Angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz) has spent an eternity perched high above the city of Berlin listening to the fears, hopes, dreams and prayers of the human beings below having many philosophical discussions with fellow observer Cassiel (Otto Sander). After falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, Marion (Solveig Dommartin) he makes the decision to fall to Earth and give up his humanity.

CRITIQUE

Wim Wender’s 1987 classic Wings of Desire is about the what-ifs in live. What if I went left instead of right? What if I turned down that job and chased my dreams a little bit longer? What if I married my high school sweetheart? What if I knew then what I knew now? Those questions and more are the ones haunting the characters in this wispy and ethereal beauty of a film, the should’ves, could’ves, would’ves of life the ghosts lingering around everyone just outside the frame.

There’s not really much else there. Yes, there is a love story between Damiel and Marion, but it’s not as concrete or as realized as you probably imagine it would be as outlined in that synopsis above. No, Wender’s movie is a treatise on life and death, a religious discussion of the things we want, the prayers we say and the faith we wish we had.

As such I doubt the film would be your typical viewer’s cup of tea. It is challenging and thought provoking, asking complicated and intricate questions that take multiple viewings to explore fully. More, it blatantly contradicts itself time and time again (or, at least that’s how I interpret it; I fully admit I could be wrong), even having a character (an easygoing folksy actor agreeably played by Peter Falk – as himself!) around to potentially tempt the angelic to the Dark Side by slyly enticing them to reveal themselves to him.

Then there’s the climax. Not only do you not see it coming, it, too, calls into question everything already seen forcing the viewer to think of brand new interpretations to what they’ve witnessed. It’s both masterful and perplexing, just another layer Wenders and co-writer Peter Handke what people to work their hardest to try and strip away.

What’s the answer? I don’t think there is one. Everyone who sees Wings of Desire is going to discover something different. It plays on multiple levels, going in directions near, far and in-between with dexterous ease. The film is a complicated yet beguiling puzzle box of emotion and theory, and by the time it’s over for my part the only thing I ever want to do is start it over from the beginning and watch it again.

From a purely technical standpoint this might be Wenders most remarkable achievement (which is saying something for those who have watched a few of his other films like Paris, Texas or The State of Things). Sound and music play an intricate role here, while the production design and the costuming help the filmmaker with the intricate crafting of his themes and ideas.

But it is Henri Alken’s cinematography that is the real star here. The director calls him a “master of black and white” in the special features and I’d say that’s a massive understatement. This is the man who shot Roman Holiday, Three Women and Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, after all, and is usage of shadow and light in those films is absolutely beyond reproach.

Alken takes it to a whole other place with this picture, though. From a purely visual standpoint, Wings of Desire is one of the loveliest examples of pure cinema I have ever seen. Not a single shot seems off, the varying levels of gray so pristine they take your breath away. This is a movie made to be seen in a theater, and while this Blu-ray presentation is remarkable one of the best and most everlasting moments of my entire life will be the day I got to watch this one as a youngster at the Magic Lantern growing up in Spokane.

In other words, this film is a masterpiece. There isn’t too much more to say other than that.

THE VIDEO

Wings of Desire is presented in 1.66:1/1080p, the aspect ratio supervised and approved by director Wenders. Another homerun for Criterion, and if you’ll forgive the pun I’d go so far as to say this transfer is positively angelic.

THE AUDIO

The film is presented in German, English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with new and improved English subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Some of the special features have been included in previous laser disc and DVD releases of the film including the wonderfully informative Audio Commentary with Wim Wenders and Peter Falk, the Deleted Scenes and Outtakes and the awesome 2003 documentary Angels Among Us. Other extras include:

• Excerpt from the French television show Cinéma Cinémas, “Wim Wenders Berlin Jan. 87”
• Great Interview with Director of Photography Henri Alken
• Excerpts from the film Alekan la Lumiére
• Excerpts from Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander’s Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
• Notes and Photos by Art Directors Heidi and Toni Ludi
• Theatrical Trailer collection
• Booklet with essays by film critic Michael Atkinson and writings by both Wim Wenders and Peter Handke 

All these extras are pretty great and informative, fans of the film sure to return to many of them (especially the 2003 documentary, the Alken interview and that booklet of writings and essays) multiple times.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wings of Desire is a magnificent achievement for Wim Wenders and justifiably lauded as one of the best films of the 1980’s. Criterion’s Blu-ray presentation of the film is simply extraordinary and fans of important and great cinema should go out of their way to pick this disc up for their collection.