Wings of Desire (1987)

NEUTRAL

Various

96%

1987, Fantasy, 2h 8m

RT Critics’ Score: 98% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award
19 wins & 16 nominations total

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Critics Consensus

Beyond ravishing, Wings of Desire is Wim Wenders’ is aching and heartbreaking exploration of how love makes us human.

Audience Consensus

Holy smokes, have you seen Wings of Desire? It’s like Wim Wenders took a sledgehammer to my heart and left me a sobbing mess. This flick is all about how love is what makes us truly human, and let me tell you, it hits you right in the feels. The visuals are beyond stunning, and the story is so achingly beautiful that you’ll be thinking about it for days. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions in between, Wings of Desire is the one for you.

Storyline

Visible only to those like them and to human children, Damiel and Cassiel are two angels, who have existed even before humankind. Along with several other angels, they currently wander around West Berlin, generally on their own, observing and preserving life, sometimes trying to provide comfort to the troubled, although those efforts are not always successful. Among those they are currently observing are: the cast and crew of a movie – a detective story set in WWII Nazi Germany – which include a sensitive and perceptive Peter Falk; an elderly man named Homer looking for eternal peace; and the troupe of a financially failing circus, which has closed early for the season because of those financial problems. One day, Damiel tells Cassiel that he wants to become human, to feel not only the sensory aspects of physical beings, but also emotional aspects. He embarks on this thought with the full realization that there is no turning back if he decides to do so. His thoughts are largely because he has fallen in love with Marion, the trapeze artist with the circus. If he does decide to become a human, there is no guarantee that as a human that he will be able to locate Marion or that she will return his affection. His angels, however, may be looking out for him.

Production Company(ies)
Road Movies Filmproduktion, Argos Films, Westdeutscher Rundfunk

Distributor
Orion Pictures

Release Type
Theatrical

Filming Location(s)
Mitte, Berlin, Germany

MPAA / Certificate
PG-13

Year of Release
1988

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

Dolby
Aspect ratio:

NA
Runtime:

2h 8m
Language(s):

German, English, French, Turkish, Hebrew, Spanish, Japanese
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1987 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 3, 2009

Genre(s)
Fantasy

Keyword(s)
Wings of Desire, PG-13, Fantasy, German, Wim Wenders, Anatole Dauman, Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk, written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke, produced by Wim Wenders, box office gross $120.8K, reviewed by Joe Clay, Danny Leigh, Peter Bradshaw, David Stratton, Ian Nathan, Joe Morgenstern, Steph Green, Dennis Harvey, Octavi Marti, Molly Haskell, directed by Wim Wenders, angels, Berlin, trapeze artist, love, human form, hope, Peter Falk playing himself, stereo, Dolby Stereo, flat aspect ratio, Orion Pictures

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $3,404,057
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,715,888
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,012
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 950,479

US/Canada gross: $3,333,969
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,536,432
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,666
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,301
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $44,298
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,250

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA

Cast & Crew

Bruno Ganz

Solveig Dommartin

Otto Sander

Curt Bois

Peter Falk

Damiel

Marion

Cassiel

Homer

Self

Bruno Ganz – Damiel
Solveig Dommartin – Marion
Otto Sander – Cassiel
Curt Bois – Homer
Peter Falk – Self
Lajos Kovács – Marion’s Trainer

Wim Wenders

Anatole Dauman

Wim Wenders

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Wim Wenders

Writer(s)
Wim Wenders, Peter Handke

Producer(s)
Anatole Dauman, Wim Wenders

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award
19 wins & 16 nominations total

Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Joe Clay

Danny Leigh

Peter Bradshaw

David Stratton

Ian Nathan

Times

Financial Times

Guardian

At the Movies

Empire Magazine

WINGS OF DESIRE
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (1)
Wim Wenders’ astonishing, award-winning fantasy drama depicts life in a divided Berlin through the eyes of angels.

June 28, 2022

Joe Clay
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
If some restorations of classic films are mere spit and polish, this one is spectacular: a deepening and sharpening of existing beauty.

June 23, 2022 | Rating: 5/5

Danny Leigh
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
A cinema of ideas, almost an essay movie, and utterly distinctive.

June 22, 2022 | Rating: 5/5

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
A stunningly made valentine to the city of Berlin, which has never been more imaginatively or more beautifully filmed. A joy from start to finish.

November 2, 2017 | Rating: 5/5

David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
A beautiful, literate and romantic piece of cinema.

November 27, 2012 | Rating: 5/5

Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A fantasy that… goes right in spite of its solemn style.

November 27, 2012

Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
TOP CRITIC
The film remains as soothing and esoteric as it was upon release, suffused with a sweet lyricality and lightness of touch despite its heavily philosophical outlook.

June 21, 2022 | Rating: 4/5

Steph Green
WeLoveCinema
Brobably the closest thing to a popular movie about metaphysics that the medium has had yet to offer.

October 22, 2020

Dennis Harvey
48 Hills
Peter Handke’s script plays a big role when it injects into the movie a suitable poetic breath. [Full Review in Spanish]

April 22, 2020

Octavi Marti
El Pais (Spain)
Wenders has made a film that is elegiac but harsh, hard-edged and romantic, haunted as well as haunting, but that… holds out the promise of love as a benign coming-to-rest.

February 27, 2020

Molly Haskell
Vogue
It is a complex work of art that can only grow in stature from repeated viewings.

October 16, 2019

David Harris
Spectrum Culture
The film’s pacing and ethereal camera movements only help to magnify the angelic tranquility…Wenders is challenging us to rethink how we view our place in the world.

February 16, 2019 | Rating: A

Courtney Small
Cinema Axis…

Plot
Visible only to those like them and to human children, Damiel and Cassiel are two angels, who have existed even before humankind. Along with several other angels, they currently wander around West Berlin, generally on their own, observing and preserving life, sometimes trying to provide comfort to the troubled, although those efforts are not always successful. Among those they are currently observing are: the cast and crew of a movie – a detective story set in WWII Nazi Germany – which include a sensitive and perceptive Peter Falk; an elderly man named Homer looking for eternal peace; and the troupe of a financially failing circus, which has closed early for the season because of those financial problems. One day, Damiel tells Cassiel that he wants to become human, to feel not only the sensory aspects of physical beings, but also emotional aspects. He embarks on this thought with the full realization that there is no turning back if he decides to do so. His thoughts are largely because he has fallen in love with Marion, the trapeze artist with the circus. If he does decide to become a human, there is no guarantee that as a human that he will be able to locate Marion or that she will return his affection. His angels, however, may be looking out for him.

Trivia