---
title: "Wings of Desire"
year: 1987
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire"
fi1m_id: "wings-of-desire"
imdb_id: "tt0093191"
tmdb_id: 144
wikidata_id: "Q156911"
fi1m_score: 88
critics_score: 78
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:03.131090+00:00"
region: "NO"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Wings of Desire (1987)

Directed by Wim Wenders · 2h 08m · Drama, Fantasy, Romance

## Identity

Wings of Desire

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** wings-of-desire
- **IMDb ID:** tt0093191
- **TMDB ID:** 144
- **Wikidata ID:** Q156911
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/144, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q156911

**Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 78 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* Bruno Ganz listens to everyone’s troubles with the patience the rest of us only claim to have

> Wim Wenders’ Berlin fantasy makes a moving case for paying attention to ordinary lives. Bruno Ganz and Henri Alekan’s roaming camera keep it welcoming, even when the dialogue grows solemn and the romance slows.

## Synopsis

Angels move through Berlin, listening to the thoughts of the people around them and observing lives marked by loneliness. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) shares this watchful existence with Cassiel (Otto Sander), but begins to long for physical sensations and human company. Directed by Wim Wenders, the film follows the angels’ observations across the divided city, where ordinary human experiences become the focus of Damiel’s longing. The cast also includes Solveig Dommartin as Marion, Curt Bois as Homer and Peter Falk as the Filmstar.

## Review

*Wings of Desire* is a tender, absorbing fantasy that earns its seriousness, though the romance can become too solemn for its own good. Wim Wenders gives his angels time to listen to Berlin’s inhabitants, and asks us to do much the same. The premise offers plenty of scope for grand explanations of existence, but the film is most persuasive when attending to ordinary human wants. Much of the pleasure is in being allowed to look around without immediately having to ask what happens next.

Bruno Ganz’s Damiel longs for the physical sensations and companionship available to the people he observes. Ganz gives the longing a gentleness that keeps the character from becoming a spokesman for the screenplay. We were moved by him simply listening to the human thoughts around him. There is no impatience in that attention, and his willingness to stay with someone else’s troubles makes the film’s concern for lonely people feel convincing.

Henri Alekan’s cinematography does much of the explaining that the dialogue occasionally labours over. The gliding camera makes Berlin feel accessible to these observers, while the black-and-white images give familiar human activity a slight distance. We can see why Damiel would want to get closer. Colour belongs to the film’s range too, but it is the patient movement through the city that makes the angels’ presence seem plausible, giving us time to accept them among the people they observe.

Peter Przygodda’s editing gives the observations space, rather than pressing every encounter into service for the romance. That looseness allows the city’s separate lives to hold our interest, although some passages continue after we have understood what they offer. At 128 minutes, the film could lose a little of its deliberation without losing what makes it distinctive. Jürgen Knieper’s music helps hold these passages together, but also contributes to a solemnity that can make small thoughts sound weightier than they need to.

The screenplay is credited to Peter Handke, Wenders, Richard Reitinger and Bernard Eisenschitz, and sometimes gives the spoken thought too much work to do. There are passages whose careful phrasing makes us aware of the writing when we want to be closer to the speaker. Solveig Dommartin’s Marion is allowed too little of the ordinary give-and-take that might make the romance convincing throughout. Here the slow pace becomes an obstacle, because the dialogue keeps asking for attention without always rewarding it.

As fantasy, the film benefits from declining to turn its angels into a set of rules for us to learn. Damiel’s curiosity supplies enough reason to follow him, and the city supplies enough to look at. The mixture of comedy, romance and philosophical talk is less forbidding in practice than it sounds on paper, because Wenders remains interested in the people doing the thinking. We would happily accept the slower stretches for that generosity. Give it an evening when nobody needs the story to hurry.

*Fi1m score 88, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Wings of Desire, with praise clustering around its images of divided Berlin and its attention to ordinary human pleasures. Henri Alekan’s cinematography is admired for making the angels’ observations feel hypnotic, while the poetic writing gives their longing for human connection a concrete emotional pull. The reviews also find hope in Ganz’s performance and in the film’s treatment of loneliness. Berlin itself emerges as a particular strength: a city whose streets and inhabitants reward this patient attention.

The disagreement concerns how much that patience asks of an audience. Supporters welcome a film led by mood and ideas rather than plot, though some stop short of unqualified praise. The New Yorker offers the clearest dissent, finding it sluggish, its romance halfhearted and its colour passages tawdry beside the black-and-white imagery. The spread is therefore wide, despite the strongly positive lean.

## Straight answers

**Is Wings of Desire worth watching?**

*Wings of Desire* is worth watching for anyone happy to spend an unhurried evening with a tender Berlin fantasy, and we scored it 88. Bruno Ganz's patient, gentle Damiel and Henri Alekan's gliding black-and-white camera carry it, though the romance grows solemn and some passages linger past their point. Avoid it on a night when you need the story to hurry.

**How long is Wings of Desire, and what is it rated?**

*Wings of Desire* runs 2h 08m. It is a drama and fantasy film.

**Where can I watch Wings of Desire in Norway?**

*Wings of Desire* is not on any streaming or rental service in Norway at the moment. It is available in 14 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does Wings of Desire compare to A Matter of Life and Death?**

*Wings of Desire* is the quieter and more deliberate of the two celestial romances, while [*A Matter of Life and Death*](https://film.one/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death) is funnier, warmer and easier to recommend to almost anyone. Both let their speeches labour the point at times. Choose Wenders if you want to drift through a city and listen; choose Powell and Pressburger for wit, colour and a romance that moves.

