Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Peter Handke (writer)
Richard Reitinger (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 May 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

There are angels on the streets of Berlin.

Plot:

An angel tires of overseeing human activity and wishes to become human when he falls in love with a mortal.

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Berlin | Circus | Desire | Library

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 15 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Bruno Ganz	...	Damiel
Solveig Dommartin	...	Marion
Otto Sander	...	Cassiel
Curt Bois	...	Homer, the aged poet
Peter Falk	...	Der Filmstar
Hans Martin Stier	...	In weiteren Rollen - Der Sterbende
Elmar Wilms	...	In weiteren Rollen - Ein trauriger Mann
Sigurd Rachman	...	In weiteren Rollen - Der Selbstmörder
Beatrice Manowski	...	In weiteren Rollen - Das Strichmädchen
Lajos Kovács	...	Im Zirkus - Marion's Trainer
Bruno Rosaz	...	Im Zirkus - Der Clown
Laurent Petitgand	...	Im Zirkus - Der Kapellmeister
Chick Ortega	...	Im Zirkus - Der Schlagzeuger (as Chico Rojo Ortega)
Otto Kuhnle	...	Im Zirkus - Die Jongleure
Christoph Merg	...	Im Zirkus - Der Jongleure

Also Known As:

Wings of Desire (UK) (USA)
Les ailes du désir (France)
The Sky Above Berlin (USA) (literal English title)
The Sky Over Berlin (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

West Germany | France

Language:

German | English | French | Turkish | Hebrew | Spanish

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (1999) | Iceland:L | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2007) | UK:15 (cinema rating) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Finland:S | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The photograph on the cover of the book that the old man opens in the library is "Young farmers" taken by August Sander.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Cassiel is crossing the street, there is a bus coming. You can hear the bus driver let off the accelerator to allow the actor to pass, and then accelerate when he is clear. But the character is an angel, which adults cannot see, yet by the sound of the bus, it is clear that the bus driver sees him.

Quotes:

The Dying Man: [thinking to himself while lying on the side of a road after a motorcycle accident] You never saw anyone die? I stink of gasoline. I saw it all clearly - the Mercedes, the pool of oil. Karin, I should have told you. It can't be that simple. I've still so much to do.
Damiel: [Damiel places his hands on the Dying Man's head] As I came up the mountain, out of the misty valley into the sun. The fire on the cattle range, the potatoes in the ashes, the boathouse floating in the lake. The Southern Cross.
The Dying Man: [slowly begins to speak Damiel's thoughts out loud. They speak together at first. Then, Damiel walks away, and only the Dying Man speaks] The Far East. The Great North. The Wild West. The Great Bear Lake. Tristan da Cunha. The Mississippi Delta. Stromboli. The old houses of Charlottenburg. Albert Camus. The morning light. The child's eyes. The swim in the waterfall. The spots of the first drops of rain...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Pas Attendre

human life has value

In the first scenes after the opening credits, we see an aerial view of Berlin, but this is a Berlin that doesn't exist anymore. It's a city divided, between East and West, that still bears the scars of the second World War, and can't rebuild where the Wall stands in the way. There is a vast vacant lot where the cultural center of pre-war Berlin stood, with the facade of an old station, and nearby stands a bomb-shelter and the tower of a bombed-out church.

It is from this church where an angel stands looking out over the city, and then we see the people going about their daily lives. All this is shot in black and white, and we realize that we are seeing the world through the angel's eyes, seeing the same colorless world and hearing the same thoughts of the people around. As the story goes on, we realize that this is not just one angel in Berlin, for he goes to a car showroom, and compares observations with another angel. Then we go to the library, which is filled with angels.

The first library scene is my favorite scene of the whole movie. It is here where we see many different people studying, and their thoughts reverberate around the space until they are just a murmur, which becomes music. Because there are so few distinct voices, it doesn't matter that they are in German, which I don't understand. However, there was one young man studying the creation story of Genesis in Hebrew, which ties in with a later point where the two lead angels are discussing how they witnessed creation. First they saw the glacier recede, then fish and animals appear. They laughed when they saw the first biped, someone who shared their image, but they stopped laughing when the people learned how to make war.

As idyllic as the angels' lives are, it is through the pain we humans endure that know we are fully alive. And this is what the angels miss, to see colors, to touch, to taste, to smell, the ability to love and affect others' lives. The children can see them, but the adults may at times only feel some vague presence. They lay hands on people's shoulders, to try to understand their feelings beyond mere words. This is illustrated by a scene on a rooftop, where a man is about to commit suicide; as he sits on the ledge, an angel lays a hand on him as if holding him back, and when he jumps, the angel shouts `no!' For these angels are observers, spending their time being a presence among the living, not just to primarily serve as ushers to the afterlife (where I was sorely disappointed after watching "City of Angels," the American re-make). They are not harbingers of doom, but benign symbols of a creator's concern for humans.

Don't be turned off by the fact that it's in black and white, because one thing that really makes an impact is that it's only through viewing as an angel is it in monochrome, because when humans see the world, it's in color. A poem continues throughout the movie and ties everything together, repeating "When the child was a child..." and we realize that humans are the children, the ones younger than angels, just learning and enjoying life. The music adds a lot to the movie, since this film is more visual than verbal, which means that subtitles don't get in the way. I can't say enough about this film–it's wonderful!