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Wings of Desire
Stars:
Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, and Peter Falk
Writers:
Wim Wenders and Peter Hanoke
Director:
Wim Wenders
Feature
length: 128 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director Wim Wenders and Peter Falk, “Angels Among Us”
Documentary, Interactive Map, Deleted Scenes With Director’s Audio Commentary,
Original Advertising Artwork, Original Theatrical Trailers
Languages:
German/English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 32
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1987/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Orion Pictures Classics
Home
Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Visually
and thematically, Wim Wenders “Wings Of Desire” is simply stunning. Shot in
Berlin before the wall fell, the film has a distinct look that makes it appear
as if it were shot 100 years ago with a mix gorgeous black and white photography
that has an expressionistic like quality and color photography for when we have
direct contact within the world of mortal humans that the angels guard. The
story is simple really. Damiel (Bruno Ganz), a lonely angel who provides comfort
to mortals in need falls in love with a beautiful – and troubled – trapeze
artist and subsequently must make a decision whether or not to give up his
divine status and become human. A sequel followed in 1993 entitled “Far Away,
So Close” and an American remake starring Nicholas Cage entitled “City Of
Angels” was also produced, but I think the artistry of “Wings Of Desire”
remains unparalleled.
Presented
in an anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio, which as one might expect
looks beautiful especially in the black and white sequences, which the majority
of the film is presented in. The original German/English soundtrack are
presented in both a new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound option as well as a
Dolby Surround Soundtrack along with optional English Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles are also
encoded as options. Director Wim Wenders and Actor Peter Falk, who played
himself in “Wings Of Desire” and “Far Away, So Close,” participate in a
feature length audio commentary track that is screen specific and is also very
retrospective if not downright sentimental at times. Falk does not participate
much and his comments sound as if they were mixed into the Wenders’
commentary.
Other
extra features include the documentary “Angels Among Us” (43:14) with
interview clips with various participants in the film discussing how it came
together with an almost invisible force guiding it. An interactive map of the
sites in the film as well as a reel of deleted scenes (32:07) that is presented
in a widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio with commentary by Wenders are also
included. Two shots of advertising artwork and the German trailer (1:56) as well
as the international theatrical trailer (1:59) and a Wim Wenders promo (2:05)
wrap up the extra features on this DVD along with a gallery of box art for other
international films available on DVD from MGM.
The
interactive menus are beautifully rendered and easy to navigate. “Wings Of
Desire: Special Edition” is available on DVD-Video now from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Wings of Desire