**What should I watch after Wings of Desire?**

After *Wings of Desire*, try [*A Matter of Life and Death*](https://film.one/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death) (1946, Fi1m 92): Another celestial romance with room for wit, longing and human muddle. Then [*After Life*](https://film.one/film/after-life) (1998, Fi1m 85): A patient Japanese fantasy that finds wonder in ordinary remembered experiences; and [*A Ghost Story*](https://film.one/film/a-ghost-story) (2017, Fi1m 84): A quieter, sterner fantasy about watching human life without joining in.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★★★): The passing of time has intensified the melancholy of this poignant 1987 study of angels living among us in a divided Berlin. The critic highlights its status as a bittersweet time capsule of metaphysics, love and great cinema. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/90e50b6d-5930-46d5-b67f-5e2a69519361)
- **Empire**, Ian Nathan (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it an elusive, poetic vision of pre-Wall Berlin, an extraordinary haunting piece that prioritizes mood and ideas over plot. Loneliness pervades but the dialogue, Ganz's performance and Wenders' images offer hope. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/wings-desire-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): Wim Wenders’ wistful romantic fantasy about angels in divided Berlin is re-released and reads as an elegiac city symphony. The critic praises its distinctive cinema of ideas and extraordinary sequences capturing the city. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/22/wings-of-desire-review-wim-wenders-elegiac-hymn-to-a-broken-cold-war-berlin)
- **The New Yorker**, Pauline Kael (40/100, inferred): The critic sees visual fascination in the angels' observations of fragmented Berlin lives but finds the film sluggish and lacking animating force. She singles out the halfhearted romance and the contrast between black-and-white spirituality and tawdry color sections as weaknesses. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/05/30/1988-05-30-077-tny-cards-000136877)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson: The critic calls it a magnificent film of sublime beauty and contagious optimism. She singles out the poetry rooted in the commonplace, such as the crunch of an apple or lacing a child's shoe, that soars to the miraculous. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-20-ca-3927-story.html)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin: The critic finds loveliness in the film's conception of sad, sympathetic angels gliding through black-and-white Berlin. She singles out the angel Damiel's longing for corporeal sensation and human connection as the central impulse. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/29/movies/review-film-the-rage-of-angels-according-to-wim-wenders.html)
- **Time Out**, GA: The critic describes the film as part romance, part comedy and part philosophical meditation on angels eavesdropping on human thoughts in divided Berlin. It praises the hypnotic images by Henri Alekan and the way the poetic script becomes pure cinematic expression, calling the film rich, intriguing and ambitious though perhaps not quite a masterpiece. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/wings-of-desire-1)
- **Variety**, David Stratton: The critic finds it a sublimely beautiful, deeply romantic film and a quintessential Wenders work. She singles out Henri Alekan’s gliding camera work as a visual joy that serves as a valentine to the city of Berlin. [Read](https://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/himmel-ueber-berlin-1200427356/)
- **Paste**, Tim Regan-Porter (85/100, inferred): The critic calls Wings of Desire a masterful work and a Criterion-worthy classic that illuminates the sublime in everyday existence. They single out its poetic exploration of the tension between spirit and flesh, and the small, trivial details that make life worth living. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/criterion/wings-of-desire-the-criterion-collection)
- **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a touching fable about angels observing humanity and a lyrical tone poem on isolation and connection. They single out its insightful handling of mortality, spirituality, and great cinematography that rewards repeat viewings. [Read](https://collider.com/wings-of-desire-criterion-blu-ray-review/)

## Details

- **Director:** Wim Wenders
- **Director:** Wim Wenders
- **Screenplay:** Peter Handke, Richard Reitinger, Wim Wenders, Bernard Eisenschitz
- **Cinematography:** Henri Alekan
- **Editor:** Peter Przygodda
- **Music:** Jürgen Knieper
- **Costume design:** Monika Jacobs
- **Producer:** Wim Wenders, Anatole Dauman
- **Cast:** Bruno Ganz as Damiel; Solveig Dommartin as Marion; Otto Sander as Cassiel; Curt Bois as Homer; Peter Falk as The Filmstar; Hans-Martin Stier as The Dying Man; Elmar Wilms as A Sad Man; Sigurd Rachman as The Suicide
- **Runtime:** 2h 08m
- **First release (France):** 17 May 1987
- **Genres:** Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- **Budget:** $2 million
- **Box office:** $4 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iAzYofuItM

## Where to watch in Norway

Not streaming, renting or buying in Norway at the last check.

Also available in: AT, BE, BR, CH, DE, ES, FR, GB, IE, IT, JP, NL, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- European Film Academy Special Aspect Award for Best Camera 1988: European Film Academy Special Aspect Award for Best Camera (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Director 1988: European Film Award for Best Director (won)
- European Film Award for Best Film 1988: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Supporting Actor 1988: European Film Award for Best Supporting Actor (won)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 1988: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- Kurd Lasswitz Award for Best Foreign Work 1988: Kurd Lasswitz Award for Best Foreign Work (won)

## If you liked this

- *A Matter of Life and Death* (1946), Fi1m 92: Another celestial romance with room for wit, longing and human muddle. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death.md)
- *After Life* (1998), Fi1m 85: A patient Japanese fantasy that finds wonder in ordinary remembered experiences. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/after-life.md)
- *The Green Ray* (1986): Loneliness and the wish for connection, pursued through hesitant everyday encounters.
- *A Ghost Story* (2017), Fi1m 84: A quieter, sterner fantasy about watching human life without joining in. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-ghost-story.md)
- *The Double Life of Véronique* (1991), Fi1m 86: A mysterious connection between lives, carried by faces, colour and music. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-double-life-of-veronique.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire