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Now playing at the Media Center: "Wings of Desire"

By HEIDI RUPPRECHT

How do we decide when to reinterpret a work? Last week, Lawrentian editors altered the title of my column to include the phrase "fun romp." I don’t condone the use of "fun" as an adjective, so I was dismayed. Then I began to wonder how Wim Wenders (certainly no mediocre columnist) could condone the recent interpretation of his film "Wings of Desire," "City of Angels." Now showing at theaters, "City of Angels" stars the pert Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage, playing the displaced angel. The reappearance of this film is no surprise, coinciding with America’s growing fascination with angels. A host of recent television shows, from "Touched by an Angel" to "X-Files," deals with angels and the supernatural. Instead of viewing the new film and risking disappointment, however, I decided to revisit the original Wim Wenders film (assistant directed by Claire Denis). It’s accessible and free at the Media Center, so there’s no excuse for traveling to the theater before giving due consideration to "Wings of Desire."

Filmed in 1989, "Wings of Desire" takes place in Berlin after the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. The country’s reconsideration of boundaries coincides with the appearance of the angel Domiel, played by Bruno Ganz. Able to intervene in spirit only, Domiel travels around the desolate cityscapes of the new Berlin, a place where East and West no longer differentiate the freedom of Berlin’s inhabitants. Wenders’ Berlin is isolated, graffiti-ridden, and struggling with its identity—as are the city dwellers Domiel encounters. As the angel regards each human, Wenders allows us entry into his consciousness and allows us to listen to his thoughts—often of desperation, longing, love, and fear. Thus, we become voyeurs, watching 91 subwaygoers and pedestrians, yet isolated from them like the angel.

Predominantly filmed in black and white, the camera follows the flights of Domiel and his angelic counterpart Cassiel, played by Otto Sander. As they swoop over the buildings and shops, the long, panned camera shots reveal a Berlin at once calm and chaotic, crowded and isolated. As the film progresses, Domiel longs for the experience of human senses. He yearns for weight and substance, deciding finally to trade his wings and eternal existence to experience physical pain, and the feel of a human body. Wenders shot the rest of the film predominantly in color, emphasizing Domiel’s entrance into the tangible world, alive with colors and tastes and smells. In human form, he encounters Peter Falk playing himself. A former angel, Falk explains his decision to take on human substance and directs Domiel to the trapeze artist with whom he has fallen in love. Solveig Dommartin plays the graceful Marion, a French acrobat who feels that the absence of pleasure has made her clumsy. Finally, they encounter each other in a dirty Berlin club, with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds wailing in the background. As they greet each other, the music fades and Marion explains that their union has become their only universe. In contrast with their newfound earthly happiness, the other angel perches above the city on a winged statue, ensconced in black. As he regards Berlin below him, his desire is yet unfulfilled (and later will give rise to the sequel shown recently at Wriston, "Faraway, So Close").