Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)

In accordance to COVID-19 protocols, all students must wear masks and show proof of full vaccination (two doses) to enter Saint Paul University, where the Goethe-Institut Ottawa is located.

The Goethe-Institut Ottawa's monthly thematic film series on German cinema at Saint Paul University.

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)

France, Germany (BRD) 1987, 128 min.
Director: Wim Wenders
With: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk

Wim Wenders' multiple award-winning film tells the story of the two angels Cassiel and Damiel, who dared to contradict God and were therefore transferred by him to earth, to Berlin. The two disembodied figures in trench coats listen to the tormenting thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. For the adults they are invisible, only the children can see them. But when Damiel falls in love with trapeze artist Marion at a concert by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, he wishes to become a human being and thus visible. He meets the American actor Peter Falk, who used to be an angel himself and advises Damiel to take the big step of giving up his existence as an angel and become mortal.

West Berlin, still clearly marked by destruction 40 years after the end of the war, is depicted in atmospheric black-and-white images here. - The city appears as a place of standstill. Exemplary for this are the images of the completely deserted Potsdamer Platz. Other locations in the film include the angel on Berlin's Victory Column and the reading room of the Berlin State Library.


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