--- title: "Wings of Desire: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 6 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): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 6 reviews: 5 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. 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. ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating ★★★★★. 23 June 2022. 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 the review](https://www.ft.com/content/90e50b6d-5930-46d5-b67f-5e2a69519361) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2006. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/wings-desire-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 June 2022. 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 the review](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 Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 1988. 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 the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/05/30/1988-05-30-077-tny-cards-000136877) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson 20 May 1988. 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 the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-20-ca-3927-story.html) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin 29 April 1988. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/29/movies/review-film-the-rage-of-angels-according-to-wim-wenders.html) ## Time Out — GA 10 September 2012. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/wings-of-desire-1) ## Variety — David Stratton 20 May 1987. Festival review. 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 the review](https://variety.com/1987/film/reviews/himmel-ueber-berlin-1200427356/) ## Paste — Tim Regan-Porter Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2009. 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 the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/criterion/wings-of-desire-the-criterion-collection) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2009. 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 the review](https://collider.com/wings-of-desire-criterion-blu-ray-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md