Wings of Desire Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wings of Desire - Movie Review Example The movie opens in a gloomy city of Berlin, a city which at this time was recovering from the 1945 bombing and various years of neglect. The angels are then revealed to the viewers. Dressed in black garments, the two, Damiel and Cassiel, have melancholic and benevolent expressions from their faces. Their role is to watch over the city of Berlin and ensure that its inhabitants are safe. We learn that these two are invisible to the inhabitants, but children and other angels are able to see them. Damiel and Cassiel seem to the audience as caretakers of people’s memory. We see them taking down notes and listening to the thoughts of the people. They also travel around the city watching the inhabitants’ actions and extensively studying them. Most of their days are spent serenely whereby they only observe people, but, are not able to interact with them. They are emotionless in that, they are unable to experience joy or pain. This sums up the life of an angel in Berlin. On a normal day, we see Damiel meeting an artist Marion. Damiel gets enchanted and smitten by her beauty. The company that Marion works for reveals that it is out of money, hence, they must be forced to disband. This really upsets Marion. As Damiel watches her, he starts developing human feelings and he makes a decision; that he wants to start living as a human. Damiel is really moved by what marion is going through, hence, decides to be part of her life, share in her pain, and console her in times of distress. As this happens, Cassiel assumes an otherwise opposite trait; he walks around unsmiling and unmoved by events of humans. Perhaps, Cassiel was disturbed by his friend’s continued fondness of the human beings. From this, we learn of the extreme juxtaposition between these two major characters of the movie. While Damiel is enthusiastic, honest and exploitative, Cassiel is dry and wary, and devoid of passion. He is not attracted at all to the human side unlike his friend wh o aspires to lead a human life; however the viewer can begin to note his frustration with the life that he is leading (Willcock 76). The movie depicts the exact nature of human beings in the contemporary life. Angels in the movie keep witnessing human emotions and with time, they become enchanted by it. They start experiencing the sweetness of simple pleasures like a cup of tea and a cigarette stick. From the viewpoint of the angels, the city of Berlin is seen in a tinge of white and black, which is beautiful, yet unreal. Later, when these angels join humans, the color shifts from black and white into a natural looking color and into a harsher rhythm. Through these changes, we see the movie having enigmatic, wistful, somber, dreamlike and meditative tones. Later, Damiel falls from grace by dropping into the world, and we see him roaming about the berlin streets looking for his love Marion. As Damiel does this, his friend Cassiel remains in his black and white world of angels and sti lls retains his sulking mood. Later, unable to hold it longer, Cassiel also becomes human and drops to the Berlin world. Cassiel later meets Marion and Damiel at a concert in Nick Cave. They clown around and the