Wings of Desire / City of Angels

There are angels on the streets of Berlin
There are angels on the streets of Berlin
WINGS OF DESIRE (DER HIMMEL ÜBER BERLIN) (12)
D: Wim Wenders
Road Movies/Argus (Wim Wenders & Anatole Dauman)
West Germany 🇩🇪 1987
127 mins

Fantasy/Romance

W: Wim Wenders & Peter Handke
DP: Henri Alekan
Ed: Peter Przygodda
Mus: Jürgen Knieper


Bruno Ganz (Damiel), Solveig Dommartin (Marion), Otto Sandler (Cassiel), Curt Bois (Homer), Peter Falk (Peter)

It's unfortunate that the insipid Hollywood remake (City Of Angels) will be better known than Wim Wender's original film, which is a beautifully filmed visual poem about the afterlife.
The story sees a pair of angels roam around Berlin, shot with picturesque black and white photography, and one of them decides he wants to be human after he falls in love with a circus entertainer. 
Perhaps it's because it isn't in the English language, or perhaps it's because it's an art house film, but one thing's for sure, Wings Of Desire is amongst the most underappreciated films of the 1980's as far as audiences are concerned.
At least the critics lavished it with the praise that's fully deserved.
8/10

Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire

CITY OF ANGELS (12)
D: Brad Silberling
Warner Bros./Regency/Atlas (Charles Roven & Dawn Steel)
USA/Germany 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 1998
117 mins

Romance/Fantasy

W: Dana Stevens [based on the screenplay "Wings Of Desire" by Wim Wenders]
DP: John Seale
Ed: Lynzee Klingmann
Mus: Gabriel Yared
PD: Lilly Kilvert

Nicolas Cage (Seth), Meg Ryan (Dr. Maggie Price), Andre Braugher (Cassiel), Dennis Franz (Nathaniel Messinger), Colm Feore (Jordan Ferris)             

Sappy, slushy and schmaltzy remake of German film Wings Of Desire, relocating the action to America where an angel falls in love with a heart surgeon and wishes to become human.             
Even for those who haven't seen the original, this film is so sugary that it should come with a medical warning for diabetics.  
Female audience members seemed to fawn over its romantic story, despite the direction overly trying to tug heart-strings with ridiculous compositions (the scene with Meg Ryan on her bike is hilarious rather than saddening).
The soundtrack features a collection of very good songs, including The Goo Goo Dolls' brilliant 'Iris', but as a film it's trite.
4/10

Nicolas Cage in City of Angels
Nicolas Cage in City of Angels