings who could walk right through it.

POSTSCRIPT: Solveig Dommartin died January 11, 2007 in Paris of cardiac arrest at the age of 45. The French actress and filmmaker was primarily known for this graceful portrayal of a trapeze artist who drew an angel into the world of human love, and collaborated with Wim Wenders on several more films, including Until the End of the World (1991) and the 1993 sequel to Wings of Desire called Faraway, So Close!

WINGS OF DESIRE | Der Himmel Über Berlin | 1987

Cast: Bruno Ganz (Damiel), Solveig Dommartin (Marion), Otto Sander (Cassiel), Curt Bois (Homer the Poet), Peter Falk (Der Filmstar), Lajos Kovács (Marion's Trainer), Laurent Petitgand (Der Kapellmeister), with performances by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Crime and the City Solution.

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