Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 14, 2010

Winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Wim Wenders' "Der Himmel über Berlin" a.k.a. "Wings of Desire" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Axiom Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with director Wim Wenders and actor Peter Falk; "Conversations on Wings of Desire"; outtakes and deleted scenes with commentary by director Wim Wenders; and trailer. Axiom Films have also provided a 24-page illustrated booklet containing "Songs of Childhood" by Peter Handke; short notes on Wim Wenders by fellow directors Atom Egoyan and Walter Salles; "An Attempted Description of an Indescribable Film" by Wim Wenders; and "Angels, History and Poetic Fantasy", an interview with Wim Wenders by Coco Fusco. With optional English subtitles. Region-Free.

One of them

Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire tells two very different stories. The first is about a group of angels roaming the streets of Berlin. They observe, follow, and occasionally prevent humans from committing terrible mistakes. Kids can see and feel them, adults cannot.

Most of the angels gather in a giant library in the heart of Berlin where they share their stories and learn from each other. Some also dream of experiencing the gifts of life. They have been doing it for thousands of years, too.

One of the angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz, Der Untergang), finds the humans intriguing. There is one in particular, an American movie star (Peter Falk, Columbo), who claims that he could feel his presence, which has captivated his imagination. When he is not around him, Damiel spends long hours reading the minds of strangers. There are times when Damiel feels that he understands what goes on in them, but most of the time they frustrate him.

Cassiel (Otto Sander, Faraway, So Close!), Damiel’s best friend, spends long hours observing the humans, too. But he does not find them to be as fascinating as Damiel does and rarely goes out of his way to help them. Cassiel prefers to have Life follow its natural course.

While wandering around the streets of Berlin, Damiel encounters Marion (Solveig Dommartin, S'en fout la mort), a stunningly beautiful trapeze dancer, who has just been told that the circus she is performing with would have to stage its last show because there is no more money to cover its bills. As Marion begins to question the value of her talent and then the purpose of Life, Damiel begins to fall in love with her without fully understanding what love is. Not too long after that, Damiel confesses to Cassiel that plans to "make the plunge" to find out.

The second story is told primarily through still images. It is about a city divided by an ugly wall but pretending to be normal. This story is also about the people who remember the undivided city and are struggling to live in its current reincarnation.

Wenders shot the bulk of Wings of Desire in black-and-white. Only a couple of sequences -- like the ones where Damiel feels like a human and later begins searching for Marion -- utilize color. All of the black-and-white footage was done with the use of a unique camera filter.

The hugely atmospheric soundtrack blends original music by the likes of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ("From Her to Eternity", "The Carny"), Tuxedomoons ("Some Guys"), Crime and The City Solution ("Six Bells Chime"), Laurie Anderson, and Laurent Petitgand.

In 1987, Wings of Desire won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, the film won the Best Cinematography Award (Henri Alekan) granted by the National Society of Film Critics in the U.S.

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Axiom Films.

This is a very strong high-definition transfer, likely sourced from the same element Criterion used for their North American Blu-ray release of Wim Wenders' award-winning film. There are, however, some minor differences between the two releases, which I would like to quickly address.

Both releases look very strong when blown through a digital projector and certainly represent enormous upgrades over previous DVD releases of the film. Fine object detail is pleasing, clarity very good and contrast levels convincing on both. Similar to the Criterion release, the Axiom release is also free of large flecks, debris, cuts, or splices. Here, edge-enhancement and macroblocking are again not a serious issue of concern.

There are certain scenes, however, that look slightly more convincing on the Criterion release. For example, at 1h.10min., where we see the dancer contemplating life, contrast is just a tiny bit better on the Criterion release. On the UK release, the right upper corner is darker, even softer looking. Another good example is at 1h.20min. - at the night club (see capture #4) - where the face of the man standing next to the dancer is almost impossible to see. On the Criterion release, you could clearly see his face. With other words, even though both distributors obviously had access to the same element, it appears that Criterion actually did some very careful fine-tuning, which as far as I am concerned gives their release an edge over Axiom's release. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. For the record, Axiom have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

There are no serious technical flaws with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The dialog is clean and easy to follow and the lovely soundtrack very effective. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings. Additionally, the Criterion Blu-ray release of Wings of Desire did not include a second audio track. This one does, but I don't think that it actually adds anything of substance when compared to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Finally, I actually found the white English subtitles to be a tad too big, particularly when viewing the film projected on a large screen.

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this disc are in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

Commentary - the Criterion Blu-ray release of Wings of Desire contains an audio commentary edited in 2009 by independent DVD producer Mark Rance from over six hours of interviews he conducted in August and September 1996 and March 1997. The audio commentary found on this Blu-ray disc is actually the same commentary with director Wim Wenders and actor Peter Falk that appeared on Anchor Bay's old SDVD release of the film. It is very informative, offering a terrific analysis of the film and its complex themes. In English.

Conversations on Wings of Desire - director Wim Wenders, Hof Film Festival director Heinz Badewitz, editor Peter Pryzgodda, and actor Bruno Ganz discuss their involvement with Wings of Desire, how the city of Berlin is treated in it, the production history of the film, etc. In German, with imposed English subtitles. (19 min).

Outtakes and deleted scenes - with optional commentary by director Wim Wenders. In English. (31 min).

Trailer - the original German theatrical trailer for Wings of Desire. (2 min).

Booklet - a 24-page illustrated booklet containing "Songs of Childhood" by Peter Handke; short notes on Wim Wenders by fellow directors Atom Egoyan and Walter Salles; "An Attempted Description of an Indescribable Film" by Wim Wenders; and "Angels, History and Poetic Fantasy", an interview with Wim Wenders by Coco Fusco.

Wings of Desire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Next to Criterion's Blu-ray release of Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire Axiom's Blu-ray release may look slightly less impressive, but it is still very easy to recommend. If you cannot play Region-A "locked" Blu-ray discs, there is absolutely no reason why you should not think about ordering a copy of this Region-Free Blu-ray disc as soon as possible. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.