Wings of Desire (1987)

Wings of Desire (1987)

An angel yearns for love while wandering the streets of Cold War Berlin

The Very Best

8.5

Movie

France, Germany
English, French, German
Drama, Fantasy, Romance
1987
WIM WENDERS
Annelinde Gerstl, Beartice Manowski, Beatrice Manowski
128 min

What it's about

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.

The take

Two angels wander the streets of a monochrome Berlin, invisible to the colorful world that bustles around them. When one of them falls in love, he begins to question his place and yearns to give up immortality to join the ranks of the living. Wim Wender’s exceptional film is a poetic meditation on faith, cinema, and a mournful tour of a city in the grip of the Cold War. 

Wings of Desire is bursting with poetry and heartbreaking humanism emphasized by the tender performances by Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, and Peter Falk, while serving as a beautiful love letter to a city yearning for change. If you’ve only seen City of Angels, the loose American remake, then you owe it to yourself to experience the raw poetic power of the real deal.

Active Streaming Deals

$50 Off DirecTV Stream

$74.99

$64.99

Active Streaming Deals

69% Off NordVPN + 3 months Free

$14.99

$4.99

Active Streaming Deals

50% Off Sling

$40

$20

Active Streaming Deals

49% Off ExpressVPN

$12.95

$6.67

Comments

Last time I saw it in a theatre, the people behind us had driven 2 hours to the city to watch it. Because “It’s the best movie there is.”

Add a comment

What did you think? Who should watch it?

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Murina (2022)

A gripping slow burn of a coming-of-age tale set on the gorgeous Croatian coast

8.3

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

Last Call for Istanbul (2023)

A seemingly generic Turkish romance travel film, until it gets into its second half

7.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

9.1

Nightmare Alley (2021)

A psychological thriller of the highest quality, masked as an adult fairytale, by the great Guillermo del Toro

9.0

Frybread Face and Me (2023)

A gorgeous and tender coming-of-age addition to the Indigenous New Wave

8.0

A Deadly Invitation (2023)

A Mexican whodunit that feels more like an infodump than a compelling murder mystery

5.5

Nowhere (2023)

A riveting Spanish Netflix survival thriller brought to life in Anna Castillo’s performance

7.8

Totally Killer (2023)

A campy serial killer homage to the classic films of the 80’s

7.2

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2023 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.