Faraway, So Close! (1993)

Director: Wim Wenders

 

This is the sequel to Wings of Desire, and some of the concepts still hold true. Damiel (Bruno Ganz), the former angel  and Marion (Solveig Dommartin), the trapeze artist  are in the film again, and they have a daughter now. Cassiel (Otto Sander) is still a n angel and at the opening, he is standing atop the Victory Column in Berlin, a statue which has been there since 1864.

 

The film also features a new angel: Raphaela (Nastassja Kinski). Another odd character is Emit Flesti (Willem Dafoe), whose name is Time Itself, backwards. He plays games with Cassiel, once he has become human. Unlike the other figures, he floats between the angelic world and the real world.

 

Cassiel’s lesson which he gradually learns is that his original world is one where the internal thoughts of everyone are the provenance of the angels. They hear and feel all without really participating. As a human, although everything exists in color, it is all appearances. Humans cannot sense the inner beings of others, and thus he is taken in by it all. Raphaela understands this as she watches him even though he is taken in by Emit in his human form.

 

As in the first film, the world of the angels is shown in black and white, while the human world is color. Also, where pop singer Nick Cave performed in Wings of Desire, Lou Reed is shown performing in this film.  Like the first, the angels are able to eavesdrop on the thoughts and emotions of humans.  Other philosophical questions are confronted here. Where Damiel is able to get along as a human, Cassiel has much more trouble, finding that he gets arrested and has problems because he lacks a passport.

 

Music is by Laurent Petitgand, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Nick Cave.

Author's Note

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