‘Wings of Desire’: Wim Wenders’ Lyrical German Fable About Longing, Connection and the Leap Into Mortal Life

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel Über Berlin) (1987) is a lyrical German drama starring Bruno Ganz as Damiel, an angel who wanders through West Berlin alongside fellow angel Cassiel (Otto Sander) while listening to the private thoughts of strangers. Damiel acts as a calm observer, moved by human suffering and tenderness yet sealed off from the complexities of the human experience.

Damiel floats through libraries, apartments, trains and streets, absorbing a steady stream of human pain and longing. He eventually becomes transfixed by Marion (Solveig Dommartin), a lonely trapeze artist whose strength and sadness captivate him. His fixation on her becomes a daily pursuit as he watches her perform, wander the city alone, and question her place in the world. Observing her every move eventually makes him tire of hovering out of reach, and he forsakes his angelhood to become human—stepping into reality in order to approach her as a fellow earthling.

Directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas, The American Friend), Wings of Desire drifts through 1980s Berlin with a wonderfully ethereal grace. Cinematographer Henri Alekan shines as his black-and-white sequences shift seamlessly to color, signaling Damiel's transition into the human realm. Ganz makes Damiel’s transition feel both genuine and well-earned, while Solveig Dommartin carries Marion’s loneliness with a clear-eyed serenity. Ultimately, Wenders delivers a warmly realized tale of mortality and the value of life as an embrace of existence and tangible experience.

---

Watch the trailer: