For Damiel, the angel at the center of Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire, boundless life has at last become tedious. Wandering the streets of Berlin, he wishes he could participate in the world he has long influenced.
As human beings, we have a hard time with the concept of infinity. What would it really mean to live forever, or to be able to hear the thoughts of everyone around you? Would it be the ultimate power trip, or would you quickly grow tired of it all?
For Damiel, the angel at the center of Wim Wenders’s cult classic fantasy Wings of Desire, boundless life has at last become tedious. Wandering the streets of Berlin, he wishes he could participate in the world he has long influenced. There is a drabness to being a servant of God—it seems that angels experience the city in black and white. But when Damiel falls in love with a poor, mortal trapeze artist, a flood of color fills the screen. This is the decision that plagues him: to go on as he always has been, or to plunge into the messy, finite world that you and I know.
This is a rich but delicate film, crafted brushstroke by brushstroke. We long for art that reaffirms our purpose in life, and Wings of Desire takes on this weighty task. To say you’ve witnessed beauty—is that not enough? For Damiel, it is the most important thing.