review by Corey Pierce
Wings of Desire 1987
Watched Feb 11, 2012
Corey Pierce’s review:
Completely blown away, even as I suspect if it was completely in English language I might have rejected it, since it's overflowing with poetic elements which are not usually my thing. As it is though, the German (and French) language reflects an appropriate romantic intensity as I read along, Peter Falk serves as a nice accent to everything, and it can be dark and awkward along the way. Overall hits my sweet spot when it comes to artsy fartsy filmmaking, and Wenders really has his pacing dead-on, and knows how to gracefully move his camera around beautiful scenery.
All this and some weird club dancing that makes Elaine Benes' moves look superb.
Bang on with this movie. It's poetic in a way that I wish The Tree of Life could have been. Messy and weird and artful and beautiful and moving. I also love that it's very much a portrait of a Berlin pre-fall of the Berlin Wall. We see how it was a city trapped in a moment, still recovering from the scars of WWII and now having to deal with a forced separation from itself. It manages to be a great exploration of that city at that time, but also works with the universal themes of love and division in the film.
Oh god, I could go on and on. Really an amazing work of art.
Cracking review, couldn't agree more. Manages to be thoughtful and introspective without being shoe gazing and has enough warmth, mostly from Peter Falk, to make you really get into the mood of the piece, great watch, nice review.