Wings of Desire (1987)

In director Wim Wenders’ most metaphysical work, a guardian angel desires nothing more than to be human.

Every day, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) listens to the thoughts of mortals who play their lives out on the streets of West Berlin. He finds himself entranced by a trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin) whose eloquent expression of her doubts and fears makes him yearn for a life where he can feel happiness and love.

As with A Matter of Life and Death, the afterlife here is a world in monochrome. Only the living can see in full colour and it is their lives, with their moments of sorrow and joy, that Wim Wenders captures so eloquently in this singularly poetic film. Winner of the Best Director prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, Wings of Desire is both a paean to Germany's capital and a vital rumination on human existence itself.

1987 Federal Republic of Germany, France
Directed by
Wim Wenders
Produced by
Wim Wenders, Anatole Dauman
Written by
Wim Wenders
Featuring
Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander
Running time
128 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Wings of Desire

Critics

Miriam Balanescu
UK
Llewella Chapman
UK
Toni Dimkov
North Macedonia
Gareth Evans
UK
Arman Fatić
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Rico Gagliano
USA
Nick Hodgin
UK
Aleksandar S. Janković
Serbia
Sheila Johnston
UK
Kalle Løchen
Norway
Ronald Rovers
Netherlands
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Canada
José Teodoro
Canada
Srđan Vučinić
Serbia
Chloe Walker
UK
Adam Woodward
UK

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